R.I.P. Colin Fletcher, ‘The Father of Modern-Day Backpacking’

Travel Blog  •  Jim Benning  •  06.18.07 | 12:13 PM ET

imageThe author and adventurer best known for his seminal backpacking guide The Complete Walker and his Grand Canyon narrative The Man Who Walked Through Time died last week at the age of 85. “The Complete Walker” was first published in 1968, and it was enormously influential in its day. Backpacker magazine editor in chief Jonathan Dorn told the Los Angeles Times: “He brought this idea that you didn’t have to be a nut case to take long solitary walks in the wilderness at a time when a lot of people were really looking for ways to create holistic lives and escape from the craziness of Vietnam and the stresses of the ‘60s.”

Dorn told MediaNews: “Certainly, a lot of people think of him as the father of modern-day backpacking.”

While in high school, I was making pocket money stacking library books when I came across a very worn copy of “The Man Who Walked Through Time.” Its beat-up cover suggested it had been stuffed into more than a few backpacks and hauled into the woods. It was the first travel narrative I read, and it inspired me to eventually backpack down the Grand Canyon. For that alone, I’ll always be indebted to Fletcher.

Related on World Hum:
* The Critics: The Grand Canyon Skywalk
* Could the New Grand Canyon Skywalk Attract (Insane) BASE Jumpers?
* Rick Bass Ponders the Fate of the West



1 Comment for R.I.P. Colin Fletcher, ‘The Father of Modern-Day Backpacking’

Barb Scholz 01.19.08 | 12:41 AM ET

As an armchair traveler Colin Fletcher
took me many places that I will not see
in person.  For that I am forever thankful to him and altho I never met him, there will be a certain void in
my life.  God speed Mr. Fletcher.

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