Thirst - 2600 Miles to Home by Heather "Anish" Anderson

This hiking book is a good one. Well-written, introspective, with poetic descriptions of the Pacific Crest Trail. Anish is a strong woman who has felt "average" or "less than" her whole life. In hiking, she has found contentment in being exactly who she is. As she fights her mind demons, she gradually learns to overcome her fears and accept herself in a beautiful way. I wonder about her inability to lead a "normal" life, but in choosing what she has (life on the trail), she does so with integrity and grit and honesty.

This book goes back and forth somewhat from this present hike where she set out to set a record of hiking it faster than anyone before, and her previous hikes. The contrast between her earlier hikes and this one informs the reader in an interesting way. There is no time for much socializing because Anish is so driven to beat the time record in hiking this trail from Mexico to Canada. The descriptions of the scenery are beautiful, but fleeting as she traverses so quickly up the trail. There's still plenty of time to ponder what her brain is doing, though, and that makes for an interesting story We read about her ultra-marathoning, her amazing athleticism, and her apparent inability to believe that she herself is an athlete. Overcoming her overweight adolescence and early adulthood is an interesting journey that she chronicles well.

She doesn't dwell on her marriage or divorce much beyond the fact that it was an amicable divorce and she meeets her ex on the trail and has a positive encounter. I loved the story of when the fastest known hike record holder, Scott Williamson, found her on the trail and treated her to some organic groceries and wished her luck on her quest. It was also interesting to learn about people following her hike on Facebook and begin to call her "Ghost" and occasionally find and talk to her. These celebrity hikers are interesting to me.

I also became more motivated than ever to hike this summer and fall and beyond! The John Muir Trail overlaps with part of the PCT, and I would love to hike that! A cool learning curve for me! Not as a through-hiker, but as a day hiker, and perhaps with a grandkid or two! Here are some descriptions I highlighted as I read:

Page 51 - These thru-hikers often begin the trail solo, but most find that what they thought would be a lonesome human vs. wilderness experience becomes a chain of shared human connectedness.

Page 101 - Instead I continued on because of my stubbornness, yes, but also to allow scars to form when I wrestled with grief, memories, loss, and destiny on a sliver of trail in the moonlight. I was opening myself to true healing by finally dealing with my wounds. Sometimes all I had to do was acknowledge my own stubbornness. Others I had to rip off old scabs and let new ones form into thicker, beautiful scars.

Page 122- Encounter with Scott Williamson

See also September 2023 for my reread...