Mud, Rocks, Blazes
Letting Go on the Applachian Trail

Name: Mud, Rocks, Blazes
Brand: Blackstone Audiobooks
Availability: InStock
Author: Heather Anderson
ISBN: 9781665074469

Author: Heather Anderson

Narrator: Chelsea Stephens

Unabridged: 7 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Published: 03/01/2021

Categories: Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Memoirs, Travel, Hikes & Walks, Northeast United States, Essays & Travelogues, Adventure

Synopsis

Following her bestselling memoir, Thirst, here is the next step in Heather “Anish” Anderson’s adventurous life journey—one of deep emotion and self-discoveryDespite her success setting a self-supported Fastest Known Time record on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2013, Heather “Anish” Anderson still had such deep-seated insecurities that she became convinced her feat had been a fluke. So two years later she set out again, this time hiking through mud, rocks, and mountain blazes to crush her constant self-doubt and seek the true source of her strength and purpose.The 2,189 miles of the Appalachian Trail, from Maine to Georgia, did not make it easy. Anderson struggled with its infamous rain, humidity, insects, and steep grades for fifty-four days. But because she had to fight for every step, she knew when she reached the summit of Springer Mountain, the AT’s southern terminus, that she had fully earned the trail. Of greater value, she learned to love herself and her body, and to feel the depth of her power. Examining emotional scars as well as her relationship with her mother, Anderson’s deeply internal yet highly physical journey in Mud, Rocks, Blazes is an essential story.

About Heather Anderson

Heather “Anish” Anderson is the first female Calendar Year Triple Crowner and first female triple Triple Crowner. Anderson has also set records for fastest known times on the PCT, AT, and Arizona Trail. An avid mountaineer, professional speaker, and author of Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home, she divides her time between the East Coast and the mountains of the West.

About Chelsea Stephens

Chelsea Stephens is an experienced, AudioFile Earphones Award–winning voice actor with a talent for mystery, sci-fi, and YA novels. She has a longtime love and appreciation for the performing arts, with experience in onstage acting, singing, and voice-over.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Drew

Hikers who write are many. Hikers who write well are more rare. Heather "Anish" Anderson is the latter. She deserves to be read, not because of who she is or what she has accomplished on trail, but for her ability to create prose that reads like poetry. I barely began reading "Mud, Rocks, Blazes" th......more

Goodreads review by Christie

This was a “road trip listen” during our 47-hour drive around the country, and I realized that I have read/listened to enough Appalachian Trail books. They are all, basically, the same: food fantasies, crying/discouragement with bad weather, wrestling with wanting to quit, finding surprising strengt......more

Goodreads review by Jill

Beautifully written. Heather Anderson covers the beauty and inner turmoil of these journeys so well. Similar to her first memoir, "Thirst," I felt distinctly uncomfortable while reading the book. I think for me, her inward journey is just a little too familiar, and the subject matter hits a little t......more

Goodreads review by Kelli

Although I’ve never hiked the AT or the PCT, I feel like a small part of me has because I’ve gotten to walk with Anish in her books. I loved this book and thoroughly enjoyed following Anish’s trek on the AT and through her own mental and emotional struggles. I highly recommend this book!......more

Quotes

“Mud, Rocks, Blazes is beautifully written, intense, and exhilarating—a no holds barred, one-woman show…Put this deeply personal and riveting book on your must-read list.” Barney Scout Mann, author of Journeys North