Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (Oprah's Book Club 2.0)

I was SO into this book. Cheryl being a fellow Minnesotan and a strong willed woman. I myself want to go backpacking and such. I felt as if I could connect in various ways. Then I got to chaper four. She gave most of what I read to her mother, yet talks of getting an abortion with a total lack of regard towards the childs life.. Stating how she instantly knew it was what she wanted. The quote, "I got an abortion and learned how to make dehydrayed tuna flakes and yadda yadda." Ruined the whole thing for me..

This story resonated deeply with me on many levels. One was the passing of my own mother, and the book provided both distraction from and insight into my grief. Another is my appreciation for the sheer guts to trek the PCT, and the resemblances to my own wild travels that helped me both find and solidify myself. And finally, I was glad to see the interspersion of information about the PCT itself, its history and the hope for its future, which beckons us all to once again walk in the wild.

This is both spiritually and physically inspiring in terms of hiking the PCT, I admire the authors self awareness in being able to confront her abandonment issues instead of moving forward with drug addiction and endless seeking. She learned to love herself, which all people need to do, no mother or husband will make up for a lack of self love. I didn't give it five stars because she misses that point, even people who have living mothers can still have the lack of self love referred to as the addicts hole