As I walked onto the boat that would take me to the start of the Milford Track, a hike on the South Island of New Zealand, a New Zealander looked at my A.T. shirt and said: “Oh yes, the Appalachian Trail. I read the book.”

I knew exactly what book he was talking about: A Walk in the Woods.

The A.T. was completed in 1937, but it took Bill Bryson to popularize it beyond the hiking community. Bryson, an American living in Britain for 20 years, wrote several travelogues. When he moved back to this country, he discovered that the A.T. went right through his town of Hanover, N.H., and so he got the idea to walk the trail and then write the book.

Now, Robert Redford and Paul Newman are in serious discussions about making a movie adaptation of Bryson’s book. If that happens, the popularity of the AT could explode.

Some hikers, though, note that Bryson didn’t walk the whole A.T. and therefore annoyed everyone who did. He only completed 870 miles out of 2,174, but his book was funny and became a bestseller. It’s the book hikers love to hate.

“When the book came out, I went to a book signing,” said hiker Mark Stoffan, a librarian for the Western North Carolina Library Network. “I learned that he only did a quarter of the trail and he had the temerity to write a book. Then I realized that it was just a humorous book. The A.T. was his vehicle. It could have been any trail.”

Rachel Doughty, an Asheville lawyer at Wildlaw, a nonprofit legal firm, wondered why they don’t write a book about people who actually did the trail.

There are hundreds of books by people who walked the whole trail. Most, written from journals, are not as funny as Bryson’s. They’re sold in outfitters stores or on the web. Ed Garvey, who wrote Appalachian Hiker in 1971, is credited with being the first person to explain his A.T. preparations and gather useful information along the way that could benefit those who followed in his footsteps.

Garvey, who went on to hike the A.T. two more times, explains that there are two ways to do the A.T. One is to tell no one of your plans and then you have the freedom to quit. The second is to tell your plans to everyone and then you are committed.

Redford and Newman haven’t worked together on a movie since The Sting in 1973, but they’ve been looking for a final project together for a while. Redford will play Bryson and Newman will play Steve Katz, the jerk who kept littering the trail in hopes of lightening his pack. Redford said he hopes that “A Walk in the Woods” could be their swansong before Newman, 80-years old, retires. Julia Roberts wants to play Bryson’s English wife. In the book, the wife did not appear much but if Julia Roberts has the part, she would play a bigger role.

Redford, 68 years old, and Newman will be portraying guys much younger than themselves. Bryson attempted to walk the trail when he was 45 with a pot belly. His recent hiking experience had been on British footpaths where he didn’t even have to carry lunch because there would be a pub on the way.

The first reaction from hiker Chip Miller, a letter carrier from Arden, was: “Are they going to film this one in Romania, also?”

That reference, of course, was to the movie “Cold Mountain,” which was set in North Carolina and especially Haywood County but was filmed in Romania. The bitter taste from that decision still lingers with many in WNC, especially those who fell in love with the book.

Gerry McNabb, president of the Carolina Mountain Club — which maintains the A.T. from Davenport Gap to Spivey Gap — says the movie will almost certainly be a comedy. “They will make fun of the trail and the situations. What are they going to do about Katz, who threw out his gear on the A.T.? Are they going to have disclaimers like, ‘Don’t try this on the trail?’”

Marianne Newman, a hiker from Waynesville, said Bryson didn’t seem bothered by the idea of presenting himself as a complete fool.

“I commend him for that,” she said. ‘My only concern about the movie is that those geezers might give the impression that old age is the root of their hiking problems. That wouldn’t be good or accurate.”

Larry Odoski, who owns a map shop in Black Mountain, sells a lot of A.T. guides. “I’d love to see that movie. The movie will spur people in the short term to think about the A.T. Redford/Newman — so they’re old. Big deal. It’s not like it hasn’t been done before.”

He’s right. Barry Lee, nicknamed “Easy One,” at 81 years old became the oldest man to thru-hike the AT when he completed it in 2004. Grandma Gatewood from Ohio still holds the record of the oldest woman to thru-hike in 1957 when she was 69.

Paul Benson, a town planner in Waynesville, liked A Walk in the Woods in book form.

“But now with the movie, every middle-age man who has never hiked is going to start. They’ll figure, if Paul Newman who is 80 can do it, so can I. But the movie is also going to legitimize chucking it in. After all, Redford and Newman gave up.”

Linda Beja, from Cullowhee, admitted that the book was hilarious.

“But I am concerned that the movie might do for the A.T. what Deliverance did for the Chattooga River. It will invite hundreds more people on the A.T.”

Though Linda’s concerns may be legitimate, it will no doubt be more difficult to commercialize a six-month hike than a one-day river trip. There have been attempts to offer guided walks on the A.T. with little success. Guides don’t walk with you; instead, they meet you at designated campsites with tents, your gear, and dinner. You carry a day pack and don’t worry about planning the big hike, filtering water, or hitching into town to buy food.

Morgan Sommerville, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s regional director for the Southern section, enjoyed the book, though it was not the best view of “Leave No Trace” principles.

“The book increased the number of people starting the A.T., and the movie will too. This is an opportunity for trail education since all these new hikers will start in our area.”

Thru-hiking is not the only way to complete the trail. Tom Sanders, a WNC native and retired college professor, took six years to walk the A.T. and finished when he was 67.

“One should not take it as an accurate depiction of what it’s like to hike the A.T. Sure, I’ll see the movie.”

The movie will make hiking cool again. Rachel wanted to know how she could be an extra. Ruth Hartzler, a hike leader, said it best, “Anything that Paul Newman is in, I will like.”