From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Cheryl Strayed,

Bernadette Dunne (Reading)

Finish date: January 24, 2015

Discussion: 2015 Challenge Prompts

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2015 Challenge Prompts

Prompt 25: A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't
By Ann · 67 posts · 992 views

last updated Jan 17, 2023 03:51PM

Prompt 39: A book with magic
By Ann · 48 posts · 446 views

last updated Jan 02, 2019 05:46AM

What Members Thought

Nov 05, 2012 Joanna rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: bookclub-grasslands, audiobooks, nonfiction, biography-memoir, 2014-read, rws-2014-spring

I actually liked the book ok, but can only work up limited enthusiasm for navel-gazing and self-discovery by a late-twenty-something who causes a lot of problems in her life, then goes on a trek to try to figure them out, then writes a book about the experience. On the one hand, good for her for actually experiencing growth and personal development (unlike, say, Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert). On the other hand, the frustration I felt with the general pattern was high. Well, Cheryl, y ...more

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Aug 27, 2015 Kristin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I found more of a connection with this book than I expected. Anyone who knows me would not consider me the rugged outdoors type, but I'd heard such great reviews that I figured I would give the book a chance. Strayed and I both lost our moms to lung cancer at too young an age, and while I stayed the course and tried my best to turn our old normal into the new normal, Strayed's life essentially fell apart. She lost contact with her siblings, her stepfather moved on to a new life, and she betrayed I found more of a connection with this book than I expected. Anyone who knows me would not consider me the rugged outdoors type, but I'd heard such great reviews that I figured I would give the book a chance. Strayed and I both lost our moms to lung cancer at too young an age, and while I stayed the course and tried my best to turn our old normal into the new normal, Strayed's life essentially fell apart. She lost contact with her siblings, her stepfather moved on to a new life, and she betrayed her marital vows, the last of which also leading to a heroin addiction, all before her 30th birthday. Upon her divorce, at which point she adopted the last name of Strayed, having no connection to any other surname from earlier in her life, she had nowhere to go and nowhere to be, but a chance encounter with a book about hiking the Pacific Coast Trail inspired her to give it a try.
A complete novice to hiking, Strayed followed the advice of the book and some other hiking literature (this was in the pre-internet days), only to find that her backpack was somewhere around half her weight, her boots were too small, and she lacked important tools like a hiking pole. As a solo woman on the trail, she met up with many people who brought her up when she was fighting the lowest of lows and gave her advice as more experienced hikers. Overall though, she was determined to finish the goal she set forth, even without knowing what the future held at the end of the hike, as she would still be divorced, estranged from her family, and broke.
Were I to set out on such a hike, I imagine I would find myself in her shoes. Certainly without the heroin addiction, and with a lot of family members to tell me I was crazy, but otherwise much the same. I wouldn't even know where to start, and much of my learning would come purely from experience. Not even sure I would have thought ahead enough to send supply boxes to post offices along the trail, but that is probably in the books she read. Apparently, a woman hiking alone on the trail is unusual, and Strayed gained some friends who wanted to look out for her, yet she rarely mentioned these same strangers befriending lone male hikers along the trail, and I believe I would certainly attract the same attention, not for being particularly attractive, but because I'm sure I'd be struggling and in need of the wisdom fellow hikers could offer.
Definitely a book worth the read, because there is more to it than just a woman going hiking. Instead, I saw it as a woman devastated by the loss of the greatest 'rock' in her life needing to conquer some other rocks on a path that is almost entirely forged as a means to figure out the next few miles of her own path. ...more

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Oct 01, 2014 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I now want to hike the PCT but Cheryl irritated me quite a bit thorough out the book. Good book and a great experience!

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Jan 12, 2013 Larissa rated it liked it · review of another edition

It was neat to read about the Pacific Coast Trail from a first hand experience as I had heard of it but was not really familiar with it. I enjoyed hearing about her journey. Cheryl Strayed is a good writer, but honestly there are no great insights or big ah ha moments. I thin in a large way it is a story about forgiveness, but there is just something missing from the soul of the book I cannot put my finger on. She told the story to tell the story and it was a neat feat she accomplished, and ther ...more

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Nov 06, 2012 Amy Ellis rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I have been wanting to read this for a while--thanks library digital books! I loved this nonfiction account of hiking 1200 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail by a first-time author. She writes beautifully. Cons: drug use, swearing, and a sex scene--this girl had a very messed-up life before she decided to hike. Skip over those parts--definitely worth the read!

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Dec 04, 2012 Jen (NerdifiedJen) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, memoir, adventure, hiking

Please don't follow in Cheryl's footsteps! Hiking the PCT solo, having never backpacked before, with an overly heavy pack, is a recipe for disaster.

Aug 2017 re-read: I listened to the audiobook after camping for a month and I liked it much more this time. I felt more connected to the outdoors, to hiking, to adventure. I still think Cheryl needs to recognize 1) that her lack of preparation endangered her life and 2) her enormously privileged position.

Still three stars better than eat, pray, love ...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Beth Given marked it as shelved · review of another edition

Only 2% of the way through I realized I probably wasn't going to enjoy it. Already there were five f-words -- and I couldn't identify with this woman's "search for happiness" when she was seeming to make all the wrong choices (drug use, promiscuity etc.). I don't necessarily put books down just for poor choices in the beginning (I'm all for character growth, after all), but from what I can gather from other reviews, I don't think I'll be missing out if I just skip this one. ...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Lisa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction-memoir, read-on-kindle

I think reading about people who hike long distances like the Pacific Crest Trail is as close as I will ever get to that experience. How many times does she nearly step on rattlesnakes, stumble upon bears? No thanks, I'm good.
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