Customer Reviews

In Beauty May She Walk; Hiking the Appalachian Trail at 60

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"In Beauty May She Walk" is an excellent book for anyone interested in hiking the Appalachian Trail (or in finding out what the experience is really like). One of the difficulties potential hikers of any long-distance trail face is knowing what they are getting into when they set out. As a consequence many who could have succeeded, have given up in frustration. Mass provides the information they need. When she hiked the trail she kept careful note of the conditions of the trail -- the elevation gains and losses, its surface, the mileage between various way-points, her surroundings, the shelters, and the hiker towns along the way. She talks about lessons she learned: to lighten up her pack and to "hike her own hike." Trail language is translated: a"bounce box," for example, is a box you mail to a post office ahead containing items you may need again when you reach that point.

On a personal level, I particularly enjoyed reading about the trail community: various trail angels (people who help you by doing such things as providing a ride to town, treating you to a ice cream bar, etc.) and hiking companions Mass met along the way. Mass was 60 when she undertook this challenging backpack and her story should reassure other women "of age" that with adequate training, planning/preparation, and determination, they too can succeed at hiking challenging trails such as the Appalachian.

... because Leslie Mass had a longer and more fulfilling walk in the woods than he did. AND she did it mostly on her own, without a constant babbling companion. AND she was 60 years old when she completed her thru-hike. AND her hike was interrupted by the events surrounding September 11, 2001. Her story is indeed an intriguing one.

Alas, Leslie's book probably won't sell as many copies as Bryson's, and that's too bad for the reading public. As other reviewers have said, "In Beauty May She Walk" is informative and inspirational, especially to women and to folks thinking about someday thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. But her observations go beyond the physical demands of her endeavor. She's savvy enough to analyze how the genders approach tasks differently, for example. She takes time to study not only the landscape, but also her relationships -- with her family, with individual strangers, with groups, and with herself. Her experience is as much a mental and spiritual one as it is a physical one. And when she reaches the crest of Springer Mountain in Georgia, with more than 2,000 miles behind her, she's "too happy to cry." I can't say the same. My eyes teared up at the last pages, knowing the end was in sight. If I hadn't been in a restaurant finishing the book between bites, I would have wept. Congratulations on a job well done, Leslie!

My one minor complaint is that no photos accompanied the text. It would have been wonderful to see some of the people, shelters, hostels, and towns that Leslie met along her way. Rock Spring Press is a relatively new publisher and a member of the Green Press Initiative, which encourages the use of recycled paper and a chlorine-free process. I suspect that glossy photo pages don't figure into that scenario. I guess I'll support the trade off. Better to have this book without photos than to print it and use more trees and chemicals than necessary.

IN BEAUTY MAY SHE WALK is probably the best hiker journal I have read so far. Leslie Mass is a 60 year old thru hiker who is definitely "hiking her own hike". She prepares the reader for her hike by explaining why she is hiking and how she is getting prepared for the 2,174 miles of the Applachian Trail. As an almost 50 year old woman preparing to hike the trail also, I found her experiences and writing to be refreshing and very good. She describes her feelings as well as her apprehensions about being alone and how a woman overcomes fear, being alone and how her days and months make her confident and strong. This is a book I didn't want to end and one that has helped me in many concerns preparing for my own hike. This sure is a keeper and a book I will read again.

A wonderful journal and story of a thoughtful, wise woman as she hiked the AT. Her insights on the emotional and psychological aspects of the adventure are as appealing as the practical information about physical conditioning, equipment and AT situations. This is a heart and body book - no dualism, all is connected in a woman's AT walk, her relationships to family, AT fellow hikers, and friends in two communities: home and on the trail. Highly recommend this book to ALL women thinking or dreaming about an AT hike!

I have to say I really got into this book more than I thought I would. Leslie does such a great job telling her story. I loved her philosophy in her book that you can take to your day to day living and that was, "You've got to hike your own hike." As much as Leslie loved being around people when she hiked, she also learned to really love the solitude of hiking alone, at her pace, in her own thoughts.

I also really enjoyed the difference Leslie brings out in when hiking with men and then when hiking with woman. Men and women are so different in how they get from point a to point b as well as how they communicate.

The only thing I wish this book had were pictures of Leslie on her hiking trip.

I think all women will enjoy reading this book, but especially women who are older and might not think they have an adventure in them.

I found this book to be inspirational, not only for those who like to hike, but for those who are facing challenges off the trail, as well. I loved Ms. Mass' descriptive style of writing. I felt I was on the trail with her facing incredible personal challenges. She certainly has an acute perception of the beauty surrounding her and an intuitive sense of human nature. She told a memorable tale and one that I could read again and still feel her moments of elation and well as her moments of doubt. It is a wonderful story of the triumph of the human spirit.

In Beauty May She Walk: Hiking The Appalachian Trail At 60 is the personal story of sixty-year- -old Leslie Mass and her grueling 2,000-mile journey along the Appalachian Trail. As the terrain toughened, Leslie struggles to physically keep up with the trail community she socially depended upon to keep her going on her trek. In addition to the necessity of putting one foot in front of the other, all day, every day, Leslie also had to overcome the difficulties of maintaining her obligations to family and friends during this amazing excursion. Indeed, it was after September 11, 2001, that Leslie found she had to cope with being what appeared to be the only hiker on the trails for miles -- giving new meaning to "hiking her own hike". Superbly written, In Beauty May She Walk is enthusiastically recommended reading and a unique memoir of what it was like to hike the Appalachian Trail at a time when most folk her age are getting ready to retire.

Although Leslie Mass's viewpoint is often that of a woman seeking her identity in a predomniantly male community (through-hikers), I found her book a wonderful description of the challenges of backpacking (which are mainly gender-neutral) as well as an enlightening description of the through-hiking experience. Her observations on male versus female ways of doing things (mostly couched in terms of competition contrasted with cooperation) are good lessons for hikers of both genders to learn, and there are many male hikers she encountered who did not fit the super-competitive model. Her book is a nice combination of travelogue and introspection and can be thoroughly enjoyed by both male and female readers.

I enjoyed this book very much. I may not be able to actually hike the entire trail, but I was able to "hike" it through this book. The author was able to focus on the trail so that you were walking and struggling right along with her. The author was able to take you along on her personal growth as a woman who is competent and able to stand on her own and take care of herself.

Leslie Mass hiked the Appalachian Trail at 60. Her book is one of my favorite accounts of hiking the Appalachian Trail. She is a college administrator, wife and mother who managed to fit a flip-flop hike into her work schedule. Since childhood, Mass had been told to speak softly and accomodate herself to others. On her hike she learned to value her own opinion and one of life's biggest lessons: sometimes it is not so bad to be alone and hike your own hike. She made elaborate plans to hike parts of the trail with friends and family. You can tell that she was very accustomed to being close to other people, part of a very social world. In spite of this, she writes that she always knew she was an introvert. Her biggest lesson from the trail was to trust in herself, rather than going along with someone else who forced her into the role of "follower". On the trail, she made friends with several other hikers, one of whom took way too much interest in Mass' daughter, Amy, before even meeting her. He basically took over Mass' hike, and made her miserable. When Amy joined her mother on the trail, he attached himself to her. He didn't seem to be the most stable character, even making remarks about which man hiking the trail Mass had selected for her daughter. Creepy. I hope nothing bad came of this. Dog lovers might get some negative vibes: Mass obviously HATES dogs!