Books and my backpack

Along with a cup of coffee, the John Muir Trail: Topographic Map Guide helped us get our bearings each morning during our August 2021 trek. Our group used it to plan our day and agree on a meeting place near our planned campsites.

The thin, colorful, waterproof booklet packs 17 two-page maps in 4-by-9-inches, which makes it a perfect fit behind a water bottle in a backpack side pocket. We sometimes used a GPS app to verify our location, but when we wanted to find campsites, water sources, elevation, ranger stations, or which way to turn, this booklet proved invaluable. Of course, you will still want a GPS app to get updates on water sources, especially during a dry year like 2021.

If you are looking for bear storage containers, side trails, the name of a geographic feature, campfire information, or mileage between key points, your answer is just a quick reach away.

The maps are offered in digital downloads and there is an index of landmarks. Details about resupply, wilderness safety, and permits are also included, along with a 21-day itinerary.

We found Alan Castle’s John Muir Trail Cicerone guide to be a helpful accompaniment, with narrative packed full of valuable information.

I have read many good books in 2021, but Jerry Steimel’s Chasing Zorba jumped out at me for my book of the year. You will enjoy getting to know Jerry and his journey will intrigue you on several levels.

Oh, by the way, one follower of this blog found the answer to my find-the-book challenge within minutes. Well done, Jeff.

I am pleased to republish my discussion about Chasing Zorba below.

In 1972, Jerry Steimel graduated college, jumped in a VW Beetle with his lifelong friend, and set out to live his dream, a cross-country trip to California. But his VW Bug had other ideas, quickly ending the trip with mechanical breakdown.

Steimel’s dream wasn’t deterred. Forty-five years later, he jumped in another Volkswagen, a 1973 air-cooled van, and set out from his home in Massachusetts for another try, this time solo. But Jerry Steimel hardly traveled alone.

In Chasing Zorba: A Journey of Self-Discovery in a VW Bus, he is guided by author Nikos Kazantzakis and his book, Report to Greco, whose life lessons begin each chapter. He names his van Zorba after Kazantzakis’ book Zorba the Greek. Steimel’s goal: California. And so much more.

Some call his plan lunacy. But Steimel is out to discover comfort in taking risks rather than living as if he is just waiting to die. He doesn’t hurry, neither in his writing nor his driving, and his literary and physical journeys are a meander. But, in the end, the book rushes up and grabs readers before leaving them with memories anchored in what it means to live life to its fullest.

Steimel goes to great lengths to find places, like the West Virginia site where four high school boys launched rockets and their lives to heights beyond their wildest dreams. It is the site of the film October Sky, which Steimel watched a dozen times. That figures, you see, because Jerry devoted 45 years to social work, lifting kids who needed an extra push.

Steimel weaves places and American history with the people he meets as he drives mostly back roads, having to stop more than now and then to take Zorba to mechanics for adjustments. The journey tests Steimel and Zorba in ways they could never have anticipated.

The author and his VW Bus still miss the turn of the key every morning. And I miss wondering what is around their next turn.