by Heidi Simmons
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Wild: From Lost to Found on The Pacific Crest Trail
Memoir
By Cheryl Strayed
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There are times when getting away from it all is good for your mental health. But an eleven hundred mile trek into the vast wilderness without camping experience, doing it alone and being a young female, may seem more insane and self-destructive than healthy.
Cheryl Strayed’s memoir, Wild: From Lost to Found on The Pacific Crest Trail (Knopf Doubleday, 336 pages) is a coming-of-age tale about a young woman’s literal rite of passage into adulthood.
Don’t let the “memoir” classification dissuade you from this quality read. It is nonfiction at its best. It is an adventure worth experiencing. Strayed gives an honest and humble account of her epic journey — some of which does not take place anywhere near the great outdoors.
At 26 years old, the tall, pretty blond went to buy a shovel and spotted a guidebook about the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). The PCT follows the mountain ranges from Mexico to Canada. It is 2,663 miles long with elevation from near sea level to 13,153 feet. It is a mountainous corridor running through California, Oregon and Washington. It passes through 25 national forests and seven national parks. But make no mistake, just because they are designated national parks, it does not mean the PCT is well maintained. It is a rugged and treacherous trail.
Long before Strayed discovered and ever set foot on the PCT, she was already walking a dangerous path. Her mother’s death left her adrift and alone. Her siblings had all gone in different directions. Her marriage was failing. She had regular affairs and developed a love for Heroin. She had no job, no money and no sense of where her life was headed.
Sometimes our lives take on literal meaning and become metaphor. Strayed read all she could about the PCT before setting out. She bought equipment and quality hiking boots. Like Tim O’Brien’s, The Things They Carried, Strayed over-filled her backpack and set out for the Mojave Desert. Her pack, at half her body weight, could only be lifted from a sitting position.
Strayed muscled through the pain and indignity of carrying all she had, and more. It became a mental game as well as physical. There were times when it took her total concentration just to take one step forward. She nicknamed her pack Monster. Monster gave her blisters on her shoulders, hips and tailbone that continuously bled and scabbed.
Her boots were too small. They were good quality and her biggest investment but she learned the hard way, that she should have bought them one size bigger. The downhill treks forced her feet forward, tearing and rubbing away her toenails.
As in all epic journeys there is pain and suffering. Strayed had to cross raging rivers, climb dangerous peaks and confront trouble both real and metaphorically. Most incredibly, she overcame fear. Strayed writes: “I knew that if I allowed fear to overtake me, my journey was doomed. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me.”
In every odyssey one must go beyond the physical and deal with the mental challenges as well. Strayed, in the middle of nowhere, one step at a time for 10 to 15 miles a day, in the vast quiet of the wilderness, had to confront her past and her parents. There she purged her abusive father and let go of her dead mother.
The wild child comes out of the wilderness reborn and victorious. Strayed finished her trek with tears of gratitude. There are many great moments in Wild filled with humor as well as sorrow. Written 15 years after her trek, there is wisdom and insight that comes from a life-changing experience that brings on a profound maturity.
If you are a seasoned hiker, this book may make you cringe. If trekking across some of the most beautiful terrain in the United States is on your bucket list, this book may give you encouragement. And if you have “baggage” you have been carrying around for years, this book may give you a way to process and unload your burden. Go ahead. Go wild.
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