The Appalachian Trail--Onward to Katahdin [Paperback]

Jan D. Curran (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1999

When Jan D. Curran retired from the Army, he hiked the entire 2,100+ miles of The Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine, to aid his transition to civilian life. As a young retiree, he found the journey tedious -- sometimes even dangerous -- but laden with nature's riches and unexpected spiritual rewards.

In The Appalachian Trail: Onward to Katahdin, Curran describes in vivid detail the Northern half of his AT adventure, as he finally completes the journey of a lifetime. The Southern half of his hike is chronicled in The Appalachian Trail: A Journey of Discovery.

Onward to Katahdin is, like his other books, informative and reader friendly. A good book to take with you on an AT hike, to enjoy as a vicarious adventure or to read in preparation for a thru-hike.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Rainbow Books (July 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156825072X
• ISBN-13: 978-1568250724
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #521,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Oh, woe is me!, September 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Appalachian Trail--Onward to Katahdin (Paperback)

The author showed a tendancy for too much self-pity in his first book (based on the first half of his AT hike), but in this one he lies down in the middle of the trail and wallows in it. Curran approaches things in a way that is rational, carefully thought out, even scientific. The essence of this book is his efforts to apply this method to figuring out his relationship with God. It's a bit like trying to paint a cloud.
For those interested in the actual hiking itself, Curran comes off as a bit too harsh in his judgments of people and businesses he encounters along the way. His comments hint that he often doesn't feel properly respected or treated. I wonder if it has something to do with his being a retired Army colonel, and if he realizes that the world doesn't know or even care about that.
Not enough real substance here for my taste.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Different than his first book, October 31, 2000

By 

Robert Merivel - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Appalachian Trail--Onward to Katahdin (Paperback)

Jan Curran's first book on the trail: "The Appalachian Trail - A Journey of Discovery" covered Jan's reasons for hiking the trail and does an excellent job of describing the daily life and trial of hiking the Appalachian Trail. This book however gets very involved in the spiritual aspects of his journey and continues to prosylitize when you just want him to get back to the trail. I ended up skimming parts of the book after becoming annoyed with it. If you are having a spiritual crisis and want to hike the trail, this is the book for you.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A successful conclusion., April 23, 2003

By 

Charles R. Wilson "Chuck" (Naples, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Appalachian Trail--Onward to Katahdin (Paperback)

A fitting conclusion to the trek started in Curran's earlier book The Appalachian Trail: A Journey of Discovery. He not only clearly explains the trials of life on the trail but also probes deeper thoughts with which many long distance hikers flirt during long hours of solitude. I could feel the almost daily highs and lows that reward and plague thru-hikers. There is no "sugar coating" and no boasting, he just tells it like it is, both physically and emotionally.
Informatative and easy reading, it is a more realistic view of hiking the Appalachian Trail than a bestseller.