WILD: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail" by Cheryl Strayed (non-fic)

Back in 1995 Cheryl Strayed set out to change her life.  She decided to do this by hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, 1100 miles of it, from the Mojave Desert, through California and Oregon to the boarder of Washington.  Strayed was 26 years old and newly divorced from a man she continued to care for. She even changed her name, choosing "Strayed" which sounded right for the adventure on which she was about to embark.  Strayed was a neophyte to hiking, learning along the way about the supplies and equipment she should have carried instead of the formidable backpack she set out with, aptly nicknamed, "The Monster."  Like a penitent on a pilgrimage she was carrying more poundage than anyone else she met on the trail, eliciting surprised amazement from much stronger men who traveled with much lighter backpacks.
Strayed was escaping from the hardscrabble life she had let up to this point.  She was very close to her mother, who had raised Cheryl and her siblings as a single parent, after her abusive husband left when Cheryl was six years old.  The family was so poor they lived in an isolated area carved out of the woods above Minneapolis in a house without running water or electricity.  This kind of hardship shaped Cheryl into an independent and tough woman.  She managed to begin college even as her determined mother also began a degree program at the same university.  Then her mother was diagnosed with cancer at age 45.  Strayed began a downward spiral after her mother's death.  She left her husband, engaged in casual sex and had a fling with heroin before pulling herself together and beginning her journey.
Strayed writes graphically of the hardships she encountered along the PAC.  Along with the stories of blackened toenails and severely blistered feet, she writes of the majestic beauty she experienced in her trek and also the dangers she met from man and animal along the way.
I had the experience several years ago of hiking a small portion of the PAC in the North Cascades of Washington.  If there is anything more beautiful than seeing snow covered glacial mountains in every quadrant as far as the eye can see and downward to the occasional perfect turquoise lake or wildflower meadow, I can't think what it would be.  It is no wonder Strayed found peace and comfort as she walked her journey.
Cheryl Strayed writes an amazing story of a single woman meeting the challenge she set for herself.  It is difficult not to shed a tear at the end of her adventure.  I highly recommend this book to all readers.  It is a wonderful choice for a book group.