As Far As The Eye Can See: Reflections of an Appalachian Trail Hiker

In 1979, David Brill became one of the first of a new generation to complete the Georgia-to-Maine hike on the Appalachian Trail. As Far as the Eye Can See, now a classic, chronicles his six-month, 2,100 mile walk, a quest to live simply and deliberately, with room to grow, to breathe, to change, to discover what really mattered to him.

This new edition includes two new chapters: “A Passage, at Midlife along the Smokies AT” and “On the Trail of Benton MacKaye—Again.” They recount a time of reawakening in the author’s life, when Brill pulled his backpack off its peg in the shed and took to the trail once more, returning to the woods not as visitor but as a man who felt most at home in the forested mountains of the Appalachians. In the process, he rediscovered—as most hikers do—the centering experience of exploring earth with feet and the healing power of the natural world.