4.0
Thirst
ByPublisher Description
"Beautiful and deftly written and intimate and searing in its honesty, Anish’s is a quest to conquer the trail and her own inner darkness." -- Foreword Reviews
"Filled with ruminative self-reflection, soaring natural descriptions and delightful accounts of the gracious, life-sustaining 'trail magic' of hiking culture, Thirst is a testament to human endurance, inspiring to hikers and non-hikers alike." -- Shelf Awareness
"A refreshingly candid account of how an average person can harness a steadfast determination to achieve the spectacular." ― Outside
Named "50 Best Hiking Books of all Time" by BACKPACKER MAGAZINE
By age twenty-five, Heather Anderson had hiked the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide Trails--a combined distance of nearly eight thousand miles with a vertical gain of more than one million feet. Then, feeling it was time to settle down, Heather retired from long-distance hiking, married, and started a career. But her urge for wilderness was too strong, and she realized that nothing could replace the comfort she found while hiking. Her marriage crumbled. She quit her job. And she walked back into the mountains.
In Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home, Heather, whose trail name is "Anish," explores her motivations in returning to the trail--and to her record-setting success on the PCT when she hiked 40-plus miles a day, often walking late into the night by glow of a headlamp, and facing down rattlesnakes, mountain lions, bears, raging rivers, snow, and lightning. She shares her joy in leaving behind a mundane life, and amid the rigors of the trail--the pain, fear, loneliness, and dangers--she discovers the greater rewards of both community and self-fulfillment. She learns that setting records is merely a catalyst, teaching her how to live a life of courage, confidence, and purpose.
"Filled with ruminative self-reflection, soaring natural descriptions and delightful accounts of the gracious, life-sustaining 'trail magic' of hiking culture, Thirst is a testament to human endurance, inspiring to hikers and non-hikers alike." -- Shelf Awareness
"A refreshingly candid account of how an average person can harness a steadfast determination to achieve the spectacular." ― Outside
Named "50 Best Hiking Books of all Time" by BACKPACKER MAGAZINE
By age twenty-five, Heather Anderson had hiked the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide Trails--a combined distance of nearly eight thousand miles with a vertical gain of more than one million feet. Then, feeling it was time to settle down, Heather retired from long-distance hiking, married, and started a career. But her urge for wilderness was too strong, and she realized that nothing could replace the comfort she found while hiking. Her marriage crumbled. She quit her job. And she walked back into the mountains.
In Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home, Heather, whose trail name is "Anish," explores her motivations in returning to the trail--and to her record-setting success on the PCT when she hiked 40-plus miles a day, often walking late into the night by glow of a headlamp, and facing down rattlesnakes, mountain lions, bears, raging rivers, snow, and lightning. She shares her joy in leaving behind a mundane life, and amid the rigors of the trail--the pain, fear, loneliness, and dangers--she discovers the greater rewards of both community and self-fulfillment. She learns that setting records is merely a catalyst, teaching her how to live a life of courage, confidence, and purpose.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThirst Reviews
4.0
“This book was relatable in so many ways - the longing to wander and hit the trail - and how you feel most at home in the wild, even when you’re suffering. The trail brings out your highest highs and your lowest lows - but it’s worth it.
I think this book could’ve used a little more structure to it. Heather’s back story and want for wandering are caught in little glimpses but fleshing those stories out more would’ve offered a fuller journey. I kept getting the feeling like Heather was desperately trying to mold herself into “Anish” (her self-picked trail name) instead of embracing and exploring the “Ghost” trail name given to her. Ghost seemed to fit her journey and life so accurately.
I also think that the narrator made Heather sound a little more dramatic and frazzled than what may have been intended.
All that being said, Heather is an absolute monster and I applaud her ambitions and impulsiveness to do something crazy like break the PCT time record. Her 40-50 miles back to back days SELF SUPPORTED was insane. ….and I can definitely relate to jumping into adventure on a whim.”
“I loved this book. It’s so human. It would have been easy for her to just write about the trail but to deep dive into her demons and tell her audience is what intrigued me the most.”
About Heather Anderson
Heather Anderson is a certified personal trainer, through-hiker, ultrarunner, mountaineer, climber, endurance adventurer, and wilderness lover. She is the first female to complete the Triple Crown in a calendar year. When she is not on the trail, she lives in Washington State. Follow her adventures at anishhikes.wordpress.com and @AnishHikes.
Other books by Heather Anderson
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