ONCE UPON A CLIMB

This is a book about one man's adventure in thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. It portrays a man armed with intestinal fortitude and a desire to reach his goal. The author, James Richardson, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, portrays all of the human emotions that one would expect when stepping up to the challenge of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. Six-months and 2,160 miles is more than ample time to analyze the physical, emotional, and spititual underpinnings that allowed him to succeed. The journey began at Amicalola Falls State Park, Georgia, where an inexperienced, 60 year-old hiker took his first cautious steps northward to Mt. Katahdin, Maine.

Richardson captures the essence of his journey in vivid detail as he makes his way through 14 states, six national parks, eight national forests, and numerous mountain ranges. He does not shy away from the personal aspects regarding his wife's reluctant approval of his journey, or their son's bout with ulcerative colitis. Likewise, he makes no pretense that he accomplished this feat on his own. He graphically highlights his encounters with fellow hikers, townspeople, and the natural inhabitants of the woods. He began his journey as a lone wolf, but by the time that he reached Maine, he was traveling with a "band of brothers and sisters."

Prior to reaching the half-way point at Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Pennsylvania, the author was fully cognizant of the spiritual aspects of his journey. He no longer considered good fortune events attributable to luck, but rather to a presence far greater. The author captures the uniqueness and austerity of his overnight stays at off-trail hostels. The reader will be intrigued by the author's depiction of the hostels that provided a respite for the weary hiker. He showcases both the unusual and austere as he brings the settings to life with vivid descriptiveness. The Place, Damascus, VA; Ironmasters Mansion, Pine Grove Furnace State Park, PA; the Doyle Hotel, Duncannon, PA; the Back Pack Inn, Unionville, NY; the Greymoor Franciscian Friary, Bear Mountain, NY, and a Dartmouth College co-ed dorm, Hanover, NH, all present the reader with a lasting imagery.

Follow the author as he climbs above treeline in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Accompany him through the Mahoosic Notch, the state of Maine's veritable obstacle course. Join him and his fellow hikers in Andover, Maine where Margie and Earl Towne take them into their cabin home while they recover from their ordeal of injuries and threatening weather. Feel the awesome spaciousness of the Saddleback Mountains near Rangeley. Slog with him as he and his comrades traverse the "100-mile wilderness" in Maine. Join them at their camp at the base of Mt. Katahdin in Baxter State Park. Feel the camaraderie and spent emotions as they reach the summit of the mountain that had been at the very center of their heart, mind, and soul. The author's desciptiveness of the raw emotions allows the reader to "think like a 2000-mile hiker," if only for a moment in time.