Best-Selling Author's ‘Book of the Year' Chronicles Death-Defying Journey
‘Tis the season for lacing up the hiking boots and getting lost in the wilderness. Or maybe just reading about it (wink).
Paperback purists, we have amazing news for you: A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventurein the Grand Canyon, by Kevin Fedarko, is finally available in a soft cover, Goodreads shares.
Released on May 28, 2024, the memoir details a 750-mile trek through the Big Ditch, offering a thrilling narrative and visceral descriptions of the surrounding landscape. Approached by his best friend, National Geographic photographer Pete McBride, Fedarko agrees to join his pal on a journey he is promised will be "a walk in the park." Although in reality, Fedarko knows it will be "the toughest hike in the world."
Over the next year plus, Fedarko and McBride traverse thousand-foot cliffs, impenetrable wilderness, and crumbling ledges, meeting the canyon's Native American tribes, who reveal deeper histories and challenge long-held myths about the country's national parks. They even cheat death - and live to tell the tale. Obviously.
In 2024, A Walk in the Park was named a Best Book of the Year, by Air Mail, Smithsonian Magazine, and The New York Times, with the latter publication calling it a "triumph" that "induced awe." Further awards for the Simon & Schuster title include the 2024 National Outdoor Book Award in Outdoor Literature and the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.
In a post the author shared on Instagram back in April 2024, Fedarko gets candid about the actual horrors the two experienced physically. While also sharing an excerpt from the book, he shares images that show exactly how much a "walk in the park" this journey was not.
An Excerpt From A Walk in the Park
"Believe it or not," Pete whispered, turning to me in earnest, "you and I don't even need to worry about being in shape for this hike."
"And why is that?" I asked, wondering how we could pull off an expedition of this magnitude without being in top physical condition.
"Because," he exclaimed, "the hike itself is the thing that's gonna get us in shape FOR the hike."
"Really?" I mumbled as I tried to wrap my mind around the logic.
"You bet - in fact, that's the coolest part of the entire plan, because it means that the whole time we're down there, the canyon is gonna be polishing us off like little gemstones, and by the end of our first phase… guess what?"
I could not imagine.
"You and me will turn into a pair of hardcore hiking buffs - and all we have to do for that to happen is show up!"
A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventurein the Grand Canyon, by Kevin Fedarko, is available at bookshop.org.
Related: Best-Selling Author's Classic Inspired by John Lennon Ranked in ‘Best Books Ever'
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This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 2:40 PM.