Wild By Strayed

I finished the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed.  I liked it, and I'm ready to pack my backpack and hike a long trail.  (Except for her description of her feet.  Eww...!)

She includes the books that she read along the Pacific Crest Trail.  She had them mailed to her along the route.  I loved the fact that besides food, money, and clothes, she needed great books to read.  (Though she burned them when she finished them, so she could lighten her pack. I understand, but it still killed me.)

There is also a soundtrack running through Strayed's thoughts on her trek.  Music is a part of her hike in several ways. 

I was scared for Strayed several times on the trail.  A single woman on an 1,100+ trip, alone?  Yes, there was danger.  My fears for her are the fears I would have for myself, hiking alone. Yet, she meets interesting people along the PCT.  She introduces us to the culture and camaraderie of the trail hikers and those who run the campgrounds and resorts along the trail.

Strayed's story is told about 15 years after her actual hike.  I wonder how her story would have differed had it been told six months after her trek.  What did she leave out that she might have included had she been blogging as she hiked? Though truth be told, Strayed doesn't seem to leave out even some personal information that I probably wouldn't have shared.

Wild was a good read.  And now I'm off to hunt The Dream of a Common Language by Adrienne Rich, the one book Strayed carried the entire trip and didn't burn.