Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home

By Heather Anish Anderson

Book Overview

National Geographic 2019 Adventurer of the Year
Named a Backpacker Magazine "50 Best Hiking Books of All Time"

"Beautiful and deftly written and intimate and searing in its honesty, Anish's is a quest to conquer the trail and her own inner darkness."-Foreword Reviews
"Filled with ruminative self-reflection, soaring natural descriptions and delightful accounts of the gracious, life-sustaining 'trail magic' of hiking culture, Thirst is a testament to human endurance, inspiring to hikers and non-hikers alike."-Shelf Awareness

By age 25, Heather Anderson had hiked what is known as the "Triple Crown" of backpacking: the Appalachian Trail (AT), Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), and Continental Divide Trail (CDT)--a combined distance of 7,900 miles with a vertical gain of more than one million feet. A few years later, she left her job, her marriage, and a dissatisfied life and walked back into those mountains.

In her new memoir, Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home, Heather, whose trail name is "Anish," conveys not only her athleticism and wilderness adventures, but also shares her distinct message of courage--her willingness to turn away from the predictability of a more traditional life in an effort to seek out what most fulfills her. Amid the rigors of the trail--pain, fear, loneliness, and dangers--she discovers the greater rewards of community and of self, conquering her doubts and building confidence. Ultimately, she realizes that records are merely a catalyst, giving her purpose, focus, and a goal to strive toward.

Heather is the second woman to complete the "Double Triple Crown of Backpacking," completing the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide National Scenic Trails twice each. She holds overall self-supported Fastest Known Times (FKTs) on the Pacific Crest Trail (2013)--hiking it in 60 days, 17 hours, 12 minutes, breaking the previous men's record by four days and becoming the first women to hold the overall record--and the Arizona Trail (2016), which she completed in 19 days, 17 hours, 9 minutes. She also holds the women's self-supported FKT on the Appalachian Trail (2015) with a time of 54 days, 7 hours, 48 minutes. Heather has hiked more than twenty thousand miles since 2003, including ten thru-hikes. An ultramarathon runner, she has completed six 100-mile races since August 2011 as well as dozens of 50 km and 50-mile events. She has attempted the infamous Barkley Marathons four times, starting a third loop once. Heather is also an avid mountaineer working on several ascent lists in the US and abroad.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1680512366
• ISBN13: 9781680512366
• Release Date: January 2019
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Great read

Loved reading her story, couldn’t put it down

Better than I expected.

I knew this was a story about a Fastest Known Time attempt of the PCT. So, I expected a dry report full of numbers and times, by a conceded athlete boasting about their new record. And there is discussion of distances and times, but there is also a really good story. Thru-hiking is about the struggle...that never ends. This is a good description of that, and one of the better ones written. Would have loved to have gotten more on some of the background stories.

We get it. You were thirsty.

There's no doubt that Anish has accomplished more than most of us will in a life time. I wanted to like this book - to follow a literary journey through the depths of her soul. But the "thirst" emphasis was so repetitive, that it brought me right out of the book. Seldom do I leave a book unfinished, but I can't make myself reach the end of this one. While there are beautiful moments that bring readers to the PCT, they're quickly overshadowed by poor editorial decisions.