Just a hair more tolerable than Cheryl Strayed's Wild, but you still read this one wanted to strangle each character in turn. Unfortunately doesn't encourage me to strike out on my first solo hike, either. ( )

Why do we go outside? Why do we look at a huge mountain or long trail and say, "Yeah, sure, why not?" Why do we push the limits of our physical and mental stamina? There may be many answers, depending on who you ask. For Suzanne and her two friends (Erika, the athletic, bossy mastermind and Dionne, the fragile but kind bulimic), their reasons for hiking the 211-mile John Muir Trail may differ, but the central driving force is the same: to prove they can. While they occasionally have male companions, in the end, it's the three of them who eventually push themselves to continue their trek on their own terms, by the strength of their own legs. At first, I was annoyed with Suzanne as a narrator (this memoir is taken from her journal entries while on the trip in the 90s). She seemed overly concerned with needing male company and approval, and was constantly in contest with the other two ladies. However, I came to realize that this aspect of her personality, as a recent college grad in her early 20s, that she was working to over come - even if it took her years later to recognize that. And then I realized: I was annoyed because I saw myself in her. The need for approval, especially from men, is something that I know I have battled with, even now on occasion. Suzanne, guided by a man (John Muir) in a quest to conquer wilderness and wildness, was looking for a way to feel comfortable in it as a woman. It's quite a brilliant rumination on gender and the outdoors, one that makes me want to hike the entire JMT to see if I, too, can feel at home in wildness. ( )

Good tri memoir of three post-college-age girls tackling a 200 mile backpack trip just after graduating from school.
The author gives the reader both the trip details including great portrayal of the beauty and sometimes bad weather and steep trail, and also the feelings, relationships, and personalities of the three girls.

There are inspirational moments, difficult moments, fear, triumph,, even some flirting with fleeting boys, and avoidance of a few shady or obnoxious characters.

A note at the end of the memoir informs the reader of what became of the three girls in the two decades after the trip.

I recommend reading this book for both its story of the tree girls emotions on the trip, and also for the wonderful mental images of the backcountry through which the trail passed through.

I would rate the book a 5 star if it had included a few photos or sketches of views and events encountered during the hike.

The book will make you want to get out there on the trail ( )

I truly enjoy books that take you on a personal odyssey where the person comes out a changed person. Where the challenges are met head on, where they thought they could not do something but did, where they surprise themselves and find the depths of their abilities and their souls. I love the lines about how the memory becomes scattered among other memories only to be revisited every so often. It also makes me realize I can do whatever I think I can do!! And I will!! ( )

An interesting trail journal/memoir of the author's JMT hike 20 years ago. ( )