On the Beaten Path: An Appalachian Pilgrimage Book

I've read a number of books written by people who hiked the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail. They all seem to be at a crisis point in their lives. Some have lost a job, or simply gotten sick of their job and quit (as in Robert Alden Rubin's case). Some have gotten a divorce or their spouse had died recently. For anyone who is over about 25 or so, it seems it would take a pretty powerful motivation to spend six months walking up to 20 miles or more every day through all kinds of weather.

For Rubin, his choice to hike the AT seems to be a way to avoid making a decision about his future. He hated his job as an editor of nonfiction books at a publishing company and so he quit. His wife Cathy understood that, I think, but when Rubin decided to spend six months walking the AT, leaving Cathy to hold hearth and home together, she was not quite as understanding. Frankly, I was surprised they were still married by the time Rubin wrote the epilogue, seven months after he had finished walking the AT. They were taking separate vacations at that time, so who knows what the future holds for them?

The main reason I gave this book two stars instead of my standard three (readable with minimal flaws) is that for large portions of the book, reading was a hard slog. It becomes very obvious that Rubin's work as an editor of nonfiction books influenced his writing, despite the fact that he has a degree in creative writing. In other books I have read about thruhikers on these 2,000-mile trails, their personal journey is as important as their physical journey. Rubin ends his trek without coming to any conclusion about his life and in fact when he wrote the epilogue seven months later he still didn't have a job.

The author information on the book jacket states that Rubin now works as a senior editor for the Appalachian Trail Conference, which seems like an ideal job for him. It required a move from Florida to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. One has to wonder how his wife felt about that. I imagine she was glad that he got a job. Please note I realize that the relationship between the author and his wife is none of my business, but he wrote extensively about it in the book so it is natural to speculate about whether they were able to find a middle ground and work out their differences.

For most people it seems these extremely long thruhikes bring about a fundamental change in their lives and even their character. For Rubin, it seems to have brought out something that was already there, simmering underneath. I would recommend this book only for diehard thruhiker fans. I fear I am becoming one - a fan, that is, unfortunately I am too old and have too many health problems to be more than an armchair hiker.