Barbara M. reviewed on 3/10/2019 + 147 more book reviews

Friend loaned me this book--glad I didn't have to pay for it. It's a slim book (311 pages) which I read in less than a week. The author has some writing talent (if not, I would have probably given this one star). I was initially intrigued at the idea of the author hiking solo for three months on this 1000 mile trail. What apparently inspired Cheryl to undertake this was the death of her mother. Up to that point, Cheryl's life was a bit of a mess--while married to an apparently decent guy, she had a number of affairs and got into drugs (including shooting up heroine).

When Cheryl decided (rather impulsively it seems) to hike the PCT, I expected her journey would be one of self-discovery with an epiphany when the hike ended. Before the PCT, Cheryl was not a hiker. Although she was undertaking a three-month, 1000 mile journey, Cheryl was not well prepared. She spent months saving money and making multiple trips to REI to buy a lot of supplies (many of which she didn't need). Aside from wearing her hiking boots around a bit to break them in, she did nothing else to prepare for the hike. Cheryl never even tried putting her packed backpack on and hiking around with it to get used to that--heck, she didn't even pack her supplies into her backpack until she arrived at her starting point on the PCT.

The trek was done in the mid 90s (1995, I believe). She gave little thought to the dangers she might encounter as a woman hiking alone. Cheryl had a couple occasions that were scary. She had opportunities to travel with others she met on the trail but she always declined--her reasoning was she needed to hike the trail alone (sometimes she would meet up with these folks on the trail and would camp overnight with them but would continue to hike alone).

I hadn't gotten too far into the story when I realized I found Cheryl to be a rather unlikeable character. She seemed self-absorbed and was annoyed that her siblings and step-dad didn't react the same way as Cheryl when Cheryl's mother lay dying in the hospital and even after mom's death. Throughout the book, Cheryl would reflect back on certain periods of her life. She grew up in a dysfunctional family--her dad was physically and emotionally abusive to Cheryl's mom, who would take the kids and leave only to return and leave and return multiple times until she finally left for good. Mom openly smoked pot in front of her children, justifying doing so by saying it was a plant so it was OK. When step-dad entered the pic, they moved to some acreage in north-central MN (I grew up further north in NE MN) and lived a hippie lifestyle in a house that had no plumbing or electric. They had a bunch of animals, including at least one horse that Cheryl's mom had bought.

After mom's death, step-dad didn't hang around long--he found a girlfriend whom he eventually married. The homestead was basically abandoned but the animals were left there. Some ran off, some died, and a neighbor tried to care for the remaining animals. When Cheryl made a trip to the family home, she was appalled at how the horse looked--she was old (31) and very thin. Cheryl claimed she didn't have the money to have the horse euthanized by a vet (although she never contacted a vet to see what it would cost and if she could make payments). So, after consulting with her grandfather over the phone, Cheryl and her brother decided to shoot the horse. If this story is true (and I started having doubts midway through the book as to how much of her hike and even previous life events were real or figments of her imagination), I question why she felt it necessary to include the story about the horse's demise. As a long-time horse owner (who has had two horses euthanized and lost another horse to a tornado), I found it very disturbing.

Another thing that made Cheryl unlikeable was that she made frequent references to how hikers (especially the men) were in awe of how heavy her pack was and seemed impressed that she could actually carry it. One experienced hiker finally went through her pack to determine what things she didn't need (which was about half the items) so her load was lightened considerably. We learned as the hiker was going through Cheryl's pack that Cheryl had included a package of 12 condoms! Really!? If I were going on a three-month, 1000 mile backpacking trip, condoms wouldn't be a necessity. The hiker told her she didn't need the condoms but Cheryl kept one.

Cheryl acknowlged that being out on the trail and often going a week or two without bathing made her look and smell pretty bad. Yet, if you can believe her telling, she was still irrestible to many men whom she met on her trek because she was told numerous times about how "pretty" she was. In fact, she did have a one-night (or it might have been a weekend) fling with a bartender she met and although she did not have the condom with her, she threw caution to the wind.

In the Author's Note at the beginning of the book, Cheryl states that she used personal journals and memories of events when writing the book. The book is copyrighted 2012, 17 years after the hike. She supposedly carried writing materials (notebooks, etc.) in her pack but refused to part with those even when the experienced hiker got rid of her unneeded things. Yet, she never mentions journaling during her hike. She frequently talks about reading at the end of the day (she carried books with her) after her tent was set up, she'd eaten, and was going to sleep. Yet, she never mentioned journaling during the hike.

I don't thinrk Cheryl is an inspiration--she managed to survive the PCT IN SPITE of herself. Her book should be a tutorial on how NOT to do a long hike.

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