The topic of the book and movie WILD invariably raises two very different types of responses.  Many readers adore Cheryl Strayed for her honesty and vulnerability.  They often speak of identifying with Strayed’s personal struggles, and even relate how her story reminds them of their own past. Others are a little more disapproving Strayed’s eyebrow-raising antics.  Rather than a pillar of feminine strength, many readers see Strayed as not only unprepared, but deliberately irresponsible.  Often it seems that it is those with more hiking experience who point out that both on the trail, and...

Many in the general public applaud Cheryl Strayed for her impressive feat of walking 1100 miles, by herself.  However in the larger picture of long-distance hiking, her accomplishment seems rather…pedestrian. Hundreds of men and women thru-hike the entire 2660-mile PCT every year.  Others perform even more notable achievements.  Just this year, Olive "Raindance" McGloin, finished a PCT yo-yo , hiking from Mexico to Canada, then turning around and hiking all the way back to Mexico.  In 2013 Heather “Anish” Anderson set an unsupported speed record  for men and women by hiking the entire P...

  What if bathing was now just a monthly occurrence?  Imagine eating food fortified with mysterious, unidentified particles, and enjoying it.  How would you fare living and sleeping in the dirt every day? Those that spend months at a time living in the woods often experience a subtle shift of perspective concerning matters of socially acceptable behavior.  Thru-hikers frequently report a gradual transformation into more ‘feral’ state, without normal regard to typical social standards for accepted conduct.  After all, for those that may not shower for weeks, there begins to arise...

  Cheryl Strayed is not alone in her tale of setting out unprepared for a major long-distance hike.  Many thru-hikers relate tales of mistakes and escapades they made while learning the ropes of extended backpacking.  There should be a distinction drawn however between making honest mistakes as part of a learning process, and rationalizing thoughtless actions out of a sense of deliberate helplessness. Writing in Wild, Strayed is quite candid in relating how before her hike she refused to accept responsibility for her testy relationship with her mother, her failed marriage or her...

In the summer of 1995, 26-year-old Cheryl Strayed hiked across much of California and Oregon on the Pacific Crest Trail.  Though she did not walk the entire length of the PCT, she did manage to hike about 1000 miles of the trail, amounting to less than half of the total mileage of the PCT from Mexico to Canada.  Strayed admits to setting off on her journey quite unprepared, and describes in detail her haphazard and reckless approach to the journey on what was her very first backpacking trip of any kind. Why is her story so compelling?  Why have so many flocked to buy her book, and now see t...

Before starting out on her PCT trek, Cheryl Strayed might have done herself and the environment a favor by studying up on 'Leave No Trace' values of outdoor ethics.  Many outdoor activities, such as off-roading and hunting by nature leave an impact on the environment and other users.  Most conscientious backpackers however attempt to minimize their impact by adhering to a philosophy of camping and traveling lightly. Leave No Trace  is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating users of the great outdoors to be more conscious of their effect on natural and human resources of the outdoo...