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Was It Worth It?: A Wilderness Warrior's Long Trail Home
“If wilderness is outlawed, only outlaws can save wilderness.” Edward Abbey In a collection of gripping stories of adventure, Doug Peacock, loner, iconoclast, environmentalist, and contemporary of Edward Abbey, reflects on a life lived in the wild, asking the question many ask in their twilight “Was It Worth It?” Recounting sojourns with Abbey, but also Peter Matthiessen, Doug Tompkins, Jim Harrison, Yvon Chouinard and others, Peacock observes that what he calls “solitary walks” were the greatest currency he and his buddies ever shared. He asserts that “solitude is the deepest well I have encountered in this life,” and the introspection it affords has made him who he a lifelong protector of the wilderness and its many awe-inspiring inhabitants. With adventures both close to home (grizzlies in Yellowstone and jaguars in the high Sonoran Desert) and farther afield (tigers in Siberia, jaguars again in Belize, spirit bears in the wilds of British Columbia, all the amazing birds of the Galapagos), Peacock acknowledges that Covid 19 has put “everyone’s mortality in the lens now and it’s not necessarily a telephoto shot.” Peacock recounts these adventures to try to understand and explain his perspective on That wilderness is the only thing left worth saving. In the tradition of Peacock’s many best-selling books, Was It Worth It? is both entertaining and thought provoking. It challenges any reader to make certain that the answer to the question for their own life is “Yes!”
320 pages, Hardcover
Published January 25, 2022
42 people are currently reading
516 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 30 reviews
June 6, 2022
Wonderful book, very inspiring. I love adventure stories and this author really delivers on those. I hadn't heard of him before, but I am glad I got to read this book. He also writes about climate change in an interesting way, connecting to his adventure stories.
Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for an ARC to read. These are my honest opinions.
Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for an ARC to read. These are my honest opinions.
October 4, 2021
Well, it was certainly worth reading this book, which has the feel of sitting by a campfire with Doug as he tells stories about his life, concerns, and travels.
I’ll admit to some bias. I’ve been a fan of the author for decades since his own Grizzly Years was published (I later spent some years living in Yellowstone and hiking alone in grizzly country, and his perspective was helpful), and even earlier via Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang and the days (and nights) of the Earth First! movement.
These stories are mostly about wilderness and wildlife, and range from North America to Asia and the Galapagos; from bears to tigers to fish. Friends such as Abbey, Terry Tempest Williams, and many more join him on his travels. But my favorite may have been his account of a solo river trip, possibly on the lam from the FBI. He also writes seriously about climate change.
The man has led an interesting and important life, and I’m grateful that he shared these parts of it with us. Thanks also to Patagonia and NetGalley for the advance copy.
I’ll admit to some bias. I’ve been a fan of the author for decades since his own Grizzly Years was published (I later spent some years living in Yellowstone and hiking alone in grizzly country, and his perspective was helpful), and even earlier via Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang and the days (and nights) of the Earth First! movement.
These stories are mostly about wilderness and wildlife, and range from North America to Asia and the Galapagos; from bears to tigers to fish. Friends such as Abbey, Terry Tempest Williams, and many more join him on his travels. But my favorite may have been his account of a solo river trip, possibly on the lam from the FBI. He also writes seriously about climate change.
The man has led an interesting and important life, and I’m grateful that he shared these parts of it with us. Thanks also to Patagonia and NetGalley for the advance copy.
April 3, 2022
Doug Peacock is a national treasure. This book is a cache of insight and perspective - past present- on the state of affairs of the world and all of it's denizens. As a life long fan of Edward Abbey the book provides insights and details that only a true insider could reveal about Abbey - his work, his adventures and his passing are all given some time. The artifact of the book itself is superb....heavyweight paper, beautiful images and easy to hold and read. Sadly if feels like a swan song and the end of an era. I don't know who could possibly fill the space left behind people like Doug and Abbey, their life and times were a unique by-product of their era, upbringing and lived experience. I appreciate that Doug has taken to the time write down and publish his perspective and experiences. Future generations will need it as a vital reference in the years to come.
February 5, 2023
Listened to most of this on a long solo day in the mountains—a perfect companion. Had not heard of the author before this booked popped up as an Audible suggestion. I’m a sucker for a good outdoor and/or travel adventure story and a longtime fan of Edward Abbey’s work, so I guess the algorithm worked! I really appreciate Peacock’s humility and insight. He talks about trips with the founders of The North Face and Patagonia without a hint of pretension, and talks about post-Vietnam struggles of PTSD without any self-pity. This book has a matter of fact, down to earth tone while he tells epic and sometimes heartbreaking tales. Enjoy!
September 4, 2023
After reading Grizzly Years it was fun to read another book by Doug Peacock. Doug tells of the adventures he had with friends and family in various places across the globe, all with the theme of wildlife, wilderness, and how humans have altered the landscapes and ecosystems we inhabit.
October 18, 2021
https://rogueliterarysociety.com/f/wa...
...But the most astounding herd to roam the face of the Earth was the American bison of the Great Plains. The numbers we hear stagger the imagination: sixty million bison at the time of Lewis and Clark; a single group of ten million bison taking several days to cross a great river in Iowa…
What a travesty that paved the way for additional racial cleansing, the removal of Native Americans from their land, and the influx of cattle ranchers that would eventually lead to the decimation of the prairie. It has only been in the last two decades or so when people like the writer Dan O’Brien would reintroduce the buffalo back onto the grassy plains in order to restore the land to its natural state through the grazing bison.
...Our view of seeing ourselves separate from nature is the path that has delivered us to today’s peril. The year 2021 finds us in the middle of the sixth great extinction, largely driven by climate change and entirely caused by human activity…Will human civilization escape the planet’s baking heat? This endangered species list does not include two-legged primates; the hot winds of climate change are coming for us all…
The future does not bode well for human beings. Follow the money and the 1% who can afford to seek an unspoiled planet or devise an ulterior plan to survive what is sure to come. The rest of us will be left to suffer the despicable fate that our human race has made possible instead of protecting our earth, ensuring we have clean air and water, and plants and animals needed so that we might all live in harmony.
...I consider myself responsible for all my companions should an encounter with a white bear grow critical. That was what I agreed to do: walkpoint. The bedrock assumption, never discussed, that keeps my carrying the spear from becoming something other than a campy joke, is that you need to be willing to die…
Doug Peacock has had a lifetime of adventure. His courage and bravery is renowned. His many important friends are a testament to his good nature and love for the land. The knowledge and understanding he has gleaned from living in the wilderness in step with the largest of our predators is respected beyond a measure many of us would ever experience for ourselves. His stories are captivating and undoubtedly true. In his last years he is setting them down so we might learn from him and succeed in some way in helping to protect and preserve what might somehow miraculously be left, if anything.
...This bear, though his coat is black, is a “spirit bear,” a race of coastal mainland bears named for the one in every ten that is born white. The white bears are not albinos; their eyes are dark...A white-phase mother may have three black cubs, or a black-phase mom could have cubs born white, black, and cinnamon. The range of spirit bear, which some experts consider a subspecies of Ursus americanus, extends north to Kaien Island and south to Vancouver Island. Today, most are found on Princess Royal, Gribbell, and Pooley Islands or the adjacent mainland coast…
I would have never been made aware of a “spirit bear” had it not been for Doug Peacock. Sadly they will all be gone as the timber barons continue their onslaught for clear-cutting and destroying the only habitat these bears can prosper in. I remember learning in grade school the term “progress” which is exactly the opposite of what our leaders and innovators are accomplishing. In the decades since WWII we have witnessed the spread of urban blight, mass exodus from the cities to construct new developments, disposable in nature, built from resources already stretched to the limits, and the mountains of garbage and trash, overflowing landfills, and toxic waste threatening the lives we once held sacred. Doug Peacock is another in a too-short list of American treasures. Ignore him at your peril.
...Solitude in wilderness is the easiest escape from the prison of culture and self-importance…For more than four decades, I have done my best to protect wild places, grizzly bears, and other top predators. After this trip, I will head to the North Slope of the Yukon, where polar bears are interbreeding with grizzlies…a dozen feet of sea rise could arrive sooner than the end of the century, as the mainstream press has dangerously underestimated. The rate of climate change is mind-boggling. I am seeking clarity in this madness. Humans have glimpsed the mirror that reflects their own extinction…
To think that the polar bear initially evolved from the grizzly. Wow. And to fully understand the implications as it prepares to evolve again by reverting back through interbreeding. If that is not a sign of climate change then I do not know what can convince us. Perhaps the entire ice shelf being gone, the waters rising to degrees unimaginable to us, and our frantic climb to higher ground in the making. But heat rises and we will appropriately be burned to death because of our ignorance. There is no soft or comforting way in which to say it. And it will happen from the inside out.
...But the most astounding herd to roam the face of the Earth was the American bison of the Great Plains. The numbers we hear stagger the imagination: sixty million bison at the time of Lewis and Clark; a single group of ten million bison taking several days to cross a great river in Iowa…
What a travesty that paved the way for additional racial cleansing, the removal of Native Americans from their land, and the influx of cattle ranchers that would eventually lead to the decimation of the prairie. It has only been in the last two decades or so when people like the writer Dan O’Brien would reintroduce the buffalo back onto the grassy plains in order to restore the land to its natural state through the grazing bison.
...Our view of seeing ourselves separate from nature is the path that has delivered us to today’s peril. The year 2021 finds us in the middle of the sixth great extinction, largely driven by climate change and entirely caused by human activity…Will human civilization escape the planet’s baking heat? This endangered species list does not include two-legged primates; the hot winds of climate change are coming for us all…
The future does not bode well for human beings. Follow the money and the 1% who can afford to seek an unspoiled planet or devise an ulterior plan to survive what is sure to come. The rest of us will be left to suffer the despicable fate that our human race has made possible instead of protecting our earth, ensuring we have clean air and water, and plants and animals needed so that we might all live in harmony.
...I consider myself responsible for all my companions should an encounter with a white bear grow critical. That was what I agreed to do: walkpoint. The bedrock assumption, never discussed, that keeps my carrying the spear from becoming something other than a campy joke, is that you need to be willing to die…
Doug Peacock has had a lifetime of adventure. His courage and bravery is renowned. His many important friends are a testament to his good nature and love for the land. The knowledge and understanding he has gleaned from living in the wilderness in step with the largest of our predators is respected beyond a measure many of us would ever experience for ourselves. His stories are captivating and undoubtedly true. In his last years he is setting them down so we might learn from him and succeed in some way in helping to protect and preserve what might somehow miraculously be left, if anything.
...This bear, though his coat is black, is a “spirit bear,” a race of coastal mainland bears named for the one in every ten that is born white. The white bears are not albinos; their eyes are dark...A white-phase mother may have three black cubs, or a black-phase mom could have cubs born white, black, and cinnamon. The range of spirit bear, which some experts consider a subspecies of Ursus americanus, extends north to Kaien Island and south to Vancouver Island. Today, most are found on Princess Royal, Gribbell, and Pooley Islands or the adjacent mainland coast…
I would have never been made aware of a “spirit bear” had it not been for Doug Peacock. Sadly they will all be gone as the timber barons continue their onslaught for clear-cutting and destroying the only habitat these bears can prosper in. I remember learning in grade school the term “progress” which is exactly the opposite of what our leaders and innovators are accomplishing. In the decades since WWII we have witnessed the spread of urban blight, mass exodus from the cities to construct new developments, disposable in nature, built from resources already stretched to the limits, and the mountains of garbage and trash, overflowing landfills, and toxic waste threatening the lives we once held sacred. Doug Peacock is another in a too-short list of American treasures. Ignore him at your peril.
...Solitude in wilderness is the easiest escape from the prison of culture and self-importance…For more than four decades, I have done my best to protect wild places, grizzly bears, and other top predators. After this trip, I will head to the North Slope of the Yukon, where polar bears are interbreeding with grizzlies…a dozen feet of sea rise could arrive sooner than the end of the century, as the mainstream press has dangerously underestimated. The rate of climate change is mind-boggling. I am seeking clarity in this madness. Humans have glimpsed the mirror that reflects their own extinction…
To think that the polar bear initially evolved from the grizzly. Wow. And to fully understand the implications as it prepares to evolve again by reverting back through interbreeding. If that is not a sign of climate change then I do not know what can convince us. Perhaps the entire ice shelf being gone, the waters rising to degrees unimaginable to us, and our frantic climb to higher ground in the making. But heat rises and we will appropriately be burned to death because of our ignorance. There is no soft or comforting way in which to say it. And it will happen from the inside out.
February 7, 2022
This book of memoir essays is a richly layered elegy for an Earth this author spent his life loving, honoring, adventuring in, and fighting for. The places Doug Peacock brings to life in these pages are a lost world, a wild planet few in our time have taken the time, or had the courageous love and fearless compassion, to live with. In a chapter/essay titled "Why I Don't Trophy Hunt," Peacock tells a story that might just be his Ur-legend, quoting from the preface of another of his books, Grizzly Years: In Search of the American Wilderness:
I can't recommend this beautifully produced book highly enough, for its vivid prose, its seminal truths, its lush beauty, its breathtaking photos. Here, from the opening of the chapter/essay "Headwaters":
I will come back to this volume again and again, I'm sure of it. Thank you, Doug. It was most certainly worth it.
"The big bear stopped thirty feet in front of me. I slowly worked my hand into my bag and gradually pulled out the Magnum. I peered down the gun barrel into the dull red eyes of the huge grizzly. He gnashed his jaws and lowered his years. The hair on his hump stood up. We stared at each other for what might have been seconds but felt like hours. I knew that I was not going to pull the trigger. My shooting days were over. I lowered the pistol. The giant bear flicked his ears and looked off to the side. I took a step backward and turned my head toward the trees. I felt something pass between us. The grizzly slowly turned away from me with grace and dignity, and swing into the timber at the end of the meadow. I caught myself breathing heavily again, the flush of blood hot on my face. I felt my life had been touched by enormous power and mystery."
I can't recommend this beautifully produced book highly enough, for its vivid prose, its seminal truths, its lush beauty, its breathtaking photos. Here, from the opening of the chapter/essay "Headwaters":
"The Montana summer day eased toward the coolness of evening. As the shadows crawled across the river, swarms of insects began to churn above the shaded water along the bank, spreading until the water's surface was fogged with a rolling haze of caddis and pale mayfly duns. Trout began to rise along the rocks and at the current's edge. At the edge of a deep slot along the far bank, a thirteen-inch rainbow trout jumped clear of the water."
I will come back to this volume again and again, I'm sure of it. Thank you, Doug. It was most certainly worth it.
November 2, 2025
What can you say about the lives as iconic as the ones lived by Doug Peacock? That none of them were the status quo might be the most obvious as well as accurate observation. Doug is not what I’d call a biologist, but his contributions and dedication not only to grizzly bears but to the conservation of species and landscapes, seemingly, at every corner of the global provides supplies insight in equal or greater volume than what it lacks in scientific rigor. This book reads as a series of vignettes of Peacock’s experiences and adventures, ones shared with family, contemporary conservation luminaries like Doug Tompkins and Yvon Chouinard, iconoclast eco-warriors like Ed Abbey, and solo; the latter seemingly a tool to escape his own lingering trauma from Vietnam as much as anything else. This book is absolutely worth a read, and we can all take something, if not many things, away from it and apply them to the way we all chart our course through this world. Hayduke Lives.
February 13, 2022
The title is taken from a rock graffitied in the Arizona desert in 1906. Peacock stumbled across it in the Cabiza Prieta Wilderness during his many walkabouts. It’s also where his friend Edward Abbey is illegally buried. One can’t but wonder if this is Doug signing off too. He’s 79 years old and alluding to his mortality.
It’s not so much a memoir as beautifully told snippets or reminisces of moments of zen that are connected by a life worth living. Each chapter is a gem in an extraordinary necklace of life. The sojourn in the Sierra Madre and his return to his boyhood home in Michigan to reinter Native American and prehistoric artifacts are sublime narratives.
It’s not so much a memoir as beautifully told snippets or reminisces of moments of zen that are connected by a life worth living. Each chapter is a gem in an extraordinary necklace of life. The sojourn in the Sierra Madre and his return to his boyhood home in Michigan to reinter Native American and prehistoric artifacts are sublime narratives.
February 16, 2023
After reading Rick Ridgeway's book, I thought I needed some time off before trying this one, expecting another old white guy waxing poetic about the guys he knows and the stuff he got up to in his younger years.
The reality: I found Peacock way more engaging as an author, and as a human (he snuck out into the desert to illegally bury Ed Abbey-that's totally rad!). As a result of this book I have ordered two of his others. His stories are more interesting to me because it seems like he's more there for the nature than to test his own limits, which is more my style.
The reality: I found Peacock way more engaging as an author, and as a human (he snuck out into the desert to illegally bury Ed Abbey-that's totally rad!). As a result of this book I have ordered two of his others. His stories are more interesting to me because it seems like he's more there for the nature than to test his own limits, which is more my style.
September 16, 2023
So Doug leads us through a book that absolutely proves that, at least, his life Was Worth It. Adventure after adventure sometimes alone, sometimes with all the most famous climbers and wilderness warriors alive. A few not so alive. Ed Abbey's death seems to have hit Peacock especially hard as Abbey is mentioned many times leaving a sort of wistfulness that he should still be along on the adventures. Peacock has written several books, many about grizzly bears. After seeing 6 in Glacier Park personally, I will be reading his bear books anon.
November 15, 2021
I was given this book in return for my honest opinion. This book is not my usual cup of tea but I found it immediately intriguing and learned so much in spite of myself. I found it so interesting in just the tracking of these beasts……that’s what they are. Found this so educating in,a fascinating way. I would recommend this book for reading. I think big game hunters in the America would find this is a must read.
January 20, 2022
This memoir finds the iconoclast Peacock in various wild places around the world with his friends, some well-known, having adventure and living large. An entertaining series of stories through some dangerous wild places, this book also serves as a sharp reminder of what we are losing in the wake of climate change and becomes an urgent plea to change our ways.
[I received an advanced e-galley through Netgalley.]
[I received an advanced e-galley through Netgalley.]
August 3, 2022
An engaging autobiography from the man who inspired Ed Abbey’s “Hayduke” in “The Monkey Wrench Gang”. Peacock’s real life is even more interesting than his fictitious self. Green Beret medic in Vietnam, studier of Grizzly Bears, wilderness explorer and protector etc…
The tales ring true without the type of embellishment that memoirs sometimes elicit. An enjoyable read, well worth the time.
The tales ring true without the type of embellishment that memoirs sometimes elicit. An enjoyable read, well worth the time.
September 23, 2022
I especially liked his solo earlier adventures. His descriptions and prose sometimes read like poetry. These solo trips offered some nice insights into his wandering spirit. His later trips with his high end adventurers seem to break that special something he had when alone. Still exciting and interesting, nevertheless, an enjoyable read.
December 18, 2023
Doug Peacock is my hero. I wanna be like him but can’t. So I live vicariously through his adventure stories and interactions with the earth and its inhabitants. He has wisdom about the earth not through university degrees but by being out there. By observing. He sees a lot. Any friend of Abbey, Quammen, Harrison, or Bass is a friend of mine. A great read and epithet for our planet.
May 22, 2022
Peacock at his best
Of all the work by Peacock that I have read, this may be my favorite. It touches on all of his passions, instead of just bears, which I dearly loved. So, was it worth it...yes, it was
Of all the work by Peacock that I have read, this may be my favorite. It touches on all of his passions, instead of just bears, which I dearly loved. So, was it worth it...yes, it was
August 4, 2022
This is an excellent collection of essays by Doug Peacock. He explores his ideas of wilderness and the state of the world facing us all. He also laments the loss of his friend Edward Abbey. This is a great read.
August 28, 2024
Awesome essays, what amazing well written adventures. I love repatriation of arrowheads...and Far East Russia, all the bear stories and Yellowstone he makes you imagine being right there. Love his writing and that he is friends with Terry Tempest Williams, another favorite writer.
October 8, 2024
This was a solid follow up to reading some Ed Abbey. Doug Peacock is the inspiration for Hayduke and it's cool to read of his passion for nature, it's roots and the adventures it's lead him to. Also, I'm jealous of the time he came up in.
February 7, 2022
Quintessential Doug Peacock writing and sharing. Each chapter an adventure.
October 16, 2022
Great book! Great adventure stories! Great photos!! Great wilderness warriors. Didn't want it to end!
November 7, 2022
Interesting. DNF
July 9, 2024
This is a brilliant book with rich writing and an incomparable voice. One of the most salient environmental voices of our time.
September 15, 2025
Grans descripcions, però un ritme massa lent pel que jo buscava. Tot i amb això, la lectura és amena i instructiva.
March 27, 2023
Doug makes me wish I would have spent more time alone in nature; and I plan on doing so more in the future. There are not many truly wild places left, but I love a good adventure story told by someone who has been in the wild and returned to tell their story.
July 7, 2023
The third book of Doug Peacock’s I’ve read in the past year and I know I’ll want to read every word he’s written. He’s had so many incredible experiences and his writing feels like you’re sitting at a campfire with him listening to stories.
March 21, 2023
A fun collection of essays by the former Monkey Wrench gang enforcer about some of his adventures that haven't been captured elsewhere. I found the book a little uneven. Some chapters, like the burial of Ed Abbey, his trip to the Galapagos and his views on trophy hunting , were keenly insightful and absolutely delightful. Other chapters, like his tiger seeking adventure in Russia, were hard to get through and seemed little more than a journal of his travels, with no real insights or wisdom. Overall, really enjoy Peacock's writing. He has an admirable ethic to fiercely protect wild spaces and I appreciate his work toward that goal.
August 4, 2023
He’s fascinating and brave as hell and shares his trauma from Vietnam and his love of nature and his connection to it is authentic. I feel a real kinship with this man, but he isn’t the best writer and he seems repetitive and a bit disjointed. I heard him speak in Tucson and similar speaking skills. Just not very engaging or maybe I was just off myself that day.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews