A Blistered Kind of Love

One Couple's Trial by Trail

by and .

272 pages
Publisher: Mountaineers Books
ISBN: 978-0-89886-902-6
Published: Sep 19, 2003

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Description

Winner of the 2003 Barbara Savage Miles from Nowhere Award and Winner of the 2004 National Outdoor Book Award

A blend of romance, humor, and adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail
Written in "he said/she said" alternating chapters, this young couple each tell their own story

They're not sure which came first -- falling in love with each other or falling in love with the idea of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (the length of California, Oregon, and Washington). At the trailhead, the young couple was warned that there would be tears, that each would have to find their own separate pace, and that at times the tent would seem awfully small for the two of them. They were told that their biggest obstacles to success would be . . . each other.

Their first surprise: freeze-dried meals do funny things to your GI- tract. Their first fight: when Angela noticed that Duffy's long legs propel him along the trail faster than she can muster. But on they pressed -- encountering snakes, bears, and fellow thru-hikers with trail names like Crazy Legs and Catch 23. They baked in the deserts of Southern California, gazed awestruck at the snowy, serrated peaks of the High Sierra, and attempted to hide from Northern Washington's seemingly incessant rain. One hundred thirty two days of Pacific Crest Trail later, they made it -- blisters and all.

Contributors

by and

Details

272 pages
Publisher: Mountaineers Books
ISBN: 978-0-89886-902-6
Published: Sep 19, 2003

Reviews

[Angela and Duffy Ballard] are both good writers and innovative, too … What makes this book work is the yin and yang of the two. Each has written alternating chapters -- and that sets up a wonderful interplay of gender perspectives as they deal with the rigors of life and the trail on their long journey northward.
— Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education Newsletter
The usually comical, often insightful view into the workings of the minds of men and women is the strongest feature of this co-authored travel narrative. It's remarkably entertaining to observe two completely different reactions to the same situation-both equally and logical…If you're planning on hiking the PCT or anywhere with your significant other, this book would probably be a good supplemental text with some real-life relationship examples that may leave you chuckling at them or yourself.
— Washington Trails
Honorable Mention, Outdoor Literature, 2004 National Outdoor Book Awards (NOBA). The annual program honors outstanding writing and publishing in the outdoor field.
— National Outdoor Book Awards Foundation
The adventure certainly puts a positive spin on youthful wanderlust. This book is fun to read.
— East Oregonian
2003 Honorable Mention award winner for "Sports" titles
— Foreword magazine
This book was such a page-turner that the co-authors would have been hard-pressed to write anything more exciting even if it had been a fiction thriller. The only question a reader is likely to have after finishing this book is what adventure the Ballards will be writing about next.
— Foreword magazine