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A review by maddie_reads_stuff
AWOL on the Appalachian Trail by David Miller
4.0
"Experience is enriched by reliving it, contemplating it, and trying to describe it to another person."
David tells of the 5 months he quit his job, took on the name Awol, and hiked the AT from Georgia to Maine.
Growing up, my dad would take my sisters and I on hikes to the Appalachian Mountain Club huts in the White Mountains. For a few days every summer, we'd hike (sometimes unwillingly), enjoy nature (or not, the summer it hailed), fill out our Junior Naturalist worksheets (no downsides here!), and spent quality time (or, on grumpier days, "quantity time") in the mountains. Each year was a different hut, a different hike, different weather, but one thing was constant: our encounters and fascination with thru-hikers. Rugged, hairy, able to hike more in an afternoon than our untrained legs could handle in a weekend, they were living legends.
From these experiences, we grew familiar with the AT and were excited to see the headquarters in Harpers Ferry or the trail magic when we drove through the Smokies. But none of us has attempted (or, I guess, will attempt) a thru-hike. Still, every once in a while, I'll think about the trail, and follow parts of strangers' journeys on trailjournals.com. It was in the middle of this phase that I found this book on my family's shared kindle, and decided to give it a try.
Like the journals of current thru-hikers, much of the story is Awol counting miles, naming peaks and campsites, thinking about food, meeting fellow hikers, and worrying about the unending aches inherent in a 2200-mile hike. Unlike the current journals, David has had time to insert minor foreshadowing and personal philosophies. And you can read through the whole trip without waiting for five months! It's a good compromise between the daily life on the trail and the overall impact of the trail and the hikers on each other. (Still, if you don't want to hear about popping blisters and losing toenails, this might not be your book.)
In response to the book, many people have told Awol that he inspired them to hike the AT. His reply? "Clearly these readers have not paid attention to what I have written." Whether hoping to hike the trail or not, AWOL on the AT makes for a very good vicarious voyage.
My favorite passage:
"But I have come to recognize that most of what is memorable and pleasing about my time on the trail is ordinary moments in the outdoors. Simply sitting unhurried in the shade of leaves is an irreplaceable moment. It is a joy in itself to amble through the woods for hours, even when views are limited to the dense trees surrounding me. It is fulfilling to be saturated with the sights, sounds, and smells of the outdoors. My fond recollections of my hike are full of unremarkable moments, like the smell of a dewey morning, the crunch of leaves underfoot, the blaze of a campfire, the soothing trickle of a stream, or rays of sun through a maze of trees."
Makes you want to take a hike, right?
David tells of the 5 months he quit his job, took on the name Awol, and hiked the AT from Georgia to Maine.
Growing up, my dad would take my sisters and I on hikes to the Appalachian Mountain Club huts in the White Mountains. For a few days every summer, we'd hike (sometimes unwillingly), enjoy nature (or not, the summer it hailed), fill out our Junior Naturalist worksheets (no downsides here!), and spent quality time (or, on grumpier days, "quantity time") in the mountains. Each year was a different hut, a different hike, different weather, but one thing was constant: our encounters and fascination with thru-hikers. Rugged, hairy, able to hike more in an afternoon than our untrained legs could handle in a weekend, they were living legends.
From these experiences, we grew familiar with the AT and were excited to see the headquarters in Harpers Ferry or the trail magic when we drove through the Smokies. But none of us has attempted (or, I guess, will attempt) a thru-hike. Still, every once in a while, I'll think about the trail, and follow parts of strangers' journeys on trailjournals.com. It was in the middle of this phase that I found this book on my family's shared kindle, and decided to give it a try.
Like the journals of current thru-hikers, much of the story is Awol counting miles, naming peaks and campsites, thinking about food, meeting fellow hikers, and worrying about the unending aches inherent in a 2200-mile hike. Unlike the current journals, David has had time to insert minor foreshadowing and personal philosophies. And you can read through the whole trip without waiting for five months! It's a good compromise between the daily life on the trail and the overall impact of the trail and the hikers on each other. (Still, if you don't want to hear about popping blisters and losing toenails, this might not be your book.)
In response to the book, many people have told Awol that he inspired them to hike the AT. His reply? "Clearly these readers have not paid attention to what I have written." Whether hoping to hike the trail or not, AWOL on the AT makes for a very good vicarious voyage.
My favorite passage:
"But I have come to recognize that most of what is memorable and pleasing about my time on the trail is ordinary moments in the outdoors. Simply sitting unhurried in the shade of leaves is an irreplaceable moment. It is a joy in itself to amble through the woods for hours, even when views are limited to the dense trees surrounding me. It is fulfilling to be saturated with the sights, sounds, and smells of the outdoors. My fond recollections of my hike are full of unremarkable moments, like the smell of a dewey morning, the crunch of leaves underfoot, the blaze of a campfire, the soothing trickle of a stream, or rays of sun through a maze of trees."
Makes you want to take a hike, right?