Personally, I really enjoyed The Man Who Walked Through Time, and I would really recommend finishing it. The worst that can happen is you lose a couple of hours of time. (It's one of his shortest books after all.)

I liken some of his style to the "voyage as a vessel" style of Bill Bryson, who used a through-hike attempt as a vessel for passages that mostly dealt with Forest Service Policy or mine fires or other snippets of history. Fletcher's hike becomes a vessel for deeper transendental thought. However, I relate better to his thoughts that I do to Bryson's. (I DID enjoy A Walk In the Woods BTW; I just relate to the host of thoughts that wander through the mind on a long hike the way the Fletcher did).

To me, I really think I preferred the second half of the book better any way. Once he made it through the 3-mile scramble of unknown territory, Fletcher seems to mellow out and really relish the hike itself. I liked this one better than others like River , which seemed to drag just a bit. But he may not be for every hiker.

As for appealing to hippies, maybe so, but he also appeals to this older Marine turned teacher. I don't know that you could reasonably pigeonhole Fletcher's fan base.