Customer Reviews

A Blistered Kind of Love: One Couple's Trial by Trail (Barbara Savage Award Winner)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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A Blistered Kind of Love is one of those physical endurance memoirs like Josie Dew's bicycling books, or Peter Jenkins' walking books. But this has an added twist. Instead of a lone diarist battling the elements, the Ballards are a couple who are testing themselves and testing their relationship.

Angela and Duffy take turns writing chapters about their hike from Mexico to Canada along the Pacific Crest Trail. That way we get the views from both hikers. This really works, because as they make their way along the trail, we see their relationship develop. It's as if they realized that if they could make it to the end together, they figured they'd be able to face anything together.

They have their share of adventures, mishaps, and meet plenty of hikers and "angels" (people who help hikers along the way). A Blistered Kind of Love is an enjoyable account, for hikers and non-hikers alike.

I'm not usually the type to read about endeavors I have no interest in undertaking - and hiking a few thousand miles while eating dehydrated vegetables certainly qualifies as such - but I found this book fascinating. It's chock full of anecdotes, historical info and juicy (if very well-rendered) back-and-forths between Duffy and Angela.

The most obvious comparison is Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, his story of hiking the Appalachian Trail, but I wouldn't necessarily say the books are similar. Bryson, while being a slightly more polished writer than the young Ballards (at least at this point in their career), doesn't treat his journey with the same reverence. You really feel the Ballards' deepening appreciation of what they are doing and each other, whereas Bryson viewed his trek as the means to an end (namely a book). Angela writes with a visual eloquence - she really excels at scenes - and is the more introspective of the two. Duffy's style is funnier and more anecdotal. He sounds like your average football-watching guy suddenly transported into the Sierras. Good stuff.

When I was done reading, I passed this on to my girlfriend and was surprised to find that she read it even faster than I did. I'd recommend it as a gift to any outdoors-minded friend, and especially to anyone newly-retired pondering some sort of adventure. This will get your ass off the couch and out for at least a day-hike.

And oh, by the way, Angela looks pretty hot in her photo.

Reading this book inspired my boyfriend and I to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail (which we completed in October, 2005). Angela does such a fantastic job of telling her story. It's entertaining, funny, and a great read.

I'd highly recommend this book for both for PCT hikers and for anyone else who wants to read a wonderful story.

A Blistered Kind of Love is a terrific account of one couple as they trek the Pacific Crest Trail. The narrative alternates between authors Angela and Duffy Ballard, and that sets the book apart from other hiking memoirs. Seeing the hike from both perspectives invites the reader to share the experience with greater depth than most single-perspective narratives. It's almost as if we get to alternate sharing the trail with each author, hearing ones view of the trail tale before we hang back and join the other, listening to the same story with that author's particular way of looking at the adventure. Very quickly, the reader gets the sense of being on a hike with good friends. It helps that both writers do a terrific job of letting us see through their eyes. This book is strongly recommended for hikers, adventurers, and people interested in the way relationships develop in extreme situations.

An unexpected treat! Bought this book on a whim while planning a (much shorter) trip of my own. Have just ordered additional copies as gifts for friends. The Ballards, who you'll feel like you know, are alternatively hilarious and inspiring. Basically, they're an everyday twenty-something couple that sets out to hike from Mexico to Canada during one summer. For fun?! The "he said / she said" structure is perfect. A blast to read. (Wonder what's next for these two...?)

I just finished this - an entertaining read of a couple who thru-hiked the PCT in 2000. Angela had never backpacked before. It gives you a feeling for what the emotional highs and the lows are when hiking the PCT, and they have an upbeat attitude. More detail than Karen Berger's Triple Crown book, not the nitty gritty of Bill Schuette's story of his AT hike - White Blaze Fever.

They tandem team this book, alternating chapters. Normally each chapter progresses farther up the trail, though sometimes you might read about a common experience from two different views. You get some idea of the tremendous logistical problems in doing a thru-hike, and an even better sense of what a relationship test this is.

By the end of the book you feel a kinship with the other thru-hikers they encounter, so it is a nice touch that they have an epilogue, talking about what happened to the other thru-hikers they encountered.

For anyone with a sense of adventure and the urge to find it inside themselves. Both fun and inspirational - this is what good travel writing is all about - and it comes with an added twist. Duffy and Angela alternate writing chapters and their distinct styles (and perspectives) are what really make this book fresh and original.

Nice twist in that we get the view from both the stereotypical speedy, strong guy, and his weaker, inexperienced girlfriend. They did a great job of making you feel the physical and emotional challenges as they hiked from the Mexican border through the Califonia desert and through the Sierras. I give this couple credit for making it through this arduous portion of the PCT.

After that, well, they pulled a bit of a Bryson. Hate to spoil it, but an account of a couple who claim to be "through hikers" is too much. It's Bryson without the humor. The last third of the trail is a disappointing yawn. They should have focused on section hiking the trail by state of something. By dismissing the spectacular section of the PCT in Washington State, they do the PCT a disservice.

This book is a wonderful account of a young, new couple's trials and tribulations on the Pacific Crest Trail. I have read several other accounts of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) from the Mexican border to the Canadian border and this has been the best by far. This couple is very ordinary and endearing and the reader can definitely stand in their boots and identify with them as they describe the difficulties of cooperating, getting along and staying in love with each other on their PCT odyssey.

The book is also a great account of hiking the trail itself. There are many references to specific places and the type of terrain and obstacles the couple encountered. They describe the trail angels and intriguing hikers they meet along the way, but, are not sidetracked by these interesting characters.

Other books of this genre, have gotten mired down in soul searching and philosphizing and seem to stray from the most interesting topic of all..hiking the PCT. This book uses a humorous touch in dealing with the couple's relationship and not taking itself too seriously while being very informative and engaging.

This is also the first book that I have read that gives details about the PCT in Oregon and Washington. I don't know if authors get tired of making notes or just burned out with hiking, but, Oregon and Washington don't seem to get much mention. This book, on the other hand, had detailed descriptions of some beautiful country in Oregon and Washington.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in hiking the PCT and just hiking in general.

This was delightful book about a couple thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. The man and woman, who later married, take turns writing chapters. In addition to being a great PCT travelogue it is also an interesting example of the way two people can view the exact same trip quite differently. What I mean to say is that it demonstrates the way men and women think differently. The parts written by the man were about where they were and what they were doing whereas the parts written by the woman were more likely to be about how she was feeling emotionally and physically. Hmmm - interesting.