Kevin Fedarko with David B. Williams — 'A Walk in the Park'
Schedule
Tue, 16 Jun, 2026 at 07:00 pm
UTC-07:00Location
17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, WA, United States, Washington 98155 | Lake Forest Park, WA
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A rollicking and poignant account of an epic 750-mile odyssey, on foot, through the heart of the Grand Canyon.Third Place Books welcomes outdoor adventure writer Kevin Fedarko to our Lake Forest Park location to celebrate the paperback release of his acclaimed book A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon. Seattle naturalist and author David B. Williams joins in conversation.
This event is free and open to the public. For important updates, RSVP is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!
About A Walk in the Park. . .
* Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award in Outdoor Literature * Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction * Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, Air Mail, Smithsonian Magazine, and Financial Times
“A triumph. Fedarko doesn’t describe awe; he induces it.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Passionate…memorable…life-affirming.” —The Wall Street Journal
This New York Times bestseller from the author of The Emerald Mile is a rollicking and poignant account of an epic 750-mile odyssey, on foot, through the heart of the Grand Canyon.
Two friends, zero preparation, one dream. A few years after quitting his job to pursue an ill-advised dream of becoming a whitewater guide on the Colorado River, Kevin Fedarko was approached by his best friend, National Geographic photographer Pete McBride, with a vision as bold as it was harebrained. Together, they would embark on an end-to-end traverse of the Grand Canyon—a journey that, McBride promised, would be “a walk in the park.” Against his better judgment, Fedarko agreed, unaware that the small cluster of experts who had actually completed the crossing billed it as “the toughest hike in the world.”
The ensuing ordeal, which lasted more than a year, revealed a place that was deeper, richer, and far more complex than anything the two men had imagined—and came within a hair’s breadth of killing them both. They struggled to make their way through the all-but impenetrable reaches of the canyon’s truest wilderness, a vertical labyrinth of thousand-foot cliffs and crumbling ledges where water is measured out by the teaspoon and every step is fraught with peril—and where, even today, there is still no trail spanning the length of the country’s best-known and most iconic landmark.
Along the way, veteran long-distance hikers ushered them into secret pockets of enchantment, invisible to the millions of tourists gathered on the rim, that only a handful of humans have ever seen. Members of the canyon’s eleven Native American tribes brought them face-to-face with layers of history that forced them to reconsider myths at the very center of our national parks—and exposed them to the threats of commercial tourism. Even Fedarko’s dying father, who had first pointed him toward the chasm more than forty years earlier but had never set foot there himself, opened him to a new way of seeing the landscape.
And always, there was the great gorge itself: austere and unforgiving, yet suffused with magic, drenched in wonder, and redeemed by its own transcendent beauty. A singular portrait of a sublime place, A Walk in the Park is a deeply moving plea for the preservation of America’s greatest natural treasure.
Praise for A Walk in the Park. . .
"A Walk in the Park is a triumph. Fedarko doesn’t describe awe; he induces it, with page-turning action, startling insights, and the kind of verbal grace that makes multipage descriptions of, say, a flock of pelicans feel riveting and new. . . . Readers will be tempted to visit the canyon just to keep the book’s spell alive longer—and to feel Fedarko’s company in their awe."
—Blair Braverman, The New York Times Book Review
"An adventure book about hiking the entirety of the Grand Canyon, sprinkled with a bit of history and anthropology. Superb writing, and thought-provoking on why people choose to persevere."
—Financial Times, Best Books of the 2024
"Passionate . . . memorable . . . life-affirming."
—Wall Street Journal
“Kevin Fedarko’s unforgettable journey through the otherworldly depths of the Grand Canyon shows us the triumphs and pitfalls of exploration and illuminates the many vital lessons we can all learn from our precious natural world.”
—Carnegie Medal chair Allison Escot
Kevin Fedarko has spent the past twenty years writing about conservation, exploration, and the Grand Canyon. He has been a staff writer at Time, where he worked primarily on the foreign affairs desk, and a senior editor at Outside, where he covered outdoor adventure. His writing has appeared in National Geographic, The New York Times, and Esquire, among other publications. He is the author of The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon, which won the Reading the West Book Award, and A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon, which won the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. Both books were also New York Times bestsellers and winners of a National Outdoor Book Award. Fedarko lives in Flagstaff, Arizona. (Photo credit: KDI Photography)
David B. Williams is a naturalist, author, and educator. His many books include Seattle Walks: Discovering History and Nature in the City, Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound, and Wild in Seattle: Stories at the Crossroads of People and Nature, a collection from his free weekly newsletter, Street Smart Naturalist.
Want a signed edition of the featured book, but can't make it to the event? Order through our website or over the phone, and write your request for a signature or personalization in the comments field at checkout. Please call the hosting store if you're placing your order within 24 hours of the event.
For media or accessibility inquiries, please email [email protected] or call our Lake Forest Park store at (206) 366-3311.
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Where is it happening?
17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, WA, United States, Washington 98155Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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