Monday, July 21, 2014

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
by Cheryl Strayed, 311 pages

Another female author with a memoir-ish book about a journey they have embarked upon. Is is just me, or do all these women have the same whiny voice? Would I sound the same if I wrote one of these books? I hope not.
Cheryl loses her mom, gets divorced as a result of her own infidelity, and decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail for 3 months, totalling about 1100 miles. She's not really a hiker or a camper, so she mostly relies on the kind staff at REI to advise her on this trip. She meets all sorts of interesting people, encounters many rattlesnakes, a few bears, and even a pretty little red fox. She makes a lot of bad decisions.
I don't know how legit I can even consider her trip, since she mailed herself things at various stops along her route, such as money and food. I guess I'm okay with it since her trip WAS 3 months long and it would be hard to carry 3 months worth of food on your back (her backpack was ridiculous as it was).
Reading about the nature and wilderness she got to experience was the only really good part of this book. It did make me start thinking about a trip such as this myself. Well, actually nothing like this. But I do enjoy nature.

3 comments:

  1. Dang. Cheryl Strayed, Elizabeth Gilbert, Piper Kerman, all on blast.

    Take THAT New York Times bestseller list.

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  2. Yes, this book made me want to go for a hike. A much shorter one. Like a day hike, MAYBE overnight.

    Also it made me grateful for my toenails.

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  3. I'm used to losing toenails from running, though not to the extreme she lost hers...

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