. . . and your Patron Saint, if you are a thru-hiker, or aspire to be a thru-hiker, or a section hiker, or a one-time visitor who will never forget the experience. This one has a special place in my affections. If you only buy one account of an Appalachian Trail thru-hike, this has my most emphatic, enthusiastic recommendation. If you've made a list of many such accounts to consider, I make the identical recommendation for starting with this one. The original AT thru-hiker's original thru-hike, on a poorly maintained post-WWII trail in 1948, with a degree of solitude and perseverance that humbles the rest of us, or at least it should. And what Earl V. Shaffer's thru-hike accomplished for the trail, and for everyone who's hiked it since, cannot be measured.
Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]