Barefoot Sisters Southbound, The (Adventures on the Appalachian Trail) [Paperback]

Lucy Letcher (Author), Susan Letcher (Author)

Book Description

Series: Adventures on the Appalachian Trail | Publication Date: December 17, 2008

"Rarely will you find books that explore the human emotions of a long-distance trek so honestly and clearly." --Roger Williamson, Campmor, Inc.

"Highly recommended." --trailsbib.blogspot.com

From the book: "We stood for a moment before the venerable signpost marking the summit. Scored with graffiti and the constant onslaught of weather, it stands perhaps three feet high, a wooden A-frame painted Forest Service brown with recessed white letters:
KATAHDIN 5268 ft.
Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail
Below this were a few waypoints: Thoreau Spring, 1.0, Katahdin Stream Campground, 5.2. At the bottom of the list: Springer Mountain, Georgia, 2160.2. More than two thousand miles. It was simply a number, too large and incomprehensible to have any bearing on me. The farthest I had ever walked in a day was ten miles and that was with a daypack. Now I was contemplating a journey of months, covering thousands of miles. All of a sudden, there on the summit with the clouds screaming past us, it didn't seem like such a great idea.
I turned to my sister, half-expecting to see the same doubt mirrored in her face. But her eyes were shining, and she smiled with an almost feral intensity. It was a look I would come to know all too well over the next year and a half, and it meant, I am going to do this and no one had better try to stop me. 'We're really doing this,' she shouted over the wind's howl and the lashing rain. 'We're hiking the Appalachian Trail!'"

At the ages of twenty-five and twenty-one, Lucy and Susan Letcher set out to accomplish what thousands of people attempt each year: thru-hike the entire 2,175 miles of the Appalachian Trail. The difference between them and the others? They decided to hike the trail barefoot. Quickly earning themselves the moniker of the Barefoot Sisters, the two begin their journey at Mount Katahdin and spend eight months making their way to Springer Mountain in Georgia. As they hike, they write about their adventures through the 100-mile Wilderness, the rocky terrain of Pennsylvania, and snowfall in the Great Smoky Mountains--a story filled with humor and determination. It's as close as one can get to hiking the Appalachian Trail without strapping on a pack.

Listen to the Barefoot Sisters read excerpts from their book here:
Southbound Podcast - part 1
and here:
Southbound Podcast - part 2

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Susan Letcher is a doctoral student in ecology at the University of Connecticut. She plans to work as a professor for study abroad courses in Costa Rica with the Organization for Tropical Studies.

Lucy Letcher is an artist and a writer. She has an MFA in printmaking from Edinburgh College of Art, and has exhibited in galleries in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. She currently lives and works in Berlin.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; First Edition edition (December 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811735303
• ISBN-13: 978-0811735308
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #219,728 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best AT Books, May 22, 2009

By 

Kerosene (Minneapolis, MN, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Barefoot Sisters Southbound, The (Adventures on the Appalachian Trail) (Paperback)

What a great find! I had heard of the Barefoot Sisters long before this book was published, but I was skeptical that two authors could write a good read of this length. Clearly the Sisters are excellent writers, and it is refreshing to read an recounting of a thru-hike that goes beyond the typical trail journal. The writing was so well done, weaving together similar but different feminine styles, that I've given it to my non-hiking copyeditor wife to read! I'm now awaiting their sequel, which I hope will also make it into my Top 5 AT-related reads.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Walking the Trail a Different Way, December 4, 2009

By 

James Denny "History Guy1" (Catonsville, Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Barefoot Sisters Southbound, The (Adventures on the Appalachian Trail) (Paperback)

The Letcher sisters, Lucy and Susan (aka Isis and jackrabbit) hike the Appalachian Trail in a way different from most. First, they are women--sisters; second, they are south-bounders or "Sobos" in trail parlance, meaning that they start in Maine and head to Georgia; third, they manage to hike most of the trail barefoot. Now that is a different way to hike the AT!

Why did I like this book so much? The "Barefoot Sisters" co-narrate the book, each from her own perspective, each in her own voice. They do not re-hash the same events. Instead, with each segment they forge into new territory. The careful reader will be able to distinguish those narrated by Isis from those narrated by jackrabbit without having to read the byline which precedes each segment.

The Barefoot Sisters are social animals. Their trail saga is not the journey of the solo traveler for whom physical trials are paired with a journey of mind and spirit. Of course, physical trials are there for the Barefoot Sisters along with challenges to mind and spirit. What most distinguishes the sisters are two things: first, their relationship as sisters and how they manage to get along over this journey of many months. Second is a hunger for and a continuous searching out for the "Trail Community." The sisters form close bonds with at least a dozen trail-named Sobos whose personalties the reader will get to know well. Along the way, many other hikers, "trail angels" and trail town personalities enter and exit their lives. Of special note is "the Family," a husband and wife from Maine who are backpacking the AT along with their children, one of whom is so young and small that she must be carried and who is still actively nursing!

As young women in their twenties, the Barefoot Sisters are already fine writers who communicate in a clean and concise style that makes for easy reading. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings penned a line for which she is famous: "hard writing makes for easy reading." The Barefoot Sisters will make your armchair journey along the AT an easy one. Five stars!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Writing and a Good Story, February 19, 2009

By 

R. M. Williamson "atbookman" (RIDGEWOOD, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Barefoot Sisters Southbound, The (Adventures on the Appalachian Trail) (Paperback)

Simply a wonderful book with great introspective and descriptive writing. A great adventure by two talented and creative women. Funny, sad and exhausting this book covers all the emotions that can occur while hiking America's premier long distance trail, The Appalachian Trail. And it's only part 1. Highly recommended.

rmw