Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart by Carrot Quinn

This author wrote in a repetitive style that reminded me of plodding along on a hike. I grew to like it. She repeats words in threes...like hike, hike, hike or hunger, hunger, hunger. She is inexperienced as a hiker, and we get to learn lessons right along with her. She's brutally open and honest and describes the culture of her group of hikers as being extremely close, dirty, and loving. It's an interesting mix! Also, the language is colorful, with an annoying amount of F bombs, but it's often quoting the conversations...

Quinn also reveals a lot about the LGBTQ culture, by describing herself as "queer" and recounts her infatuations with both a woman and later, a man. Somewhat graphic in her descriptions, it helped me learn about "trail trash" and how this group interacts with each other. Sexuality is almost a non-issue in some ways, it's treated so casually. Often the hikers are so filthy that it's hard to imagine a sexual encounter being particularly appealing--but that's just my own 68-year old perspective!

It was fascinating to read about the challenges...like getting sick on the trail, and breaking a tooth, for example. How one hitchhikes to a nearby town, how strangers help out, and how, in the end, no matter what, sometimes all you can do is put one foot in front of another. And she does... I could tell this is one tough woman. I like how she gradually gains strength along the trail and astounds herself with what she can do... 35-mile days, for example, over mountain ridges. She loves trees and the sky and describes them similarly to how I feel about them. She also describes how the trail becomes her whole world and reality. What's happening outside of the trail becomes irrelevant. And her mounting sadness as she nears the end of the hike is interesting too. Other authors are rejoicing that they've achieved their goal, while Quinn is melancholy and lost at the end. She basically wants to live on the trail, and since this book, is apparently doing just that: living on other trails. Good for her.