On the Beaten Path: An Appalachian Pilgrimage

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Overview

How one man’s six-month, end-to-end hike of the Appalachian Trail led him back home with a new afterword by the authorLeaving mortgage, wife, and cul-de-sac life behind to walk the Appalachian Trail, Robert Rubin found himself part of a strange culture of pilgrims and dropouts, a world with its own rules and rituals. With eloquence and humor, he recounts his 2,160-mile-long trek—the people he met, the landscapes he passed through, and the spiritual and physical endurance involved. On the Beaten Path is a wise, ...
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On the Beaten Path: An Appalachian Pilgrimage

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More About This Book

Overview

How one man’s six-month, end-to-end hike of the Appalachian Trail led him back home with a new afterword by the authorLeaving mortgage, wife, and cul-de-sac life behind to walk the Appalachian Trail, Robert Rubin found himself part of a strange culture of pilgrims and dropouts, a world with its own rules and rituals. With eloquence and humor, he recounts his 2,160-mile-long trek—the people he met, the landscapes he passed through, and the spiritual and physical endurance involved. On the Beaten Path is a wise, witty look at one of the few remaining pilgrimages in our disillusioned age.
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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher
“A beautiful story.”—Esquire “A book for the rest of us, who will never climb Annapurna but still need to do something to test our own physical and mental limits.”—National Geographic Adventure “Delightful. . . . [Rubin] writes humorously and honestly.”—Seattle Times “Engaging and enjoyable.”—Library Journal “Rubin opens his heart to hikers, people in the nearby towns and the reader, inviting everyone along to share both hardship and discovery. ... [He] tells a human tale of the search for meaning and the understandable need to reduce a complicated life to a simple passage from white blaze to white blaze, from town to town.”—News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina
Library Journal
Depressed and tired of his dead-end life, 38-year-old Rubin (former editor of Carolina Quarterly) set out to walk the 2000-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, thereby becoming one of the elite "thruhikers." Reminiscent of Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods (LJ 4/98), Rubin's account discloses the mystic aspects of the trail in even greater detail. Unlike Bryson's adventurous journey, during which he aimed to "rediscover" America, Rubin's is a six-month pilgrimage aimed at resolving personal issues and redirecting the author's life. The poignant tale of his predicament is well balanced with his descriptions of trail traditions, the thruhikers he meets on the trip, and various other experiences that only a thruhiker encounters. This engaging and enjoyable account is recommended for all travel collections.--Nancy J. Moeckel, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\
School Library Journal
YA-Rubin recounts his 2000-mile journey from Springer Mountain, GA, to Mount Katahdin, ME. The journalist, whose trail name was Rhymin' Worm, began as an overweight, dispirited, burned-out urbanite, yet completed this feat in one season. This is not a "how to" book for thruhikers or a history of the AT, although bits of both can be found here, including maps of each section. It is really Rubin's reaction to the life and lore of the trail and his search for what is true and valuable about his life. He introduces readers to Rock Dancer, One Ramp, Loon, Bigfoot, Grizz, Java Joe, and a host of other muddy, sweaty, ragged but determined hikers. Through dialogue and description, he introduces the fellowship of the trail and throws in plenty of trivia without breaking stride. He talks about the fetish for fashionable hiking gear, quotes Henry David Thoreau, and explains "trail magic" and "slackpacking." With the finer but less esoteric details of life without baths, through days of rain and bugs, he helps readers understand why many thousands start the trail, but far fewer are true thruhikers. With finesse, Rubin succeeds as an informed journalist, a backpack-hoisting hiker, and a philosophical observer. Hikers, dreamers, and pilgrims of all sorts will find this an entertaining odyssey.-Cynthia J. Rieben, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781599214979
  • Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
  • Publication date: 3/3/2009
  • Edition description: Repackaged
  • Edition number: 2
  • Pages: 256
  • Sales rank: 399,427
  • Product dimensions: 6.00 (w) x 8.90 (h) x 0.80 (d)

Meet the Author

Robert Alden Rubin is a wirter and editor who lives with his wife, Catherine, in Sykesville, Maryland.
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi
Prologue: Facing North xiii
1 Pilgrims' Way 1
2 Blue Ridges 83
3 Sea Level 133
4 Monadnock 183
Epilogue: Facing South 227
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 15 )
Rating Distribution

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(10)

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Sort by: Showing all of 16 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 19, 2010

    Hard to put down

    I am about half way through the book and am loving it. I hope to one day make my own trek from South to North and this book sheds some wonderful insight to life on the trail.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 9, 2001

    Stoking the AT thruhike fire within you.....

    I have probably read 30 first person accounts from individuals who have hiked the AT and this is by far the best one I have found. The author goes beyond simply providing a day to day description of his hike. He helps to draw the reader into the deeper reasons for hiking and what motivates someone to undertake such an endeavor. If you are like me and dream of the day when you too can tread the white blazes, this is the book for you. I'll give you a warning though, it will really stoke the AT fires within you and make a thruhike permeate your thoughts even more!

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted April 25, 2011

    Great read on the AT thru-hike experience

    I took a gamble on this relatively unknown author and dont regret it . Its hard to find books on this topic that aren't 'how to' or just maps and reference. The author immerses you in the thru-hike experience and gives a real flavor for life on the trail. Its hard to wrap your head around what a thru-hike really is: the distance, the time, the physical and mental aspects. This book shows you.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 12, 2012

    Great read, courageous adventure!

    Not a how to book. Doesn't bore with hiking tips but allows you to take what you want from his experience. Can easily relate to his need to search for more from life and wish I had the courage to take the same risk. Intelligent writing, love the flow, appreciate the honesty.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 22, 2000

    The Next Best Thing to Being There

    More than any other book or article on thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, this one gives you an almost palpable sense of actually hiking besides the author. You can sense his fatigue at times and you share some of his frustrations with both trail life and interuptions to that life. Happily, this tale avoids the temptation to indulge in lofty trail-side philosophizing or woodsy sophistry. In many ways, it's just a story about a guy who took a very long walk in the woods. Perhaps the biggest message is that some things are just simply worth finishing.

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