Walking on the Wild Side: Long-Distance Hiking on the Appalachian Trail
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- Synopsis
- The most famous long-distance hiking trail in North America, the 2,181-mile Appalachian Trail--the longest hiking-only footpath in the world--runs along the Appalachian mountain range from Georgia to Maine. Every year about 2,000 individuals attempt to "thru-hike" the entire trail, a feat equivalent to hiking Mount Everest sixteen times. In Walking on the Wild Side, sociologist Kristi M. Fondren traces the stories of forty-six men and women who, for their own personal reasons, set out to conquer America's most well known, and arguably most social, long-distance hiking trail. In this fascinating in-depth study, Fondren shows how, once out on the trail, this unique subculture of hikers lives mostly in isolation, with their own way of acting, talking, and thinking; their own vocabulary; their own activities and interests; and their own conception of what is significant in life. They tend to be self-disciplined, have an unwavering trust in complete strangers, embrace a life of poverty, and reject modern-day institutions. The volume illuminates the intense social intimacy and bonding that forms among long-distance hikers as they collectively construct a long-distance hiker identity. Fondren describes how long-distance hikers develop a trail persona, underscoring how important a sense of place can be to our identity, and to our sense of who we are. Indeed, the author adds a new dimension to our understanding of the nature of identity in general. Anyone who has hiked--or has ever dreamed of hiking--the Appalachian Trail will find this volume fascinating. Walking on the Wild Side captures a community for whom the trail is a sacred place, a place to which they have become attached, socially, emotionally, and spiritually.
- Copyright:
- 2015
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Publisher Quality
- ISBN-13:
- 9780813575704
- Publisher:
- Rutgers University Press
- Date of Addition:
- 05/24/16
- Copyrighted By:
- Kristi M. Fondren
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- Nonfiction, Sports, Outdoors and Nature, Social Studies
- Grade Levels:
- Twelfth grade, College Freshman, College Sophomore, College Junior, College Senior, Graduate Student, Undergraduate Student
- Submitted By:
- Bookshare Staff
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.
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- by Kristi M. Fondren
- in Nonfiction
- in Sports
- in Outdoors and Nature
- in Social Studies