Two Appalachian Trail Books

Ever notice how you can go through life without reading a book on a particular subject, then suddenly find yourself reading several books on that subject in a short period of time? I've been doing that with books about the Appalachian Trail; more specifically, books by people who have walked the A.T.

Several years ago, I'd read a short article about someone who'd walked the A.T. and was immediately intrigued. Since then, I've periodically thought, If only... Many of us have dreams of what we'd do if only we didn't have a full-time job, mortgage, etc. That is where books come in; we can live vicariously, whether through a good novel, an interesting memoir, or whatever genre we've chosen for our next read.

Recently, I finished reading AWOL On The Appalachian Trail, by David Miller. I'd stumbled onto it while trying to find books for a Kindle, then started reading it when nothing else grabbed my attention. After finishing AWOL, I was excited enough about the whole A.T. experience to jump into reading Three Hundred Zeroes, by Dennis Blanchard. (My next read will probably be A Walk In The Woods, by Bill Bryson; it's been sitting on one of my book shelves for a while...) But getting back to AWOL and Zeroes...

In 2003, David Miller walked away from a job as a computer programmer to hike the Appalachian Trail. "...I broke the news to my boss. He said, 'If you need to have a midlife crisis, couldn't you just buy a Corvette?'" According to Miller, several thousand people decided to walk the Appalachian Trail (the AT) in 2003; eighty percent didn't make it. The trail's length (2,172 miles) undoubtedly had something to do with that.

Miller left Florida the end of April, 2003 to walk the trail, leaving his wife and three daughters for several months. Throughout the book, the reader learns many things about hiking the AT. First off, there are several kinds of hikers on the trail: thru-hikers, who walk the entire length of the trail at one time; section hikers, who walk a particular section of the AT; and day hikers, who simply walk a day's-worth of trail. Miller spent a good portion of 2003 as a thru-hiker.

Another thing one learns is that most hikers end up with trail nicknames. Miller nearly chose Corvette as his trail name (after his boss's comment), but decided on AWOL. (Apparently, there were other AWOLs at other times on the AT.)

Throughout, the book, AWOL/Miller describes his trip in descriptive detail; the reader gets a sense of travelling with him, experiencing what he experiences...except, maybe, the blisters which threaten to end his hike about half-way through it. Fortunately, a visit to a doctor, followed by a round of antibiotics and several days' rest (known by hikers as zero days, since they put zero miles on the trail). Miller also introduces the reader to other thru-hikers: Superman and Torch, Stretch, Tipperary, Elwood, Doc and Llama, Ken and Marcia, as well as several people in different towns and hostels who interact with thru-hikers.

There are many reasons why AWOL On The Appalachian Trail is the perfect AT book. At the beginning of each new section, Miller has a map showing the section of trail included in the chapter ahead so that the reader has a clear idea the section he's describing. He has also included numerous photos throughout the book, giving us a better look at the area. His descriptions of the trail, his exhaustion, the side trips into different towns, the other hikers, the entire experience, give the reader the distinct feeling of being there with Miller.

The second book, Three Hundred Zeroes by Dennis Blanchard, is also a very readable book, though not without a few minor problems.

The first problem - and the one that probably worked my last nerve - was Blanchard's habit of reducing people to objects. "I met a woman that was a thru-hiker; she was married to a man that was only a day-hiker." Objects are that or it; people are who or he/she.

Another problem was that Blanchard started the book by describing hooking up with an Appalachian Trail group in Florida, then wrote about the meeting, buying gear, how much some of the gear cost...While it was nice having a little background, this section seemed to slow the book down a little.

Also, where AWOL seemed to go in depth into the experience and nuances of hiking the Appalachian Trail, Blanchard seemed almost to skim through places. But that may simply be that I'm comparing two different styles of writing.

At first, I had wondered about the book's title (Three Hundred Zeroes). Part-way through Blanchard's hike during 2006, he had to head home; it turned out he needed artery bypass surgery, which lead to 300 days of recouperating before going back to complete his hike, hence 300 zero-miles days.

While some of Blanchard's book seems to wander away from the trail, giving the reader too much non-AT information (as well as the whole "that" rather than "who"), there are good points to Three Hundred Zeroes. First of all (I loved this from a personal point of view), Blanchard's home base is from Florida, and does write about places I'm familiar with. When he and a friend flew back in 2007 to finish the hike he'd started the year before, they flew out of St. Pete/Clearwater Airport. It was here that one of the funnier episodes in the book took place. (Blanchard's writing - at least in this book - shows off his sense of humor.)

When Blanchard describes getting to the St. Pete airport with his soon-to-be hiking partner, the reader is liable to laugh out loud. He describes "[going] through the usualy gyrations involving the Homeland Security shakedown...All we had were carry-on items. At the peek-a-boo bag inspection machine they found that Brendan had a serious terrorist weapon, a 20 oz. jar of unopened peanut butter. This was serious cause for alarm and it seemed that at any minute Brendan wouldbe whisked away to Guantanamo...As his accomplice, the staff took a dim view of me as well...[The] jar of peanut butter was a security risk...I was carrying my hiking pole, a potential deadly weapon...and nobody looked twice..." It gets even funnier before they get around to leaving the airport.

While I definitely found Miller's book more descriptive about the AT hike, both books had definite merits and are both worth buying. If, like me, you are unable to hike the Appalachian Trail, grab hold of these two books for the vicarious pleasure of hiking through them.

Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry, by John Piper

Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry by John Piper
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: This reviewer received this as a free Goodreads giveaway book.

Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Pleas to Pastors for Radical Ministry, by John Piper, is, no doubt, a much needed book got pastors leading their congregations. If not, it is unlikely that Piper would have come up with a new edition of his book were it not needed by many pastors. And while I'm not a pastor, but what would be referred to as a lay-person, I attempted to read this as a pastor.

That said, I had a rough time reading past the first two chapters. The first chapter begins

 "We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry.  The mentality of the professional is not the mentality of the prophet.  It is not the mentality of the slave of Christ.  Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry."

This explanation may be valid if one uses the argument that a professional is merely out for money, rather than acting as a spiritual guide for a congregation. However, according to World English Dictionary, one definition for profession is "1. an occupation requiring special training in the liberal arts or sciences, esp. one of the three learned professions, law, theology, or medicine.". If a pastor has not acquired the knowledge with which to lead his or her congregation, then the people of that church will be as leaderless as though the pastor were absent. One need not be looking for a quick dollar to be a professional paster; professional and pastor are not opposites.

The second chapter ("Brother, God Loves His Glory") starts out making God sound like an egotistical being, rather than a loving God who wants the best for His creation/children.

The chapters following the first two did have some good advice. However, if the new edition of the book was the first time one has read Piper, it might be easy to give up quickly and not get past the first two chapters. Add to that the fact that several denominations are allowing women in leadership roles, and the idea of call all pastors brothers may be a further turn-off.

The remainder of my disclaimer: having grown up in the Episcopal church - a denomination that tends to lean slightly to the left - this may have colored my views on reading this book. In all honesty, I believe that there is a place for this book, most likely in the more conservative Christian denominations. But for those of us who tend to be a little more liberal, this may be a bit difficult to read.

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