Summertime always makes me yearn to be out in nature. It’s the best time to get out for hikes or backpacking trips in the mountains!
Some of my favorite summers have been those I’ve spent working in national parks where I could spend everyday I wasn’t working exploring the trails. New Zealand also holds a special place in my heart after I traveled there for a year and half. I was able to camp and indulge in backpacking trips between seasonal work.
That’s where I read most of the books I’m sharing today. One of my favorite subgenres of memoir are long distance hiking memoirs. I loved immersing myself entirely in nature, reading these adventure stories while I myself was camping or backpacking.
New Zealand is also where I took my first solo backpacking trip! I felt at peace being outside all the time, carrying everything I needed on my back, and waking up knowing that all I had to do that day was put one foot in front of the other to get my next camping spot for the night.
This summer, life is very different. I’m growing a baby and find I’m not feeling up to any backpacking trips or even short hikes for that matter. Making my way up and down our property to check on animals or water the garden feels physical enough!
I can still escape into someone else’s adventure though with a great book! Today I’m sharing the best long distance hiking memoirs I’ve read so far. They include one mega popular hiking story I’m sure everyone has heard of and four from hopefully lesser known adventurers.
Best Long Distance Hiking Memoirs:
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
At age 22, Cheryl Strayed’s life was in chaos. Her mother passed away four year prior sending her spiraling into self destruction. Her remaining family was scattered and her first marriage was ending in divorce.
With an impulsive decision, she decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail – a 2650 mile trek running along the west coast from the Mexican border to the Canadian – with no backpacking experience or preparation. Furthermore she was determined to do it alone.
Wild is the story of how she found comfort and wisdom through the massive mental and physical challenge of the trail. It allowed her to work through her grief and reflect on her past experiences that led her to that moment.
I read this memoir years ago for book club. It gave us a lot to discuss. I was fascinated by Strayed’s unprepared approach to the trail and blown away by the insights she gained. Since then I read and loved Tiny Beautiful Things, a collection of her responses to letters with life questions when Strayed wrote the Dear Sugar column for The Rumpus. I was also a big fan of the Dear Sugar podcast when it was being produced. Cheryl Strayed cohosted it with Steve Almond, another former Dear Sugar columnist.
Girl in the Woods by Aspen Matis
Aspen Matis was raped on her second night of beginning college. With her overprotective parents discouraging her from reporting it and her school’s mishandling of the assault, she decides to leave after the first semester to hike the Pacific Crest Trail.
Aspen hopes her solo hike will bring with it a journey of healing out in the wild. In her memoir, she shares her five month experience with the dangers of the trail, encounters with wildlife and fellow hikers, and the way the trek transformed her. She discovers her own strength, finds confidence in the knowledge she can rely on herself, and above all she heals.
This book was a tough read emotionally as most could imagine from the events that sent Aspen onto the trail in the first place. Even with some difficult scenes for an animal lover and a largely bleak view of human nature, I enjoyed the vivid way Matis writes about the wilderness and brings the reader along on the trail.
Becoming Odyssa: Adventures on the Appalachian Trail by Jennifer Pharr Davis
We’re switching coasts with these last hiking memoirs. Becoming Odyssa shares the story of recent college graduate, Jennifer Pharr, who has no idea what to do next with her life. She decides to take four months to hike the Appalachian Trail, a 2175 mile trek from Georgia to Maine, in hopes it will give her time to figure out her next step.
The emotional and physical challenges of the hike are harder than she imagined. Jennifer finds herself humbled by the trail as she deals with various discomforts and finds herself at the mercy of nature. She also discovers she’s capable, brave, and that the world carries unexpected kindness.
Admittedly it’s been awhile since I read it but I remember thoroughly enjoying this memoir. It made me want to do my own long distance hike! As someone who’s felt lost particularly in transitions between finishing school and the next thing, I found her journey inspiring. Some other reviews appear to be bothered by her religious background and faith, but I don’t recall her writing being overly preachy or judgemental.
Called Again: A Story of Love and Triumph by Jennifer Pharr Davis
In Called Again, Jennifer Pharr Davis takes on the Appalachian Trail again! This time she’s determined to set a record by being the first female to hike the entire trail in 46 days with her new husband, Brew, as her support person.
This book is about a lot more than the journey to become a record holder. Through this experience, Jennifer learns so many lessons about nature, life, and relationships including finding a new level of love with her husband as they take on unpredictable weather, physical tolls, illness, and more extremes.
While I enjoyed her first memoir a bit more, it was wonderful to revisit the trail and Jennifer’s perspective in Called Again. Her determination and the unfailing support of her husband, Brew, were both impressive aspects of this journey. I may be due for a reread of this one. I wonder if I’d feel differently about it now that I’ve moved from the wandering travel phase of life into marriage and starting a family.
Hiking Through: Finding Peace and Freedom on the Appalachian Trail by Paul V. Stutzman
Hiking Through tells Paul Stutzman’s story of coping with grief and loneliness by immersing himself in nature. After losing his wife to cancer, he decides to quit his longtime job and take a break from his life by heading out to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail.
He spends nearly 5 months out on the trail developing physical endurance as he faces nature’s wild conditions. Taking in the beauty of the scenery, befriending fellow hikers, and reconnecting with his beliefs help him recover from his loss and find a way back to life.
This memoir does fall under the Christian genre and the author writes a lot about his beliefs. Some reviewers found it excessive. I still enjoyed it and didn’t find that aspect to be too much. This story shares the power that nature has to teach us and heal us from the most devastating of losses.
What are your favorite armchair adventures? Have you read any of these hiking memoirs?
