Sally and her childhood friend Erin are hiking the 2,150-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Well, maybe. Just an hour into the trek, the hapless hikers discover they’ve gone the wrong way and missed the trail’s southern terminus.
Alas, at least it wasn’t raining. Yet. It’s the first of a mountain of misadventures in Sally Chaffin Brooks’ comedic memoir, “Going to Maine.
” “Going to Maine: All the Ways to Fall on the Appalachian Trail,” by Sally Chaffin Brooks. Running Wild Press. $19.
99 Hiking the AT means carrying everything you need to survive in the woods on your back, from food and water to clothing and shelter. Sally and Erin trudge on with their 35-pound packs, climbing over the Appalachian Mountains day after day. It rains.
A lot. They’re stiff, sore, cold and tired. It doesn’t help that Sally is admittedly “in the worst shape of my life.
” The discomfort is constant, and the blisters on their tender feet are big and painful. “No rain, no pain, no Maine” is a mantra of northbound AT hikers, something I learned the hard way during my 2015 thru-hike . You will, too, as you follow along in Sally and Erin’s footsteps, waiting for the sun to reappear — it always does — to lift their spirits.
And when a trail town yields hot showers, warm beds, fresh food , clean clothes and phone calls home, you’ll fly high with the duo as their doubts diminish and thoughts of quitting are quelled. The daily challenges continue, but Sally and E.
