Has anyone else read this fascinating book? Laura's admonitions on conditions and caution reminded me of it: especially Strayed's treatment of our favorite region. No spoiler here; a teaser though: Strayed planned and researched her trip for a year, but her first day on the trail was her first day with a pack on her back. Ever.

Girl after my heart - she carried a Joyce novel!

Just finished the book. With the total lack of preparation, little knowledge of anything related to backpacking, and sheer stupidity on many levels, I truly do not understand how she survived. With that said, what a resilient woman she is!

Hm. I must not have read the same book.

I didn't read this one but, from reviews and descriptions, it continues to confirm my worst fears about too many PCT hikers. It's amazing we don't have more fatalities early season when they're just getting to the Sierra. I did read The Cactus Eaters. Very well written, but amazed that a guy could hike so far and learn so little.

g.

Thanks for mentioning this book, Cheryl Strayed's Wild, which I finished today after hearing about it here. Yes, she got lucky a bunch of times. She also, over the course of her journey, got wiser and stronger (while continuing to make some big mistakes). She doesn't soft pedal her mistakes. I thought she was a very good writer. (I've read that Reese Witherspoon has optioned this book for a possible movie.)

The take-aways, for me, were positive: (1) you should research and be prepared for the PCT, and if you are not, it can be a dangerous place (or even if you are prepared); (2) you don't have to be superhuman to have a worthwhile trek on the PCT. As regular hiker/backpacker, I already had a reasonable grasp of the potential dangers and need for preparation; however, this book put the idea of a long thru hike more in the realm of the "possible" for me.

Other PCT books I have recently read, for those who may be looking for this genre:

The Cactus Eaters: reasonably well-written, but I didn't find the author all that likeable, and ultimately, and his writing style seemed a little forced to me.

Dances with Marmots: written by a colorful New Zealander. Could use some editing, but funny, fresh, and entertaining. This guy had me chuckling in a lot of places (and not just the typos, like referring in one place to the PCT's East Coast counterpart as the "Appellation Trail" (oops)).

Skywalker: Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail: in places, starts to read like a catalog, but generally a reasonably interesting story that gives one a sense of what it is like. Written by a guy who is 6'11", so calories were a particular issue...

JMT Book

Walking Towards Thunder. Decent, fictional, account of hiking the JMT. Written by a guy, told from a purportedly female perspective (which in some places falls through).

The High Adventure of Eric Ryback: sort of the king of this genre.

I inherited a a whole library of first edition paperbacks and I stumbled onto this one a few years ago (along with The Tracker, SAS Survival Guide, Anarchist Cookbook....I digress..)