Alec, "Brother Blood," boarded the midnight train to Georgia with the goal of immersing himself in the Appalachian Trail culture. At 50, he had visited the trail doing small section hikes, but now he was going to experience the A.T. as a Thru-Hiker; the people, the towns, and iconic places along the way. Brother Blood's journey would take him 2189.1 miles through 14 states. This is the boots-on-the-ground perspective of his journey, that restored his faith in humanity. The people and experiences that make every thru-hiking journey unique.

Derick Lugo had never been hiking. He didn't even know if he liked being outside all that much. He certainly couldn't imagine going more than a day without manicuring his goatee. But with a job overseas cut short and no immediate plans, this fixture of the greater New York comedy circuit began to think about what he might do with months of free time and no commitments. He had heard of the Appalachian Trail and knew of its potential for danger and adventure, but he had never seriously considered attempting to hike all 2,192 miles of it. Then again, what could go wrong for a young black man from the city trekking solo through the East Coast backwoods? The Unlikely Thru-Hiker is the story of how an unknowing ambassador of one of the AT's least common demographics, unfamiliar with both the outdoors and thru-hiking culture, sets off with an extremely overweight pack and a willfully can-do attitude to conquer the infamous trail. What follows are eye-opening lessons on preparation, humility, race relations, and nature's wild unpredictability. But this isn't a hard-nosed memoir of discouragement or intolerance. What sets Lugo apart from the typical walk in the woods is his refusal to let any challenge squash his inner Pollyanna. Through it all, he perseveres with humor, tenacity, and an unshakeable commitment to grooming--earning him the trail name "Mr. Fabulous"--that sees him from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Katahdin in Maine.

Like a well-crafted stage play, Just Passin' Thru delivers one suspenseful scene after another. But in this historic setting — a store on the Appalachian Trail called Mountain Crossings — the characters who show up are no fictional creations. They are the real-life stars of the author’s new life as a backpack-purging, canteen-selling, hostel-running, bandage-taping, lost-child finding, argument-settling, romance-fixing, chili-making man of many faces. Like any good drama, there are the good guys (and gals) and the weirdos, too. Some show up once (and that’s enough), and some appear again and again. Some are friends, and some dangerous. But all are united by two things: the author’s story-capturing talent, and whatever it is that lures them to attempt (or conquer) a 2,200-mile path that climbs and plummets from Georgia to Maine.

This upbeat nitty-gritty memoir, based on the author's 2001 trail journal, chronicles one man's hike the whole length of the Appalachian Trail, beginning just north of Atlanta and finishing six months later in Maine. The journey included adventures with a faithful and eccentric dog, a new romance, and the challenges and triumphs of walking 2167 miles in all kinds of weather.

A 41-year-old engineer quits his job to hike the Appalachian Trail. This is a true account of his hike from Georgia to Maine, bringing to the reader the life of the towns and the people he meets along the way.

In 2003, at the age of sixty-two, I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail. This is the story about that hike. The Appalachian Trail starts on Springer Mountain, Georgia, and goes through fourteen states in a rather meandering way ending on Mount Katahdin, Maine, a distance of roughly 2,175 miles (depending on the source of information as to the exact distance). My hike started on April 5. I arrived at the base of Mount Katahdin on September 14 and waited in nearby Millinocket until September 21 to complete the hike and climb the final 5.2 miles to the summit. The final day, I was accompanied by our youngest son, Will, who had flown to Boston (from Salt Lake City), rented a car, and drove to Millinocket to join me. Sometimes plans do work out perfectly for September 21 was Kris and my fortieth wedding anniversarythis to emphasize the importance of commitment, which is what this story is all about. Thru-hiking the AT has taken on different meanings through the years since Earl V. Shaffer did it for the first time in 1948, as documented in his book Walking with Spring. His was the epitome, the purist approach as a backpacking venture, carrying his own supplies, tenting and staying in shelters, and walking the entire distance along the designated path as it then existed, but has been subject to a lot of changes since his time. My intention was to do it as closely as possible, adhering to this purist attitude without all of the designer methodology that has come to be acceptable for being considered a modern thru-hiker. And except for 1.1 milesthis is covered in the bookthat is what I did.

Two women, one from Ohio and the other from South Africa, met through an ad in the Appalachian Trailway Newsand became partners for a 1996 journey of 5 million steps.

The book is a must-read for those considering the trail as well as those who have done it and want to re-live the experience. Like a modern-day Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales, Cary Segall, a former award-winning newspaper reporter, has captured the stories of the hikers, hostel owners, trail angels, volunteers and others along the nearly 2,200 miles of the Appalachian Trail. As he hiked the entire trail, he interviewed hundreds of people about their experiences, dreams and aspirations, and about their motives for attempting the scenic and arduous hike through 14 states from Georgia to Maine. His reporting skills led those 21st-Century pilgrims to open their hearts about their lives and their journeys on the venerable, public footpath along the crests and valleys of the Appalachian Mountains. And why was he on the trail? Find out for yourself, as his personal story unfolds along the way.

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