A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

hiking the AT

Book Review: Sheltered

(Note: I am in two challenges this month, so this is running a little earlier than I normally would publish a post. My 30 minus 2 Challenge post will be published early in the afternoon.) 

In 2011, I did a series of stories about people who had hiked the Appalachian Trail. It truly is amazing to hear people speak about their experiences.

One of the people I wrote about was Emily Harper, a Pennsylvania teenager hiking more than 2,100 miles on her own. It’s pretty amazing to hear about something like this. Late in 2012, she e-mailed me and let me know she wrote a book about her experiences and was curious if I wanted to read and review it.

Of course!

Sheltered

She sent me two copies — one for me to read and review and the other to give away. So if you’re interested in winning this autographed book, see the bottom of this post for the details.

With all that in mind, this is an honest review of the book, which takes you along the Appalachian Trail through her eyes. Her details are quite strong, he writing is conversational and, the one thing I truly loved, she didn’t hold anything back. It’s a colorful tale of her time along the trail, off the trail, her experiences and the people she met and hiked with.

It’s not perfect by any means. It’s a self-published book and it has some errors throughout. I’ll touch more on those later. While it’s true that I probably gave a little leeway here because of what she accomplished at her age, I’m still a writer and reader first — and I had to put myself in each of those shoes throughout. The price seems a little on the high side at $15.50 for paperback (on Amazon) and $5.99 for the Kindle version (on Amazon). If you are an Amazon Prime member, you an borrow the Kindle version for free, which is a good thing.

Still, as somebody who claims he will eventually write a book or three, I know the dedication and time needed and understand what she went through. But there are a lot of basic things in the book that made me cringe a little, which sometimes makes it hard to continue, no matter how good the stories are.

In the end, I’m glad I got the chance to read it, especially knowing I had written about her before. This is probably a good read for younger women thinking about tackling this hike by themselves as Harper is really straight forward with things and shows you what it’s like for a woman on the trail.  Now, I’ll get a little more in-depth on my likes and dislikes.

The Good

There’s something to be said about not holding back any punches. Harper definitely doesn’t and that’s refreshing.

She’s candid about people she hiked with and met. She offers up her attitude on different things. She flaunts that hiking as a female can often be way better than being a guy. And she also shows a softer side in situations.

I liked that.

Many hiking books I’ve read don’t show that. They show you the eyes of the hike, introduce you to some people and make it sound pretty good. There’s no doubt that Harper’s hike wasn’t perfect. In fact, if you read the book, there might be times where you’ll say something out loud, wondering what she was thinking. Or that you didn’t like how she acted. I know I did. But I liked that. Because she didn’t paint herself as an angel. She also didn’t paint anyone else as being perfect.

Harper had some interesting hiking partners. From the ones she started off with and eventually was left behind by, to the ones she truly seemed to care about and wonder about what happened with them. She paints a picture in the reader’s mind of these people. She lets you develop your own thoughts. I like that.

The other thing I did like is this book is more like a journal. And, as somebody who read her online trail journal during her hike, it was nice to see that style in her book.

It’s personal, but can be impersonal at times. It’s written in a style that isn’t literary. Many people may not like this style. I don’t mind it with this book. It has to have a certain flavor for me to enjoy a style like this and I can dig it here. It’s almost like she handed me an old leather-bound book, handwritten for her long journey.

That, however, tends to lead into something that isn’t liked by most…

The Bad

Spelling. Grammar.

If one is to expect people to spend money on a book, the author needs to do everything in his or her power to make sure the book is clean in regard to spelling and grammar. I respect the self-publishing route. I’m not snobby like some who think self-publishing is a bad thing. In the modern day, some people need to go that route to get books published. And I’ve found many, many books I’ve truly enjoyed through authors who took that route.

That doesn’t, however, excuse one from doing everything in his or her power to make sure things are right.

There were a lot of mistakes in this book. I had started writing them down and finally stopped after a while. It was frustrating at times. Though I got through the book relatively quickly, there were moments I had to put the book down because I couldn’t accept the issues. I always went back, though, as the story was good.

The major errors includes punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.

A few examples including misspelling of things such as Willy Wonka, which was spelled Wanka. Or not capitalizing “Subway.” There were places where words needed hyphens, or needed to follow the right tense — one spot said “… but made my arms ached.” There was a chapter, too, where she spoke about some hiking friends and spelled the name of one person two ways.

Some people might be able to overlook issues like this, but I couldn’t. It was hard at times. A few things like this is one thing, but having it littered throughout makes one wonder if it was ever proofed or edited. If not, it could use a good edit and then maybe put out “a second edition” to update things a bit. Having two or three people — ones who aren’t afraid to tell the truth — edit a book before hitting the publish button can be worth their weight in gold.

I also would have liked a little more explanation at times, such as telling the reader what “root ball” is, besides it being a game some hikers played during their time on the trail.

Rating

Taking everything into account, I’m not going to lie that this was an extremely hard book to rate. There were so many good things, but then the issues with grammar and spelling really took the wind out of my sails.

I just didn’t know.

The reality is, I’d probably split this one down the middle. In other words, I’d give it a 2.5 or so. But that’s not based on the content. So, with that in mind, I’d bump it to a 3 out of 5 and would be more than willing to go a bit higher if a second edition came out with a bunch of edits. The 3 is worth is on content and style alone. But I couldn’t go more with knowing the issues with common things, some of which probably could have been avoided with a slow spell/grammar check in Word.

Artwork (For The Artful Readers Club)

This book is also one I’m reading for The Artful Readers Club. In this club, we read one book per month and also have to so some sort of a piece of art to go with it. For the second straight month, I went with an advertisement. I wanted to use a hiking shelter, but I couldn’t find any in my archived. I thought I had some. Instead, I just went with a trail photo.

For the Artful Readers Club.

Book Giveaway

I have a signed edition of this book that I’ll be giving away. So for the next two weeks, I’ll accept entries. Just drop a comment down below and you’re automatically entered in the drawing. Note that the book will be shipped via media mail to the winner.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

On the Appalachian Trail with Blue

Chris Nadeau (Blue) at an AT blaze painted in the road. (Photo courtesy of Chris Nadeau)

The reality of the Appalachian Trail is that not everyone who attempts to thru-hike it will finish it.

In fact, according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, 75 percent of the people who have tried to hike the trail have not finished. That’s a lot of people not finishing.

But, the trail isn’t easy. It covers 2,180 or so miles from Georgia to Maine. The AT climbs over rough terrain, high mountains, dense woods and narrow ledges. It’s not always for the faint of heart.

People will plan this hike for years and still not finish. Even with all the time and money vested in planning for this hike, not everyone will complete the jaunt, which could take six months or longer.

All in nature.

The goal, of course, is to finish the hike. And it would be hard to think that anyone starting out in March in Georgia would have different thoughts.

Chris Nadeau certainly did not when he began his hike earlier this year.

Alas, four states and 815 miles into the hike, Nadeau called it quits in one of the toughest decisions he said he’s ever had to make.

Tough reality

“I decided to end my hike about two weeks before I actually did,” said Nadeau, a 22-year-old business management major at East Tennessee State University.

The Portland, Maine native, who moved to Ashville, North Carolina in 2003, said he and his friend Laura has been close for about five years. And as things seemed destined to turn into a relationship, he was preparing to leave for the hike, a move he notes probably wasn’t the best for at that point.

“Leaving in March with such an important relationship on my mind was not smart,” he said. “Along with that, I wanted to finish school. In the back of my head, I knew I had one more year to go, and I wanted to be done. I spent Memorial Day Weekend with Laura at Lake Keowee in South Carolina, after being picked up. It was then I decided I would stop this hike and do a complete thru hike when I was more firm with other things in life.”

Nadeau (far right) and others at Springer Mountain, Ga., at the start of the hike. (Photo courtesy of Chris Nadeau)

That move was probably the best for Nadeau as having thoughts, worries or doubts about other things wouldn’t be a good way to hike a massive trail, such as the Appalachian Trail.

Still, when you are doing something you’ve wanted to do, it’s not easy to back away as evidenced by the two weeks it took him to actually get off the trail.

“That was the hardest decision in my life to date,” he said. “I’ve never been faced with such a hard decision. I was deciding to stop the goal I’ve wanted to achieve for the longest time.

“I shed many tears for weeks after,” he continued. “I felt lost. I felt regret. I felt let down. … I had worked so hard for what?

As much hurt and regret Nadeau had at the time is now erased. He’s more than six months into a relationship with Laura, he’s getting excellent grades in the business program at ETSU and he’ll graduate in a year with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management.

Don’t think there aren’t moments, however.

“There are still nights I cannot sleep and feel very sad, but that is completely normal,” he said, especially knowing that many of the people he hiked with were still on the trail and several of them were scheduled to summit Mount Katahdin in Maine in early October.

Fear not — from the ashes of bad come good.

“Laura plans to hike the trail with me in 2013,” Nadeau said. “We both agree that if we can make it through the trail together, we can be together for life. With that said, we’ve been best friends for the longest time, and are still best friends today. I’ve always thought how great it would be to marry my best friend, and she is that.

“The last day I was on the trail a lady told me, ‘end you hike now before you ruin your love for hiking altogether.'” he said. “That was a very true statement and I did so without any regrets.”

Memories are still there

Despite not finishing the trail this year — something Nadeau said he will eventually do — the trail was full of memories and things happening. He made it 815 miles, which is something the majority of people in this world couldn’t claim. With those miles, he went through Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. The final state has more than 550 miles of the trail.

Nadeau at the Georgia/North Carolina border (Photo courtesy of Chris Nadeau)

“There are too many good times to list,” he said.

Even the bad times seemed to turn into the good times, Nadeau said.

The first could almost be a clip from an old 70s or 80s movie. He left Silers Bald Shelter in Swain, North Carolina at 8 a.m. with about five inches of snow on the ground. His goal was to make it to Newfound Gap some 13 miles away to meet his mother.

Knowing it was 2.7 miles to Clingmans Dome, he set out on the hike. But with nobody going before him, he was on his own. Most, he said, were going to wait for the snow to stop and get a half-day of hiking in.

But, Nadeau had a plan and he was going forth.

“After starting out, I realized it was the most dangerous move I had made yet,” he said.

He arrived at the shelter before Clingmans Dome at about 11 a.m., so it took him three hours to hike about two miles. He got lost twice. Couldn’t see the AT’s famed white blazes. Worse, his water was frozen and he was out of cigarettes.

When he got to the shelter, he was greeted by some medical students from Ohio, who gave him a cup of coffee and a smoke.

Of course they wondered what Nadeau was doing hiking in that weather.

“I simply said, ‘I want a hot shower.'”

Another hiker, Blue Stick, showed up 30 minutes later and said he would have never made it if not for Nadeau’s footprints.

Nadeau then set out for Clingmans Dome, hoping to hitch a ride from the summit. Alas, the road was closed because of the snow. Not seeing any signs and having a hard time staying on the trail, Nadeau wondered why it took so long to get to the summit.

Then he saw it. A sign with an arrow pointing to Clingmans Dome — 4.6 miles away.

“I had hiked right past the summit not even knowing it,” he said. “I was practically sliding down the trail of ice, my water was frozen solid, and I was mad to say the least.”

Six hours after leaving Silers Bald, he arrived in Newfound Gap. The road had since been opened and tourists looked at him funny. He kept getting the questions about where he had come from, what the AT and wonderment about hiking in the snow.

A teacher from the University of Kentucky gave Nadeau a lift into Gatlinburg and was dropped off at a gas station, where he promptly bough a soda and two packs of smokes. He chain-smoked five and 15 minutes later, his mother arrived to pick him up and take him to Asheville, where he rested and spent time with his girlfriend.

Nadeau said some other good times included meeting up with a lot of people at the Low Gap Shelter in Georgia for their annual St. Patrick’s Day reunion. He also had a good time at Fontana Dam Village when they walked up on a Frat Spring Formal and were invited to take part.

He said, too, his hike almost ended way before it did when his leg slid between rocks and he thought he had broke it. He hiked four miles into town, which took about seven hours. After going to the emergency room near Bland, Virginia, he was told to stay away from hiking for a week or two.

Being on the trail

First things first, Nadeau hiked under the trail name “Blue.”

He was ahead of a bunch of hikers one day and arrived at the destination, which was about 1.2 miles from civilization. So he hiked that distance with an empty pack to load up on beer. He ended up with about five cases of brew and worked his way back.

On his way back, he met a fellow playing a banjo on a footbridge. He stopped to listen to him play and chatted with — trail name — Shaw. He lived near there and made small banjos and other musical instruments. They had a beer and smoke together and Shaw said “You’re my boy, Blue.” That name stuck.

As with most things, there are positives and negatives of being on the trail.

“This depends on the person,” he said. “I believe everything that comes with hiking the AT is ‘positive’ for the most part.”

But, he said, there are days that you feel negative. Nadeau said he learned more on his 815 miles than in any classroom. You learn basic skills, but you also meet people you will stay in contact with for life.

Nadeau (far left) with a whole crew of hikers in Franklin, NC (photo courtesy of Chris Nadeau)

A fellow hiker noted to Nadeau on the first day that one will always want more. Nadeau said that is 100 percent true

The negatives are about things away from the trail, such as making sure you have bills covered, loved ones are ready for the mentality of you being away and things like that.

“Positives certainly outweigh the negatives when it comes to the AT,” he said. “What bad is to come while enjoying Mother Nature at her best?”

An average day on the trail is routine, Nadeau said. Wake up with the sun, drink some water, pack gear, some more water, eat breakfast and another liter of water.

He’d then strap on the pack and start walking. The hiking between breakfast and lunch went fast as he said he thought about everything. He said he tried to stop every 2.5 miles or so for five minutes. He always checked his guide to see where he was. Despite not having a “true” schedule, Nadeau said he knew where he wanted to be by the end of the day.

A big thing he said, was to always make sure he was drinking water and to fill up whenever he had the chance.

“I ran out twice and it isn’t a fun feeling,” he said.

One he got to his destination, he set up his tent and got things ready. he’d cook, drink more water and relax, which often included a smoke or two. Some people asked why he smoked on the trail and Nadeau said it was meditating.

At night, he would reflect on the day and drank Crystal Light mixed in with his water, which he noted tasted great after nothing by water all day. When it got dark, he went to bed and always wrote in his journal before sleeping, so he had an ongoing account of everything that happened on the trail

The future

Nadeau said he will attempt is again, in 2013. This time he won’t have 58 pounds on his back. The goal, he said, will be to have his pack at about 24 points.

“I’ll know what I am getting into, how to cook my meals, what to eat and how to make sure I sleep at night,” he said. “I know absolutely nothing about long-distance hiking last time, even though I had read numerous books about the trail.”

Nadeau (left) and others taking their first steps to the AT -- heading to the approach trail. (photo courtesy of Chris Nadeau)

And he’ll have time to prepare, too.

This time around, he walked every chance he got.

“Honestly, I don’t believe you can prepare for such a hike physically,” he said. “Your body will physically adapt to hiking every day within the first month on the trail.”

Mental preparation, he said, is the biggest part.

“Make sure you are ready to endure weeks of rain, very cold nights, and days without showers,” Nadeau said. “Get used to eating trail food, make sure you can cook your food or have a plan.”

In the beginning, it took him a long time to set up his tent. Now, he said, he could practically do it with his eyes closed. It all comes with practice. Everything eventually becomes routine on the trail.

And with 815 miles under his belt, that routine shouldn’t take too long to get rolling again in 2013.

Tidbits

Here are some quick-hitting tidbits from Nadeau’s thru-hike.

  • On why he wanted to hike the AT: After summiting Mount Katahdin on Sept. 10, 2010. “I’ve always loved the outdoors. I’ve always done a lot of car camping and so on. I had never hiked more than 60 miles before starting the AT.”
  • Going in, had he done any other long-distance hiking? “Not much.” Nadeau said he spent 10 days in the Grand Canyon with his mother when he was about age 12. They did day hikes and always returned to the same campsite. Last November, he hiked about 60 miles around Buena Vista, Virginia.
  • Plans to maybe do other long-distant hikes? Nadeau said if he won the lottery, he’d do the AT next year, the Pacific Crest Trail the following year and the Continental Divide Trail the third year, thus completing the United States Triple Crown of hiking. “I do not have the time or the money, so therefore I’ll stick to the AT for now. I have much support all over the East Coast and that is nice feeling to have especially when it is really needed.”
  • Best trail town? Hot Springs, North Carolina. “It’s the closest to my house and I had an unbelievable feeling when hiking down into town.”
  • Worst trail town? Gatlinburg, Tennessee. “I’ve been there too many times to count so it was old news for me and I had a very bad day hiking into the town,” Nadeau said. “It’s a great place, unless you don’t like tourists. It is a very tourist-friendly town and there are people all over the place.”
  • Anything he wished he did on the trail? Finished and hiked New England. Being originally from Maine, he thinks about hiking New England all the time. Too, he said sometimes he pushed too hard to get miles under his belt instead of slowing down and enjoying the surroundings more.

To read more from Nadeau, check out his Trail Journal, which he updated throughout his hike.

Below is a video that Nadeau’s brother put together using photos from the 815 miles that he hiked. It’s about 45 minutes long. Enjoy!

815 Miles on the Appalachian Trial on Vimeo.

Series schedule:

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Reminder! Contest going on! I am holding a contest this week for an autographed copy of Bill Walker’s book “Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail”. It runs from October16- to 12:01 a.m. Oct. 28. You can see all the details on the contest page. Enter for your chance to win!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

On the Appalachian Trail with Amish

Amish on the Appalachian Trail. (Photo courtesy of Emily Harper)

Imagine setting out on a life-changing event basically alone. Sure you’ve made contact with a few people who are also doing the event and there are many more you’ll meet along the journey…

… but you are basically going solo.

Then add to this that you are a young female — 19 years old — and are hiking a nature trail from Georgia to Maine. You’ll be backpacking, camping, meeting all sorts of people and having to fend for yourself.

How many young females do you know who would spend a summer doing all of that? Many might be preparing for college. Working. Or doing whatever else.

Not Emily Harper.

Harper, a groundsman for a tree company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, had no thru-hiking experience. She said the goal was to lose weight.

So what the heck, let’s hike some 2,180 miles.

Harper also got the chance to live a care-free summer. She met people. Lived independently. But it wasn’t all cookies and cake for Harper, who noted the trail is long and can be quite boring.

Again, however, it wasn’t easy.

Harper took 5 1/2 months to complete the trail. She started March 5 and finished August 18.

That’s a long time to be out wandering a trail.

As for doing future long-distance hikes?

“Not anytime soon,” Harper said.

Who can blame her?

But the future of hiking for Harper, known in the hiking circles by her trail name “Amish,” isn’t something that she needs to worry about now. The reality is she did something that many people won’t ever even try, let along complete. Along the way, she met many people, had a ton of new experiences and found out all about hiking and herself.

She didn’t give in. She took the time needed to complete the hike and she finished. That alone is something to be able to be incredibly proud of. But along the way, she made memories that won’t ever leave her. And that, too, is something that makes a trip like this worthwhile.

Being female on the trail

It’s a good bet that if someone quickly thought about hiking a 2,180-plus, they would be a male. That’s because the bulk of the hiking people appear to be male.

Females are out there, too. And the number of female long-distance hikers appears to be growing. Harper is one of those female hikers. Though she started with a group of people, she eventually separated and began hiking solo.

“Hiking alone can be boring,” she said. “Solo can still be hiking with others, just not a solid commitment, which makes it more fun. People always ask ‘are you traveling alone? Isn’t that scary?’ It’s not that bad. Guys are friendly. If there’s a sketchy character, the other hikers are there to help.”

But fear not for the female hiker. Harper said it’s better to be a female on the trail.

After all, if hundreds of guys are hiking the trail and see one another for many miles. Having a female to talk to and get the different perspective is a good thing, usually.

Amish (right) with a fellow hiker. (Photo courtesy of Emily Harper)

“On the trail, it is a whole lot better to be a female,” Harper said. “People are more friendly to females.”

And how?

Well, Harper said, females are more likely to be given rides into town quicker (hitching), get food or be invited into people’s homes.

“It’s a real treat,” she said. “I’ve met guys who would have to wait hours to hitch a ride. I’d take 10 minutes. Because there are so few females on the trail, I was rare, and felt more special.”

She noted that many guys complain, however, about how females look on the trail and that the females like going into towns. Yet, she said, guys don’t seem to have a problem heading into town as well and beer and meat are two of the things they like to delve into when hitting towns. So, it would appear both males and females could have something to complain about with one another.

Hiking her hike

The original goal, she said, was to lose weight. Seems simple enough. But to hike through sometimes rugged terrain, by yourself, on a 2,180-plus mile trail?

It turns out that this trip became more than losing weight.

For starters, she learned a lot about herself.

“I get lonely and very attached to people,” Harper said. “More so than some. I don’t like hiking by myself and I love staying at other people’s homes.

“I am persistent,” she continued. “Don’t judge people. Everyone has something to offer.”

Persistence goes a long way for Harper, who did things here own way it seems. From hiking with different groups to hiking at night, she did her own thing.

But, even those things could give her the chills a little.

“My first time night hiking was kind of scary,” she said. “I was alone by choice. I was trying to catch up to some other hikers but even so, there were other hikers planning to leave an hour or two after me. I was to anxious to go and I couldn’t sleep.

“I jumped when I heard things rustling and freaked out when I saw eyes staring at me,” she continued. “Which, once I got close enough, I saw it was just a deer. A whole herd of deer.”

Those weren’t the only things that could get to Harper’s spirit.

“It can also be a bit nerve-racking when you start to run out of food,” she said. “And it’s plain annoying when you run out of toilet paper.”

Looking back

Harper said she had her highs and lows on the trail. Though mostly a positive experience, some things weren’t perfect.

“I wish I took my time,” she said. “Being that I started out with a group that had 20-mile days normally, it was hard for me to justify being slow. I felt like I could enjoy myself sitting all day in a shelter. Or stopping to talk to people. I did though. I tried.”

She said some of her best times were hiking at night and being able to watch the night turn into day. As for the bad, she said there were times when she would push herself too hard and everything hurt, which made her break down and cry.

There were regrets, too.

One included when she was hiking through the White Mountains in New Hampshire. She said the only places for hikers to stay are huts where hikers can work to stay (instead of paying). Hikers would work and get cold food, having to wait until about 7 p.m. to get fed.

The last hut she stayed at was called Madison Hut. Thru-hikers were given a small room instead of the cafeteria floor. The hut people made sure the hikers were fed well.

“It was, by far, the best treatment of all the huts I stayed at,” Harper said.

But, Harper said she did a lousy job of helping. She ended up leaving and said later other hikers were disappointed in her because of her actions.

Funny times also happened for Harper.

Take a day she had a long day and got to a shelter. There were two guys in there and Harper said she knew right away they weren’t thru-hikers. At that point, they were digging for worms to go fishing.

After not finding any worms, Harper said she suggested slugs as they were everywhere.

Turns out the two guys also didn’t have a hook.

“They seemed undaunted,” Harper said. “The one carved out a hook from wood.”

The two replaced that wood hook with a safety pin that Harper gave them. And, being she was looking for some really good food, she even offered to help the two.

“I can just imagine the fish sizzling,” she said. “So I tell them that I’ll make the fire.”

The two fellas had fishing line and tied it to a hiking pole. They kept losing the slugs as bait and then tried leeches, which didn’t work well. In the end? No fish.

But, better than the food was that this was pure entertainment. Other thru-hikers were entertained and the two guys gave Harper their extra food.

“Which I took, most happily,” she said.

Harper said some of her best days included ones with views — such as being able to see wild ponies on the trails. Some of the worst days included one where she was swarmed by mosquitoes all night as she attempted to sleep and it was too hot to be inside her sleeping bag.

Helping others

Now a veteran of the trail, some people might as Harper for thoughts if they wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail.

Her advice?

Research. Put money toward a backpack, sleeping bag and tent. Don’t have mail drops.

“Be friendly to everyone,” she said. “You don’t know when you might see them again. Be friendly to day hikers. They might give you food and take your trash.”

And now that she’s done the hike, it might be a little easier to prepare for the long commitment it takes to complete it.

“It’s all mental,” she said. “Make sure you have the support of your friends because you’re going to need it.”

Small things that are important include getting pack weight done and knowing why you want to carry each piece of gear.

“You’d don’t want to spend money on things you don’t need and you don’t want to carry something you never use,” she said. “I had a luxury deck of cards, but even that I didn’t hold onto the whole trip.”

Tidbits

Here are some quick-hitting tidbits from Harpers thru-hike.

  • On what she did in the days following her hike: Organized things, met with friends and started cooking, other than boiling water.
  • How many sets of shoes she went through on the trail: Two pairs of trail runners and got a third pair in Hanover, New Hampshire, though she said she did that unwillingly. Her old shoes had no grip and would slip all the time. “It was nice to be sure-footed once more,” she said.
  • Best trail town? Damascus, Virginia. “I hiked my highest mileage (33 miles) into it. I took two days at “the place.” It was such a milestone (that) I was at this town. I knew I had a chance of completing the trail.”
  • Worst trail town?: “Any place I couldn’t find a free place to stay.”
  • Her trail name, “Amish,” comes from being from Lancaster, Pennsylvania where there is a large Amish population. Whenever she told people where she was from, they asked her if she was Amish, so the name was born from that.
  • Would she do the AT again? “Perhaps. I’d want to go with someone nice.”

To read more from Amish, check out her Trail Journal, which she updated throughout her hike.

From her journal, she also had a brief video on YouTube to show her first few months on the trail. This seems like a great way to really be able to keep track of a hike like this. Document it all! Have a look:

Series schedule:

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Reminder! Contest going on! I am holding a contest this week for an autographed copy of Bill Walker’s book “Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail”. It runs from October16- to 12:01 a.m. Oct. 28. You can see all the details on the contest page. Enter for your chance to win!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

A hiking contest

In conjunction with an upcoming series of blog posts I have on thru-hiking, I am having another contest.

And the prize in this is a doozy!

It’s an autographed copy of Bill Walker’s book on his thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.

It’s a great book.

If you enjoy reading a humorous and — at times — serious look at hiking the Appalachian Trail, this is for you. If you like good stories, this is for you. If you like adventures, this is for you.

This book made me laugh many times. And it really gave me a different view of the Appalachian Trail. It showed the human side and, well, it showed me what it’s like for someone who isn’t a “big time” hiker to give a go and finish the Appalachian Trail.

Over the next two weeks, I’ll be running a series of stories about people who have hiked or attempted the trail. In all, there are four stories on the people, one other as a preview and then I’ll wrap it up at the end with the winner of this contest.

That means, this contest will run until 12:01 a.m. Friday, October 28. The winner will be announced Friday, Oct. 28 in a post on this blog.

So what do you have to do?

It’s simple. All the details are below, but the short of it is this — I want a hiking story! (There are several other ways to earn extra entries, but you must do the first one before the others will count!)

So think deep about it. Decide your story. Enter soon!

The series of stories starts tomorrow, too. So check back to see the start and follow the series of stories!

The contest: Hiking stories.

How to win: In the comments section, give me your best hiking story. It doesn’t have to be major hikes. It could be a quarter-mile hike to find a geocache. Or a 25-mile hike to an amazing view. Just try and make it something in nature. Though I’m sure getting nearly attacked by a house cat on your way to the store would be a funny story, it’s not hiking!

The story can be serious or funny. Short or long. Just give us some details!

Other ways to enter: You have to first do the main contest entry. After doing that, you can earn additional entries by doing the following (a person can do each one, but only once each. So you can earn a total of five entries into the contest.):

  • Like A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook (on the right side of the blog at the top of the page. If you have already liked the blog, let me know and I can give an entry that way, too).
  • Write a post on your blog about this contest (make sure you let me know so I can check it out!)
  • Tweet about this contest by copying and pasting the following (please copy this exactly… it will fit in a tweet):

@softball29 at A ‘lil HooHaa is having contest! Enter at https://hoohaa.com/?p=2491 !  #hiking #contest #skywalker #billwalker #appalachiantrail

What can you win? An autographed copy of Bill Walker’s book, “Close encounters on the Appalachian Trail”!

Who can enter: This contest is open to anyone. (Note, this is a larger package — so if an international person wins and there are any customs, you will be responsible for it. I don’t know if there will be or not. Shipping is on me).

How decided? Random draw.

Entry deadline is 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time) Friday, October 28. Results will be announced in a blog post here at noon on October 28.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Book Review: Becoming Odyssa

Becoming Odyssa.

This book transcends just hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

It takes you through a journey of a young woman growing over her time on the trail. It shows different sides of her. Style. Belief. Growth. Fears. Hopes. The whole nine yards.

This isn’t a normal play-by-play book about the Appalachian Trail.

The true different side to this is that this book is written by a woman who was hiking the trail alone. All of the other books I’ve read about the Appalachian Trail are written by men. So this book really gives one a different side of the story, so to speak.

Jennifer Pharr Davis brings a good writing style to the table and knows how to tell a story. She talks about encounters with nature, people, trail towns and more. She gives strong details about her thoughts and interactions with other people. Davis also gives you her beliefs and faiths, which to some might be a little too much, to be fair.

Still, in the end, it’s a good tale of her trip in growth — physically, mentally and spiritually. The book wasn’t perfect — as I’ll share below — but overall it was a solid read and quite enjoyable.

Now for my thoughts…

The good

The big winner in this book is that it comes from the eyes of a different gender. Reality is, a woman hiking 2,200-plus miles solo on a trail with many men would open a lot of eyes. Especially a young female. Men routinely grow their beards and almost become “mountain men” while on this trails, so I’m sure that alone could give a young solo female hiker the chills.

Her fears seem to match many, but put yourself in the shoes of a young female hiker, making a trip like this on her own and detaching herself from what she really knows for the first time.

That’s Odyssa.

Her stories make you smile. They make you cringe. They make you wonder. She finds a wonderful way in weaving it all together to make sure things make sense and flow well.

She also wasn’t afraid to show her flaws. In the book, she’ll readily admit her hike was less than perfect. And for that, she’s to be commended. She had an unorthodox way of competing her thru-hike, but I’ll let you see if for yourself. She also shows the benefits of being a female on the trail (easy hitching into towns, for example), which is a different view from many AT books out there.

The bad

Though I have no issue with the reality of her beliefs, I do think we get a little too much about God in this book. As someone who doesn’t often share his beliefs with people, I sometimes find having to hear about or read about other people’s beliefs overbearing. Still, I didn’t have an issue with it in the short-term. I just thought that she hit upon it a little too much. And she had no problem talking about how she’d share her thoughts and all with others. To me, that was a little too much at times as, in a few places, it seemed to disrupt the flow of things.

This isn’t all bad, however. This helps her be more at free with how insecure she got at times. It helped her along the trail, thus turning it into a positive. I just have to mention these things as for some others, it might be a turnoff when reading. So be prepared.

Remember, too, that most books I read are on the Kindle. This one had several words that should have been capitalized and weren’t; had a few silly grammatical issues and a couple of style issues. Being I didn’t see the printed version, I’m not sure if this is just the one for the Kindle or both. I’ve seen other books that made it to Kindle that had these type of mistakes but didn’t in the print edition.

Overall thoughts

Not too shabby. I really like the different vantage point for the book. It makes me happy to know that some people don’t think of this trails as a way to prove manliness (to be fair, most of the AT books I’ve read are not like this, but some trail journals are). That this book comes from the perspective of a young female is excellent. It shows a different side of the trail. The female side. The side of someone who can’t walk two feet off the trail and relieve themselves next to a tree. It’s a good look at how hard of a trail this is for many people, especially females.

On a side note, Odyssa returned to the AT this year and set the record for the fastest thru-hike, male or female. She completed the trail in 46-plus days. Amazing. She even had a day where she hiked 60 miles. SIXTY miles! Wow.

Rating

I give this a solid 4 out of 5 stars. It was a quick read and I found myself getting through it easily. Her style is good, her stories are engaging and she has a colorful way of telling her tale. Highly recommended, especially if you are a fan of the Appalachian Trail or hiking in general.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!