Book Info: Genre: Memoir/Autobiography
Reading Level: Adult (language, adult situations)
Recommended for: Those interested in hiking and hiking culture, memoirs, great stories

My Thoughts: This book is frequently quite hilarious, especially the bits about the Extreme Hiking Maneuvers, the squirrels, and Mr. Shaw's driving, just to name a few. I was initially interested in it because of the hiking barefoot thing; I have always loved to go barefoot, and when I was a kid, by the end of summer I'd have feet like a hobbit from running around on scoria (a type of volcanic rock that is very sharp that we use to gravel the roads in eastern Montana). When I went to university in Fargo, ND, I was frequently found running around campus barefoot in the fall, until eventually the university put up signs forbidding people to come into the buildings barefoot, which annoyed me greatly. The thing about better feeling the world through your feet is really true.

This is quite a long book. My Kindle doesn't keep track of pages, but it estimated my reading time (and it's good at that) at about 11 hours. I'm not sure how it was I found this book, and I'm doubly happy I managed to snag a free copy, because it's now about $12, but I have to tell you, it's really worth the price, a really outstanding story, and now I want the sequel, Walking Home, to hear about their adventures returning from Georgia back to Maine.

There are a lot of important ideas running through this book, mostly about the importance of taking care of one another. I'm sure that not all hikers are as wonderful as they are portrayed in this book, but it does seem that the danger of the hike seems to bring out the best in people, encouraging people to work together for the greater good. The stories of all the generous people that help the hikers along the way were heartwarming. This was just an amazing book, and an amazing story, and I'm so happy I managed to grab a copy. I highly recommend this to all my friends who enjoy a really good story. I find my words are completely inadequate to express my joy in having read this amazing book, so I hope these poor attempts will encourage you to check this book out. Highly recommended.

Disclosure: I picked up this book on Amazon during a free promotion. I have never, to my knowledge, interacted with the authors, nor was a review requested. All opinions are my own.

Series Information: Barefoot Sisters
Book 1: Southbound
Book 2: Walking Home

Synopsis: At the ages of twenty-five and twenty-one, Lucy and Susan Letcher set out to accomplish what thousands of people attempt each year: thru-hike the entire 2,175 miles of the Appalachian Trail. The difference between them and the others? They decided to hike the trail barefoot. Quickly earning themselves the moniker of the Barefoot Sisters, the two begin their journey at Mount Katahdin and spend eight months making their way to Springer Mountain in Georgia. As they hike, they write about their adventures through the 100-mile Wilderness, the rocky terrain of Pennsylvania, and snowfall in the Great Smoky Mountains—a story filled with humor and determination. It's as close as one can get to hiking the Appalachian Trail without strapping on a pack. ( )

My seven-year-old daughter decided recently that she wants to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail, and she wants to hike it from Maine to Georgia. Her reasoning is that then you get the toughest part of the trail out of the way at the beginning. She and I have talked about the extra challenges of the southbound route (not the least of which is beginning the trek with the Hundred-Mile Wilderness and running the risk of hitting winter in the Smokies if you don't hike fast enough), but she's undeterred. She says we can practice and get stronger and learn more and then we can attempt a family thru-hike when she's 17 and her brother is 13.

Incidentally, I like the southbound route because it's not as well-traveled. Not only am I not keen on the idea of crowded trail shelters, I've read that less of the party atmosphere follows hikers traveling southward than it does those traveling northward. I'd kind of rather avoid the party atmosphere if at all possible, especially hiking with my kids (even though they'll likely be teenagers by the time we hit the trail).

The Barefoot Sisters: Southbound is the first narrative I've found describing a southbound thru-hike. It's helped me to see more clearly the challenges of thru-hiking in general as well as the challenges unique to the southward thru-hike. One thing I know for sure: I have no interest in hiking in the wintertime. I know that regardless of which direction we go, we're going to hit chilly weather. It will still be chilly at night in Maine and then chilly again in the Smokies if we go south, and it will be chilly in the Whites if we go north. Chilly I think I can handle, especially if I'm out in it all the time and become accustomed to it. But blizzards and ice storms? I spent most of my youth living along the California coast. Winter and I are tentative friends at best as it is. I think winter camping would be pushing that relationship beyond the breaking point. Although I suppose that even that's subject to change. We're planning to snowshoe this winter (provided we get enough snow, unlike last year). If we love it, heck, maybe we'll schedule in some winter on our thru-hike.

It was interesting reading about Isis and jackrabbit's perspective, too, because had I gone with the original timing I'd planned for my thru-hike, I would have done it the year after I graduated from college, two years before they did their thru-hike. So they're nearly my contemporaries. As a result, the book had a bit of a "this is what it might have been like had I..." quality for me. I would, however, have been woefully underprepared, and I most likely would not have finished. Even though the sisters' descriptions of the physical toll on their youthful bodies has left me a little nervous about how well my body will do with nearly three decades more wear on it, I think on the balance, my chances of completing a thru-hike will be better at nearly fifty than it would have been when I was 21.

Although not as funny as Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, this book is much more detailed in its depiction of trail life, and it includes the Letcher sisters' original poems, songs, and even an excerpt of their trail romance novel. Southbound exults in the wonder, beauty, and transformative power of the trail while it simultaneously pulls no punches in describing the daily discomforts and dangers of the trail. The result is a vivid and compelling story that leaves me craving the trail even more. I'm so glad they also wrote a book about their hike back home. I'll be picking that one up next time I have the chance and letting both books fuel my fantasies (and nightmares) about thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. ( )