Customer Reviews

American Discoveries: Scouting the First Coast to Coast Recreational Trail

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Finding routes for hikers to cross against the grain of this country's physical geography is this book's ambition. Seaborg and Dudley succeed admirably. This is no Sierra Club/Appalachian Traiil Club guide (trail 26: Old Rag to Shiflett Hollow...). This is the chronicle of an ambitious attempt to chart a way to walk across America.

Reading this book is like floating down a river with a little whitewater, glorious scenery and intelligent company--it's a joy! The two perspectives add depth to the forward movement.

This is one of those books whose real storytelling power sneaks up on you. It's a case study in Americana, in the guise of a travelogue. Dudley and Seaborg met a remarkable group of characters on their journey -- a cast few novelists could dream up -- and they share their new friends with us in a delightfully readable way. The writing is so crisp and the imagery so vivid that you can practically hear the crickets chirping as you read!

Seaborg and Dudley have made an incredible journey, and done a great service to the hiking community. They had an audacious mission, to link the nation's great long-distance trails with the cities in between and lay out a way to get from coast to coast under one's own power.

To many of us, this sounds like a dream assignment. But Eric and Ellen faced many challenges-finding a route through a maze of mountain ranges, urban parks, farm roads, rail trails and river crossings; securing the cooperation of local hiking clubs and wary landowners, enduring a cold winter, networking with the media, writing a guidebook, and taking their case to Washington to gain designation as a National Scenic Trail. It was hard, often frustrating work, yet their good humor, physical strength, and boundless enthusiasm saw them through and got the job done.

We're all the richer for it. The book is a real page-turner. Eric and Ellen take turns telling their story, and they make you feel you're right there with them. Especially compelling are the times they get separated. You'll experience first-hand the fear of a woman alone in the wilderness, and the grim determination of her partner to find her. In the end, they'll have you cheering as they accomplish their task.

An adventure for the ages. Don't miss this book!