National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, Heather Anderson is the only woman who has completed the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide National Scenic Trails each three times. This includes her historic Calendar Year Triple Crown hike in 2018 when she hiked all three of those trails in one March-November season, making her the first female to do so. As an itinerant hiker, runner, and mountaineer she has logged over 40,000 foot miles since 2003 including over a dozen thru-hikes and many ultramarathons. She is also an avid mountaineer and peakbagger working on several ascent lists in the US and abroad.
I wrote...
Mud, Rocks, Blazes: Letting Go on the Appalachian Trail Heather Anderson
By
Heather Anderson
What is my book about?
Heather Anderson’s second memoir tells the story not only of her attempt to set a Fastest Known Time on the iconic Appalachian Trail, but also delves deeply into the psychology of a driven endurance athlete and the personal growth she gains along the way.
The 2,180 miles of the AT, from Maine to Georgia, did not make it easy. Anderson contended with pouring rain, sultry humidity, biting gnats and flies, blisters, and steep grades for fifty-four days on a physically difficult, yet profoundly internal journey. Mud, Rocks, Blazes is a testament to the power of a challenging physical feat to transform a person's self-awareness and sense of self-worth. As Anderson comes to realize, “The trail has a way of answering questions you most need answered, even if you are afraid to ask.”
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
The Books I Picked & Why
On the Road
By
Jack Kerouac
Why this book?
“I looked at the high cracked ceilings and really didn’t know who I was for about fifteen strange seconds. I wasn’t scared, I was just somebody else, some stranger, and my whole life was a haunted life, the life of a ghost…I was halfway across America, at the dividing line between the East of my youth and the West of my future, and maybe that’s why it happened right there and then that strange red afternoon.”
When I read these words set the book down and stared up at my own ceiling. Never before had I read someone captured the restlessness I felt. The need to push onward, to move, to find the self that was inside me somewhere. Jack Kerouac captures the vagabond impetus like no other.
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
Into the Wild
By
Jon Krakauer
Why this book?
Every vagabond feels the need to walk away from who they are and start again. Hikertrash know the need to find that new start in the wild. Krakauer captures this with his incredible profile of Chris McCandless who renames himself “Supertramp.” While Chris doesn’t walk the Pacific Crest Trail, he immerses himself into wild nature with an incredible willingness to discover depths of himself that few are willing to examine.
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
The Unlikely Thru-Hiker: An Appalachian Trail Journey
By
Derick Lugo
Why this book?
All aspiring hikertrash have to start somewhere and Derick relates this journey with great honesty and humor. I started my vagabond life on the Appalachian Trail a decade before Derick did, but I found myself laughing in commiseration with his escapades as he learned what it means to walk across the country. Unlikely captures not only the highlights of hikertrash life, but also the lows, the drudgery, and the beautiful camaraderie that forms between people on journeys. Whether you hike or wander a different path, these themes connect for us all.
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
By
Cheryl Strayed
Why this book?
Wild is the quintessential journey through grief and back to self. There are a handful of experiences that unite all humans and loss is one of these threads. Cheryl weaves her narrative of grief with the powerful magic of wandering in nature. Together they illustrate just how strong our connection to the Earth and each other is.
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
Eat Pray Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
By
Elizabeth Gilbert
Why this book?
What is more truly vagabond than packing up your life and traveling abroad for a year? Elizabeth dives deep into herself by going solo and immersing herself in three cultures. Hers is the perfect illustration of rejecting societal norms and her own internal demons to find the abundant life she wants.
