Cheryl Strayed on the 1995 Pacific Crest Trail Thru-Hike That Changed Everything

[DGUtley]

Cheryl Strayed on the 1995 Pacific Crest Trail Thru-Hike That Changed Everything

Ten years after the publication of ‘Wild,’ the beloved author shares her thoughts on the haters who thought she was unprepared, the transformative power of doing big things, and where Monster is now

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A decade ago, Cheryl Strayed had $85,000 in credit-card debt. She was a working mom taking care of two small children and grabbing whatever time she could to write. In April of 2012, while on a book tour for her new memoir, she got a text from her husband saying the rent check had bounced.

The book she was promoting was Wild, her account of a 1995 hike covering 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail—from the Mojave Desert in Southern California to the Bridge of the Gods, which crosses the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. During the hike she was 26 years old, on the trail alone, and fleeing the demons of divorce, heroin, and the untimely loss of her mother to cancer. She was carrying so much baggage, quite literally, that she couldn’t lift her pack.

Despite the book’s popularity, some self-appointed outdoor experts reacted as if Strayed had done something irresponsible. She was unprepared, they said, and her book had lured dangerously ill-equipped newbies onto the trails. Those critics misunderstood Wild, Strayed says now. At its heart, it’s not a story about through-hiking. It’s about her life and the universal experiences and lessons it contained. As contributing editor Mark Sundeen wrote in a piece for Outside Online just after the book’s publication, “Despite its backcover billing, Wild is not a book about hiking, travel, adventure, or nature. It’s a memoir of redemption—and wilderness just happens to be the stage.”


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https://www.outsideonline.com/cultur...=pocket-newtab

[donttread]

Cheryl Strayed on the 1995 Pacific Crest Trail Thru-Hike That Changed EverythingTen years after the publication of ‘Wild,’ the beloved author shares her thoughts on the haters who thought she was unprepared, the transformative power of doing big things, and where Monster is now Attachment 51573A decade ago, Cheryl Strayed had $85,000 in credit-card debt. She was a working mom taking care of two small children and grabbing whatever time she could to write. In April of 2012, while on a book tour for her new memoir, she got a text from her husband saying the rent check had bounced.The book she was promoting was Wild, her account of a 1995 hike covering 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail—from the Mojave Desert in Southern California to the Bridge of the Gods, which crosses the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. During the hike she was 26 years old, on the trail alone, and fleeing the demons of divorce, heroin, and the untimely loss of her mother to cancer. She was carrying so much baggage, quite literally, that she couldn’t lift her pack.Despite the book’s popularity, some self-appointed outdoor experts reacted as if Strayed had done something irresponsible. She was unprepared, they said, and her book had lured dangerously ill-equipped newbies onto the trails. Those critics misunderstood Wild, Strayed says now. At its heart, it’s not a story about through-hiking. It’s about her life and the universal experiences and lessons it contained. As contributing editor Mark Sundeen wrote in a piece for Outside Online just after the book’s publication, “Despite its backcover billing, Wild is not a book about hiking, travel, adventure, or nature. It’s a memoir of redemption—and wilderness just happens to be the stage.”Attachment 51574 Attachment 51575 Attachment 51576 Attachment 51577https://www.outsideonline.com/cultur...=pocket-newtab

A quick disclaimer would take care of that. Something like"This worked out for me but if you go out there unprepared you might die" This reminds me of a book I read a few years back about a less that super prepared hiker who walked the AT. Great book, risky walk."A walk in the woods" by Bryson someone