10,000 Better Days: Promise of the Appalachian Trail -- New Book on Amazon
In 1987, I completed a southbound thru-hike. It was an amazing and formative experience. Last week, I listed a book on Amazon. It's called, 10,000 Better Days: Promise of the Appalachian Trail.
https://www.amazon.com/10-000-Better...gateway&sr=8-1
Thirty years after falling to my knees on Springer in disbelief and guzzling a bottle of champagne, I am acutely aware of the return on my six-month investment thirty years ago. Every day since November 7, 1987 -- the day I finished my thru-hike -- has been just a little better than it otherwise might have been. That's a pretty solid return.
In 1987, I was not a great candidate for completing a thru-hike. I was young and admittedly stupid but luckily not beyond learning and improving. Instead of getting eaten by a bear or quitting, I learned from misadventures with moose, monsters, mountains, and from miles and miles of hiking during which I had plenty of time to think.
You can’t walk the backroads of fourteen states without collecting stories. 10,000 Better Days tells of the high and low points of an Appalachian Trail thru-hike. It describes brushes with devils and angels, heroes and heroines, kidnappers and lost souls. America is a remarkable place best experienced at least once in every lifetime along its endless backroads and with both feet firmly on the ground. The book tells of the good, the bad, and the ugly of six-months on the trail. Mostly, it relates enduring lessons learned from an epic adventure -- something we all should pursue. It's not a "how to" book. It might better be considered more of a "why to" book.
I hope you enjoy this. It's a thirty-year-old snapshot of life along the Appalachian Trail. It was a different time -- no smart phones, laptops, Kindles, or Walmart's and packs were heavy. I never encountered a full shelter -- not once in 160 days. It wasn't a better time. Just different.
