How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
I sat bolt upright. Instantly every neuron in my brain was awake and dashing around frantically, like ants when you disturb their nest. (1.11.107)
If Bryson hears a sound in the middle of the night, he instantly assumes that it's a bear dead-set on eating him in particular, because he's so delicious. Katz, on the other hand, would rather keep catching Zs than pay any mind to these suspicious noises.
Quote #5
"I know how much you come to rely on the goodness of strangers. The trail is really all about that, isn't it? And to have that taken away, well…" (2.13.31)
Although it's unlikely, the chance of getting slashed up by a Charles Manson-wannabe on the Appalachian Trail is very real. In fact, Bryson travels through an area in Virginia where two women are murdered just months later. As if bears weren't enough, Bryson now has to worry about people.
Quote #6
Of all the catastrophic fates that can befall you in the out-of-doors, perhaps none is more eerily unpredictable than hypothermia. (2.17.1)
Just the thought of hypothermia makes us shiver (pun intended). As Bryson explains, the real threat of the condition isn't freezing per se, but the effect it has on one's brain. A little bit of frostbite can be managed just fine, but nothing's going to get you back on your rocker once you've fallen off.