This is one of those books that it was only like $1.50 less to buy it for my Kindle so I got the hardback so I could share this with some friends who had hiked the AT. One of them read this before me and didn't particularly like the book but maybe because she is the around the age Strayed was when she hiked the PCT and my friend is way more together and actually hiked the whole AT which Strayed hikes only a very large section on the PCT.

I found the stories of Strayed's adventure to be compelling and I found myself wanting to keep reading. I was struck by how unprepared she was for a trip of this magnitude but somehow she managed to survive in spite of some really dumb mistakes on her part. I like her brutal honesty about how she didn't plan all that well for contingencies and often ran short of money (at one point she is down to two cents). And I giggled when she began obsessing over Snapple lemonade. I have never done an extended hike like this but have done some week long wilderness trips and while many of my friends were dreaming of ice cream, every day I just couldn't wait for a snapple iced tea. I think for me it has to do with drinking virtually nothing but water for days on end but who knows :)

What also is striking is that 98% of the time Strayed is met with kindness from total strangers that takes on many forms over her months long trip. Many people she met worried about something bad happening to a woman out alone but in reality she was met with far more good. I also loved hearing about all of the different people she met along the way.

Strayed weaves into her story the personal episodes that led her to the trail and some of these stories are painful and about her self-destructive side where I found myself not liking or connecting very well but I muddled through that part. The hike becomes her way of putting the pieces of herself back together and coming back whole and ready to move forward.