Dances with Marmots

by George Spearing

The inspiring account of a 2700 mile solo hike from Mexico to Canada along the Pacific Crest Trail. Despite never having hiked before, George Spearing decided to take "leave of absence" from his job as a firefighter in the New Zealand Fire Service and walk the length of America.
This is the story of his five month journey, traveling entirely on foot and off-road through the desert areas and snowbound High Sierra Nevada of California, the Cascade ranges of Oregon and Washington to finally emerge in the Okanogan Forest of British Columbia, Canada. The diverse mix of dry Mojave desert, High Sierra snows and the characters and wildlife met along the way, provide an often humorous look at the US and its wilderness through the eyes of a New Zealander.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Memoir, Adventure, Biography, Nature

265 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 10, 2005

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Spearing has a great sense of humor (plus being a Kiwi) so there were plenty of LOL moments. The bits of history were interesting and the people he met along the way were great.

[Chrisl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable. Appreciated how George told his travel story. Am left wondering if it was a neighbor's dog that stole my gloves. Perhaps, instead, it was one of the marmots with which I share my rocky hillside.

[Tammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story of a Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike is both the same and different as the dozens of other accounts I’ve read.

It is the same because the trail is the same, the difficulties are the same, and the challenges of writing about a 5-month walking adventure are the same. After all, walking is not the most naturally engaging of activities.

But this book is also different from other accounts in some interesting ways. First, author George Spearing is from New Zealand, so we see his experiences on American soil from a new perspective. For example, he talks of being confused by a waitress asking him about “Super Salad” (soup or salad) and his realization that American English is otherwise different when he overhears the sentence, “Then she up and left me...man, I was pissed.” Apparently in NZ English, this meant the man was drunk or legless. Go figure. These instances give the book a humorous and interesting slant missing in other accounts.

On the other hand, American readers may not fully appreciate other references and attempts at humor such as referencing the un-coolness of wearing bells to ward off bears as being akin to a “woodland Noddy” or an “itinerant Morris dancer.” Huh?

One rather small, but irritating, aspect of this book is the random indentation of paragraphs. For some reason, I found this jarring.

However, these are small matters. Spearing writes with joy and humor of his journey. Never mind that the humor is sometime corny, at least he generally steers clear of the plodding mile by mile account of the journey that soon numbs the reader and makes one long for the Canadian border and the end of the book.

Though certainly not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, this is one of the least painful books on Pacific Crest thru-hikes I've read so far.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything about this book was amazing. Laugh out loud funny all the way through - sometimes I had to put it down for 15 minutes, because I was laughing so hard. Also so refreshing to hear the perspective of an outsider looking at America with his head on straight.

[Cassidy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed how fast paced this book was but it is a product of the era it was written in. 17 years later, it does not hold up with some latent racism and sexism. I did not find it charming when the author repeatedly brought up “thinking of England” to suppress getting aroused around women, almost every time he was in the presence of one even with other company around. There have been countless PCT memoirs published in the years since, this is a good option for a time before the trail exploded in popularity but not much else. Pick a more contemporary choice next time.

[Damaris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for fans of Bill Bryson’s Walk in the Woods. Super enjoyable and funny.

[Turi Becker · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the last PCT book I read, I wanted a little different view of the long-distance hiking thing, and I certainly got it with Dances With Marmots. George Spearing is a firefighter from New Zealand who decides he needs to get away for awhile, and heads out to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. This book reads very informally; like a you'd imagine a conversation with a kiwi firefighter over a beer might be transcribed. I think they have some different punctuation rules in New Zealand, too; I kept wishing this had been proofread better. (But I'm picky...) That said, it did give a pretty good insight into someone hiking the PCT solo, which was cool. As mentioned in the comments to my post on "Blistered Kind of Love", though, this book takes 200 pages to cover the California sections, then skips over Oregon and Washington in less than 50. I guess that's to be expected - a hiker makes all their discoveries and learns all their lessons early on, after a certain amount of time, it just becomes making the mileage. But it would be cool to read more about the northern sections.

[Bev Siddons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading books about other people's adventures. Having recently completed a book about hiking the Appalachian Trail which extends from Georgia to Maine, Dances With Marmots showed up on a recommended reading list. So, I had to read this one too. Spearing, a New Zealander, has a wicked sense of humor and a love of western heroes. He hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from the California-Mexico border to the Washington-Canada border. His encounters with bears, marmots, rattlesnakes, deer and other wild creatures (read people) are met with fear and humor. I found myself laughing out loud from to time. Certainly not "literature" but definitely a good read.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Kiwi’s lighthearted journal of his 2012 Pacific Crest Trail hike. Funny and fast-paced, it’s nice to see a foreigner’s impressions of the trail and the US. That said, it’s out of date—given the post-Wild surge in the popularity of the trail, and changes in regulations surrounding bear canisters, a 2018 hiker will have a different experience. Still some of the same challenges, though, I hope!

[Megan Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dances with Marmots

A humorous and honest view of the trials and tribulations of the Pacific Crest Trail. George chronicles the high and low points of long distance and thru hiking. You get to love these characters of the trail and end up hoping they all complete their strenuous journey. Worth the read.

[asogi]

I'm writing this review out of sadness. I wanted another PCT book.

It's disappointingly awkward. An absolute struggle to read. Exclamation points and linebreaks can't be used to fabricate humor out of nothing, which the author tries to do often. I'm sure there could have been a decent story in here, but the author's habit of listing what happened instead of telling it, leaves no momentum to want to read more. I can't finish this one.

[Meredith Reece · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Although it is a bit dated - it's still a nice account of a New Zealanders journey on the trail. It was nice to have some comparisons and differences about US & NZ trails. I really enjoy the 'Kiwi' language and terms he uses. I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for a NZer's adventures of traveling/tramping story.

[Alex molina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! I can't wait to do this bike when I retire from the Marine Corps! Very informative and inspiring. There is much that can be learned and used from this book. I enjoyed every page.



Must read book for those that plan to bike the Pacific Crest Trail as through hikers! Very inspiring book to read.

[Yvonne Benting · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading about George’s experiences walking the PCT, he has a writing style that makes for easy reading. I loved his quirky Kiwi humour often laughing out loud - especially at the wee poems.

[Stephanie McCallister · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an okay read. As a thru hiker I was intrigued to read another hikers experience. It wasn’t the most captivating book but still worth the read if you are a hiker or interested in the PCT

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

George Spearing gets a sudden urge to do a long hike. Now, George lives in New Zealand, one would think he might elect to hike the two islands of New Zealand from bottom to top, but no. George has decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the border of Mexico to Canada, a distance of 4,280 km, or 2,659 miles in five months. This is his story of preparation, research, and finally his long trek over mountains through deserts, marshes, rattlesnake country and bear country, not to mention the ticks toward the latter part of his journey.

He has plotted well, arranged for food and other necessities sent on to small town post offices along his route to cut down on weight in his pack. Still it often gets up to 100 lb. at times. He does this trip as a solitary hiker, but often meets up with other hikers, some several times en route. A great demonstration of how small the world is, he also meets up with the very man he contacted through a friend for advice on the trip when still in New Zealand!

This book is slight reminiscent of Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods" as he hiked the Appalachian trail through the eastern states. George will be doing the western states. I found the book very informative, humourous, and often giving historic trivia about various stops along the way. George has a tendency to talk to himself either out loud or in his head. On meeting his first group of marmots, he had quite a conversation with them, and enjoyed their company. He encountered marmots several times and found them to be very entertaining. Even his run-ins with bears are written with fear yet humour. Not being at all acquainted with bears, I can sympathize with him when crashing around the tent makes him wonder if he is going to become an appetizer. This is a very readable and entertaining book, includes photos.

[Arminzerella · Rating 3 out of 5]

George Spearing – British by birth, but Kiwi by choice – is inspired by Stephen Pern’s account of his own trek on the Continental Divide trail and decides to shake up his own life by hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Although he’s in decent shape as a fireman, he hasn’t done any serious trekking or backpacking before and the weight of his pack sometimes is enough to topple him. Still, his spirits remain high and hopeful and the challenge of what he has set out to do motivates him through the more difficult sections of the trail and experiences. Mostly he lives for breakfast – anytime, anywhere. The solitude and peace that he finds in the wilderness is something he treasures, as well as the friendships he makes with several other thru-hikers. Although the editing (or lack thereof?) can be distracting at times, Spearing’s enthusiasm and sense of humor shine through. He’s a man who accomplishes what he sets out to do.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Threw in the towel on this one. Spearing isn't a bad writer, per se, but he definitely isn't a good one. His New Zealander's take on America was interesting and amusing at first (especially reading as he moved through the desert in the Southwestern US, where I lived for years) but the weakness of his writing finally wore me down. There are too many others books waiting on my shelves for me to continue plodding through this one.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spearing handles his 5-month journey on the PCT with humor and honesty, both approaches I appreciate. It's a good source to learn about the trials, joys and experiences of thru-hiking alone and he includes a list of his equipment, what worked, what he would have improved and how.
Like some other readers said, the New Zealand punctuation threw me off but not enough to ruin the book.

[Jennifer Meech · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really enjoyable read which made me yearn to travel. George has a great attitude and an adventurous spirit which makes it easy to ignore the fact that this is a self-published book with the odd mistake and regular fart jokes. I googled many of the spots he traversed while I was reading to see what they looked like. What an incredible journey.

[Cheryl Devine · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books :)

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very funny, honest opinions about American's and our park system, and anything else strange to a Kiwi.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this guy's sense of humor. He added some interesting bits of history about the locations on the trail as well.

[Robbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff. Nice to read an NZ book that is no nonsense, plain and simple.

[Aoife · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this account of hiking the PCT. Could have done with being twice as long with more detail on the day to day thrills and travails of long distance hiking.

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

A good read about hiking the PCT. I laughed quite a bit and enjoyed his journey. I highly suggest reading.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable and enjoyable hike along the Pacific Coast Trail.

[Mike Niebrzydowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining, quick read. Good stories and historical facts throughout. Really needed an editor, but that didn't take away from the enjoyability!

[Gabriela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicely written account of an adventure. Recommend to those who enjoy trail literature.

[Matthew Cornwall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Enjoyable Adventure with a Dash of Humor

This was an enjoyable journey from the Mexico/American border all the way north to the American/Canadian border. The book was well-written, had dashes of humor, and, at times, felt as though I was with him on the journey. It was a good book and I suggest it for anyone that enjoys hiking and the outdoors. Cheers!