BACKPACKING NARRATIVE -- VERMONT´S LONG TRAIL

This book is now being published by Heron Dance Press.
To order a copy, go to: www.herondance.org

Book Review by The Sunday Rutland Herald (Rutland, Vermont)

WTB catalog blurb:

Natural history and philosophical speculation, as well as a brief history of the Long Trail, are woven into this narrative about long-distance hiking in early summer. In addition to the flora and fauna, a few of the colorful characters encountered along the way are also described. The result is a story that evokes the wonder and beauty of the forest while providing an inside look at life on the trail.

"The forest is under my fingernails. A mountain stream runs through me. My skin smells like the rotting leaves underfoot. I inhabit these woods no less than fleeting deer or chattering chipmunks. Three weeks on the trail and I belong in this green universe. The wind brushes over my face. I´ve given enough blood to the many biting insects to qualify as part of the grand design. My feet follow an unending path cutting through yellow lilies and bunchberry. My spirit soars overhead, among the few wispy clouds. My heart sinks deep into the earth, as solid and unmoved there as the dark grey bedrock. My progress northward is deliberately slow, in celebration of the simple earthly pleasure of absolute immediacy. All heady presumptions have been stripped away by the wild. Today, this hour, this moment, I am a woodswalker. Nothing more, nothing less. And that once-and-future life of mine back in the lowlands is only a vague concept, a fading memory."

Walt McLaughlin has backpacked extensively throughout the Northeast during the past twenty-odd years. Since receiving a degree in philosophy from Ohio University, he has worked as a bookseller, hiking guide, outfitter and freelance writer. He is also the mad genius behind Wood Thrush Books. His essays, stories and poems have appeared in Adirondac, Appalachian Trailway News, J´Ecris (Fr), Northeast, SemiDwarf Review, The Sun and many other periodicals. He is currently finishing a booklength narrative about his brief sojourn in the Alaskan bush. He lives in St. Albans, Vermont with his wife, Judy Ashley.

Wood Thrush Books Walt McLaughlin, Publisher 85 Aldis Street St. Albans, VT 05478 802-524-6606 walt@woodthrushbooks.com

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