Appalachian Trials: A Psychological and Emotional Guide To Thru-Hike the Appalachian Trail: Volume 1 Paperback – 8 Feb. 2012

This is a fantastic short read for anyone preparing for a thru hike (it is not only relevant to the AT). It is worth getting a copy just to read about 'The Lists'. They are a fantastic motivation tool to get you to the end of your hike!

Unlike the scathing review that was too of the list, I loved it.A useful tool to add to the armour of anyone planning a thru.

Haven’t read the whole book yet but have looked through it and it seems to have some great tips in it.

Interesting book worth reading covering the mental processes of successful thru hiking.

I reluctantly purchased this book after being convinced by its many glowing reviews. I was disappointed to find it extremely short and filled with cliche and platitudes. Beyond raising (repeatedly) the psychological challenges and concerns Thru-hikers may face, it did very little to address them in a comprehensive useful manner.I would say of the entire, albeit brief, book there were three useful suggestions that I am now unable to recall - so perhaps not.The one star is for the anecdotal revelations that gave the best glimpse of the writer's experience. These were, however, infrequent and cheapened by a lack of serious reflection or half-hearted jokes.I would add more critique, but I am loathe to waste any more time on this.

The Author is gifted to bring the reader in from the very 1st page. I plan to thru hike the AT in 2024 and this book has been SO INFORMATIVE and has brought to my attention aspects of the mental challenge I definitely had not considered. The Author brings in his own learning experiences and although these experiences are raw and difficult, he brings out such humor! I really have LOL much of the time while reading of his adventures as an AT thru hiker!! I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone even remotely considering taking on the AT!!!

Although my first thru hike is nearly 2 years away (going against the advice of the book already) I think this will prove to be one of the most useful books I’ll read. Definitely will reread in about 20 months.

And relevant for all multi day trails.

...bei z.B. 3500km sollte man sich schon seine Gedanken machen, warum man so eine Strecke (er)wandern will. Es ist einfach zu Aufwendig so etwas zu planen um sich dann 2 Wochen nach dem Start zu fragen, was man hier eigentlich macht.Letztendlich ist die Psyche bei vielen "Long Distance" - Aktionen identisch. Wer schon mal einen Marathon gelaufen ist weis vielleicht was ich meine. Darüber gibt es ja 1 Mio. Bücher was da im Kopf passiert und wie man beim Laufen damit umgeht... aber für das Wandern kenne ich nur diese Buch.Recht unterhaltsam geschrieben gibt es den einen oder anderen Tipp, wie man sich mental auf sein Abenteuer vorbereiten kann. Bei mir war es ein Teil der Vorbereitung, auch deshalb, da ich mir nun sicher bin das Richtige für mich zu machen !

Very good description of psychological steps happening on a long trek. I bought for a hike I will do in the Grand Canyon since walking in the desert for many km scares me but also to understand what my sister will go through during her 1 month trek in Compostelle. Will see when she's back in 2 weeks if it was good advice to help me understand what she will have encounter :-)