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Walking It Off: A Veteran's Chronicle of War and Wilderness
When he wrote The Monkey Wrench Gang in 1975, Edward Abbey became the spokesperson for a generation of Americans angered by the unthinking destruction of our natural heritage. Without consultation, Abbey based the central character of eco-guerilla George Washington Hayduke on his friend Doug Peacock. Since then Peacock has become an articulate environmental individualist writing about the West's abundant wildscapes. Abbey and Peacock had an at times stormy, almost father and son relationship that was peacefully resolved in Abbey's last days before his death in 1989. This rich recollection of their relationship and the dry places they explored are recalled in Peacock’s honest and heartfelt style in this poignant memoir.
208 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1997
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487 people want to read
About the author
Doug Peacock
19 books100 followersAuthor, Vietnam veteran, filmmaker and naturalist Doug Peacock has published widely on wilderness issues: from grizzly bears to buffalo, from the Sierra Madres of the Sonoran desert to the fjords of British Columbia, from the tigers of Siberia to the blue sheep of Nepal. Doug Peacock was a Green Beret medic and the real-life model for Edward Abbey’s George Washington Hayduke in The Monkey Wrench Gang.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
September 5, 2009
I recommend this book for: 1) Edward Abbey fans, and 2) trauma survivors (or anyone wanting to better understand trauma survivors). As a member of both categories, I loved the book. The part about trauma is obvious from the title; I've been taking long, solo wilderness treks for decades without comprehending why. Author Doug Peacock perfectly pegs the role of solitude in coping with PTSD.
Not so obvious is the Edward Abbey part. Peacock and Abbey were close friends, and Peacock was the role model for Abbey's infamous character, George Washington Hayduke. "Walking It Off" includes much information about Abbey's health struggles, death, funeral, etc.
Hayduke lives!
Not so obvious is the Edward Abbey part. Peacock and Abbey were close friends, and Peacock was the role model for Abbey's infamous character, George Washington Hayduke. "Walking It Off" includes much information about Abbey's health struggles, death, funeral, etc.
Hayduke lives!
December 12, 2019
Doug Peacock returns from Vietnam and goes into the wilderness to "walk it off." This book is so many things: a war story, an environmental book, a memoir, a eulogy for a friend.
September 4, 2008
I LOVE LOVE this book - excellent story of post traumatic stress recover.
August 30, 2014
Hayduke... I mean Doug Peacock has a few things he wants to get off his chest in his book "Walking It Off." (I love the title of this book!) And like most deep, emotional scars they take the combination of time and solitude to focus light on. Peacock is drawn - more like pulled - into wild places around the world. His journey is less about protraying the surrounding wilderness, but instead using it like a mirror.
A mirror onto himself - a mirror to reflect on the tradegy of the Vietnam War, the loss of his companion and teacher, Ed Abbey, and the fragments of a broken marriage. Certainly not easy stuff to grapple with, much less commit to the pages of a book. But you sense in this book, that Peacock is a warrior. Not the same warrior he started as, but a transformed sort of warrior. Much of his transformation happened while he got to know Abbey. Peacock shares his memories of Abbey.
I got the sense that Abbey's portrayal of Peacock as the character Hayduke in both The Monkey Wrench Gang and Hayduke Lives proved to be a mixed blessing to the author. On the one hand, there's extreme pride in being the first, Eco-warrior, poster-boy. On the other, the popularity of this take-no-prisoner, accept-no-compromise Hayduke character only served to paint Peacock into a much smaller corner. He wanted to be something more than this inspirational character for the new enivronmental movement. What exactly that "something" is for Peacock, he doesn't always know. But he knows what will get him closer -- shoulder a backpack and start walking.
We see Peacock's image of himself steadily change while he shares his encounters with the forces which shaped his life. It's an honest self-portrait softened by time and contrasted against a wonderful and rugged landscape.
A mirror onto himself - a mirror to reflect on the tradegy of the Vietnam War, the loss of his companion and teacher, Ed Abbey, and the fragments of a broken marriage. Certainly not easy stuff to grapple with, much less commit to the pages of a book. But you sense in this book, that Peacock is a warrior. Not the same warrior he started as, but a transformed sort of warrior. Much of his transformation happened while he got to know Abbey. Peacock shares his memories of Abbey.
I got the sense that Abbey's portrayal of Peacock as the character Hayduke in both The Monkey Wrench Gang and Hayduke Lives proved to be a mixed blessing to the author. On the one hand, there's extreme pride in being the first, Eco-warrior, poster-boy. On the other, the popularity of this take-no-prisoner, accept-no-compromise Hayduke character only served to paint Peacock into a much smaller corner. He wanted to be something more than this inspirational character for the new enivronmental movement. What exactly that "something" is for Peacock, he doesn't always know. But he knows what will get him closer -- shoulder a backpack and start walking.
We see Peacock's image of himself steadily change while he shares his encounters with the forces which shaped his life. It's an honest self-portrait softened by time and contrasted against a wonderful and rugged landscape.
Read
December 3, 2009An intriguing read for sure, especially for those of us with connection/devotion to Ed Abbey. At first I felt he was too focused on Ed and not himself; as if he was using Abbey's name to sell books. But later I found that his relationship with Ed and coming to terms with the "Hayduke" within himself was so intergral to his story that he could not help but continually reflect back on his lost friend. I am gald to know there are others out there who feel the same about wilderness as I do; who embrace this terminal illness we call "life."
August 29, 2016
Wow, what a great book. Really enjoyable treatise on the desert southwest wilderness, preserving it, and using it to steal away years of anger, stress, and doubt. Doug Peacock is a treasure and he hangs around with good company, notably Ed Abbey. Much of this story is about the friendship between him and Abbey. This small book surprised me--really enjoyable.
July 12, 2013
A great and captivating book about wilderness and wildness, bearing scars of war and living in grizzly country. If the initial chapter about being Ed abbeys friend in his last days of life doesn't draw you into this lyrical book, then don't bother, I guess.
August 1, 2017
After I read Edward Abbey's 'Desert Solitaire' years ago, I wanted to find a book just as good about the desert of the American southwest, and I finally found it. Peacock and Abbey were friends, and Peacock is a Vietnam war vet, and writes about hiking in the desert as a therapy for his PTSD .
December 24, 2008
Doug Peacock rocks! I could not put it down. The end got me choked up. With Peacock- 'what you see is what you get. Its his blunt honesty that kept me ingaged, page after page.
June 3, 2014
I've written 4 reviews and erased them, didn't do it justice. This "Veteran's Chronicle of War and Wilderness" is a masterpiece.
May 27, 2015
A moving, wonderful book. Happened to meet Doug Peacock and his wife a few months ago. A moving, wonderful man, like his book.
March 16, 2018
I want to toss off a joke, I am not worthy! to read this book. It wouldn't be funny but it would be true. It can't be read quickly, or lightly, without a lot of pain. He writes of things which no one should have to speak. His stories of war and genocide would be bearable if I could read it as a history that will never repeat....
It's repeating, right here, right now. Syria. Myanmar. South Sudan.
But the war experiences are only a tiny fraction of the whole of this, although they may be the cause of it all. Dunno. He writes about Ed Abbey, his travels, his losses and his furious struggle to make sense of it all. And he writes so well that I didn't want to include quotes for fear I might be taking them out of context and missing the point of it all. Like this,
Ed knew that the best wisdom came directly from the earth; it runs right up our roots into the spirit. Walk on. The feet will inform the soul.
And,
Death was not the enemy of life, I thought, the foe was fear of capturing the truth, fear of true introspection. I had learned that from Ed and tonight the instruction returned with humbling veracity. At the end you had to release, let go of anger, all grasping and attachment, even desire.
Sometimes he says things, that make no sense. But tickle your mind.
Like a Zen Koan.
...sleep well, my old friend. I will dream you in the little death of winter.
It's repeating, right here, right now. Syria. Myanmar. South Sudan.
But the war experiences are only a tiny fraction of the whole of this, although they may be the cause of it all. Dunno. He writes about Ed Abbey, his travels, his losses and his furious struggle to make sense of it all. And he writes so well that I didn't want to include quotes for fear I might be taking them out of context and missing the point of it all. Like this,
Ed knew that the best wisdom came directly from the earth; it runs right up our roots into the spirit. Walk on. The feet will inform the soul.
And,
Death was not the enemy of life, I thought, the foe was fear of capturing the truth, fear of true introspection. I had learned that from Ed and tonight the instruction returned with humbling veracity. At the end you had to release, let go of anger, all grasping and attachment, even desire.
Sometimes he says things, that make no sense. But tickle your mind.
Like a Zen Koan.
...sleep well, my old friend. I will dream you in the little death of winter.
May 19, 2025
How often do legends truly live up to the hype? Through no fault of their own, their image grows to a level no person can truly fulfill. This book is the epitome of that phenomenon.
George Washington Hayduke is based on a real person? That’s must read material when that person puts out a book. But Hayduke is fiction and Peacock is real, and the idiosyncrasies of a real person seem boring by comparison. Hayduke is all gas from the first page and never relents. Peacock uses words like “creosote” correctly. The former is undoubtedly more exciting, though the latter has the deeper thoughts. The downside of this book is having to read through repetitive descriptions of desert landscape to find Peacock’s wisdom.
George Washington Hayduke is based on a real person? That’s must read material when that person puts out a book. But Hayduke is fiction and Peacock is real, and the idiosyncrasies of a real person seem boring by comparison. Hayduke is all gas from the first page and never relents. Peacock uses words like “creosote” correctly. The former is undoubtedly more exciting, though the latter has the deeper thoughts. The downside of this book is having to read through repetitive descriptions of desert landscape to find Peacock’s wisdom.
February 25, 2025
Doug's journeys take us back to the core of our humanity: to the wild, to the past, to those we've wronged, those we've lost, and what we hope for our future. He reminds us of what we must protect.
For us desert-dwellers, the final chapters in Cabeza Prieta were exceptionally resonant. Peacock perfectly describes the wondrous solitude conjured by the rocky sand, deep washes, and unnamed peaks of that place. It's a landscape I have the honor to know, though I cheated to get there. I hope Doug, and Ed, would forgive me. And I'm so grateful that this book has taken me back there again.
For us desert-dwellers, the final chapters in Cabeza Prieta were exceptionally resonant. Peacock perfectly describes the wondrous solitude conjured by the rocky sand, deep washes, and unnamed peaks of that place. It's a landscape I have the honor to know, though I cheated to get there. I hope Doug, and Ed, would forgive me. And I'm so grateful that this book has taken me back there again.
June 16, 2020
Peacock is a thoughtful writer, and his book will be enjoyed by anyone who loves nature and is drawn to themes of introspection, self-reliance, and healing. Abbey lovers will really dig this book. A good companion to Confessions of a Barbarian.
February 7, 2022
Excellent narrative of surviving and thriving after being a medic in Vietnam (two tours). A true protector of wildness and a good friend of Ed Abbey's. Heyduke in Abbe's The Monkey Wrench Gang is modeled after Peacock.
March 8, 2021
Wonderful companion to "desert solitaire "
November 3, 2023
epic and classic experience of the desert SW by a superb writer
November 20, 2024
Another great book by a favorite author, more personal and insightful about him, Ed Abbey and of course, some grizzlies. He says what I could never put into words what it means to be alone in nature.
February 23, 2016
Doug Peacock lost his in innocence in Vietnam. As a Green Beret medic, he held a dead baby and cursed God. Haunted by death, he comes back from the war and hangs out in the American West, developing a contentious friendship with author Edward Abbey. Walking It Off is Peacock’s attempt to understand life in light of the death of Abbey, the breakup of his marriage, and his experiences in Vietnam. In the book, Peacock tells us about a number of his hikes right before and following Abbey’s death and what each hike taught him. One hike in particular, through Nepal, serves as the unifying thread throughout the book. Peacock tells about a near death experience he has in Nepal, where he has this great desire to live and see his children again. When he makes it out alive, he feels he has a new lease on life. After that hike, he returns to an area in Montana where he had studied Grizzly Bears to again confront these giant bears. Then he takes a solo desert hike along the Arizonia/Mexico border through a off-limits bombing range and the Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge, where he reads Abbey’s last book (Hayduke Lives) as well as Abbey’s notes on his own hike through this same country. Abbey based his Hayduke character on Peacock (Hayduke first appears in The Monkey Wrench Gang). There are similarities, but as is evident from Peacock’s writings, Hayduke is a fictional character. Noting the difference between Hayduke and Peacock, one friend commented about Abbey’s creation of Hayduke, “Friends don’t do that to one another.â€
Peacock is part philosopher, part naturalist, part psychologist. Throughout the book, he expresses his difficulties dealing with post-traumatic stress from his Vietnam years. The talk of new wars in the Gulf bring conjure up memories and old dreams. Peacock finds his true home in the wilderness, which he calls the “remnant of the homeland we never entirely abandoned.
There was a lot I could relate to in this book. My Appalachian Trail hike essentially helped me over a depressed time in my life. When I turned 40, I hiked the John Muir Trail. When I don’t know what to do, I often take a hike, even if it’s just a stroll through town or out in a nature preserve or in the nearby state forest. I was reading the last chapters in this book last Friday night when I got the call that a friend and mentor had killed himself, which brought Peacock’s dealing with death into a personal sphere.
I recommend this book to those who have read Abbey’s writings as well as those interested in wilderness or in the struggles combat veterans have reintegrating into society.
This review was published in my blog in November 2006.
Peacock is part philosopher, part naturalist, part psychologist. Throughout the book, he expresses his difficulties dealing with post-traumatic stress from his Vietnam years. The talk of new wars in the Gulf bring conjure up memories and old dreams. Peacock finds his true home in the wilderness, which he calls the “remnant of the homeland we never entirely abandoned.
There was a lot I could relate to in this book. My Appalachian Trail hike essentially helped me over a depressed time in my life. When I turned 40, I hiked the John Muir Trail. When I don’t know what to do, I often take a hike, even if it’s just a stroll through town or out in a nature preserve or in the nearby state forest. I was reading the last chapters in this book last Friday night when I got the call that a friend and mentor had killed himself, which brought Peacock’s dealing with death into a personal sphere.
I recommend this book to those who have read Abbey’s writings as well as those interested in wilderness or in the struggles combat veterans have reintegrating into society.
This review was published in my blog in November 2006.
December 29, 2014
Le hasard fait bien les choses : mon premier livre au cours de ces quatre derniers mois, qui ne soit pas lié de près ou de loin à l'enseignement, pédagogie, didactique... ou à ce fichu master à terminer. Premier livre en quatre mois. Une grande inspiration au terme de trop de temps sous l'eau. Une escapade pour se ressourcer.
Et donc pour en revenir au hasard heureux, retour auprès de l'un de mes héros, Doug Peacock, cette fois-ci dans "Walking it off", pour un voyage le long de trois sentiers essentiels de sa vie : le Vietnam, la fuite dans la nature sauvage à la recherche du noyau dur de son âme toute cabossée et le long deuil de son mentor, meilleur ami et figure paternelle, Edward Abbey.
Un voyage un peu différent du précédent, mais au cours duquel on retrouve, avec grand plaisir dans un épisode (un peu trop court), quelques ours au détour du Grizzly Hilton, mais également la relation jamais paisible de Peacock et Abbey, les dernières heures de ce dernier, les paysages étranges et inhospitaliers des contrées désertiques du sud ouest des USA et du nord du Mexique rendus magiques par les mots de l'auteur.
Un thème récurrent (je passe le traumatisme de la guerre et son absurdité, la réflexion Peacock étant plus intéressante sans remâchage-recrachage par un tiers) que l'on retrouve dans les écris d'autres Nature Writers, éco-écrivains et naturalistes, et que je trouve particulièrement intéressant, les notions de « wildness » et de « wilderness », l'un dans l'homme nourri par l'existence de l'autre qui doit être préservé afin de préserver le noyau dur de l'âme humaine... je m'exprime bien mal, et je m'embrouille pour le coup.
En bref, un livre que j'ai lu très rapidement et avec grand plaisir de retrouvailles de Doug Peacock, malgré des sujets difficiles, un récit très personnel, souvent touchant et parfois difficile à comprendre (sérieux, l'impact de la guerre sur la psyché, qui ne comprend pas les mots, mais qui comprend le traumatisme?), quelques touches d'humour et beaucoup d'humilité. Des passages à lire et relire, à travers les grands déserts sauvages et les contrées grizzlies. Mais sans doute en complément de Grizzly Years que je recommande plus chaudement.
Et donc pour en revenir au hasard heureux, retour auprès de l'un de mes héros, Doug Peacock, cette fois-ci dans "Walking it off", pour un voyage le long de trois sentiers essentiels de sa vie : le Vietnam, la fuite dans la nature sauvage à la recherche du noyau dur de son âme toute cabossée et le long deuil de son mentor, meilleur ami et figure paternelle, Edward Abbey.
Un voyage un peu différent du précédent, mais au cours duquel on retrouve, avec grand plaisir dans un épisode (un peu trop court), quelques ours au détour du Grizzly Hilton, mais également la relation jamais paisible de Peacock et Abbey, les dernières heures de ce dernier, les paysages étranges et inhospitaliers des contrées désertiques du sud ouest des USA et du nord du Mexique rendus magiques par les mots de l'auteur.
Un thème récurrent (je passe le traumatisme de la guerre et son absurdité, la réflexion Peacock étant plus intéressante sans remâchage-recrachage par un tiers) que l'on retrouve dans les écris d'autres Nature Writers, éco-écrivains et naturalistes, et que je trouve particulièrement intéressant, les notions de « wildness » et de « wilderness », l'un dans l'homme nourri par l'existence de l'autre qui doit être préservé afin de préserver le noyau dur de l'âme humaine... je m'exprime bien mal, et je m'embrouille pour le coup.
En bref, un livre que j'ai lu très rapidement et avec grand plaisir de retrouvailles de Doug Peacock, malgré des sujets difficiles, un récit très personnel, souvent touchant et parfois difficile à comprendre (sérieux, l'impact de la guerre sur la psyché, qui ne comprend pas les mots, mais qui comprend le traumatisme?), quelques touches d'humour et beaucoup d'humilité. Des passages à lire et relire, à travers les grands déserts sauvages et les contrées grizzlies. Mais sans doute en complément de Grizzly Years que je recommande plus chaudement.
December 24, 2015
I'd read Monkey Wrench Gang, quite belatedly, and thought Abbey was an asshole. I eventually clicked around and found this book and Grizzly Years, which I look forward to reading. At first, I wasn't terribly interested in Peacock's relationship with Abbey, or his war years. Mostly I was just interested in the long walks/PTSD stuff.
There's not a lot of war recollections, and I actually enjoyed the stuff about Abbey of which there's a fair bit. Doesn't change the fact the he was a racist and chauvinist, but beyond that, the wilderness stuff is quite appealing, and there's lots about long walks.
The book is fairly well written, quite personal, and brimming with thought provoking stuff. While I agree with much of what the author has to say, there are many many things where I think he just doesn't have a radical enough analysis to really make his thoughts pack a big punch. Still, I found it engaging, even though much of the time I would get in an argument with him in my head about his liberal ideas. Too much about human nature, his own ironic self-alienation from wilderness (don't ever touch anything or go anywhere, basically), and also sorts of other little quibbles. Still, while his politics fall a bit short, he certainly walks the walk in the more literal sense.
Overall, I'm glad I read the book and will read Grizzly Years soon hopefully.
There's not a lot of war recollections, and I actually enjoyed the stuff about Abbey of which there's a fair bit. Doesn't change the fact the he was a racist and chauvinist, but beyond that, the wilderness stuff is quite appealing, and there's lots about long walks.
The book is fairly well written, quite personal, and brimming with thought provoking stuff. While I agree with much of what the author has to say, there are many many things where I think he just doesn't have a radical enough analysis to really make his thoughts pack a big punch. Still, I found it engaging, even though much of the time I would get in an argument with him in my head about his liberal ideas. Too much about human nature, his own ironic self-alienation from wilderness (don't ever touch anything or go anywhere, basically), and also sorts of other little quibbles. Still, while his politics fall a bit short, he certainly walks the walk in the more literal sense.
Overall, I'm glad I read the book and will read Grizzly Years soon hopefully.
November 17, 2007
This is a difficult read, a journal of sorts, written by a good friend of Edward Abbey about his death and their friendship. I really enjoyed the honesty of it, the contractictions here felt like he really meant all of them, and I can identify with that. If you've read Abbey or like behind-the-scenes stories, this one is a quick read that is well worth it.
April 9, 2011
Lots of talk about Abbey, much of it making him seem much more human. It was interesting to read this in close succession to What Technology Wants - they have hugely contrasting starting assumptions.
January 14, 2008
Good book for hippies and eco-nuts.
March 9, 2012
A very good book with a phenomenal final chapter.
March 15, 2009
tough, funny, meditative, excellent memoir by Doug Peacock
Read
February 18, 2011Not the time in my life for this book now. He's an amazing person, but I'm not idolizing Ed Abbey right now.
March 22, 2012
Anguished, but excellent.
Read
August 19, 2008reflection of his relationship with Abbey and more detail into their wild ass adventures
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews