Disclaimer: The following post discusses in very brief the recently released movie Wild and excerpts from the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed. There are no major plot spoilers nor twist plots in the below post. If you’ve seen the trailer for the movie then you’ve seen it all.
More often that I’d like to admit I’ve got my head in the pages of at least one book. I won’t say one good book because that would be a blatant lie. As a self confessed book worm I’ve eaten through some sour apples masquerading as a good book. Trains, planes and cars are perfect place to loose yourself in the pages. I recently put on the hiking boots, curled up with a coffee and two avid four legged adventurers to join Cheryl Strayed on her now famous PCT hike. Cheryl Strayed started out on the legendary 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail with no backpacking experience, too-small boots, and a massive pack she nicknamed Monster. She learned a thing or two about gear on that 93-day trek (REI’s return policy saved her on one occasion which makes me sad that we don’t have an REI in Australia), and she writes about some of those lessons in her memoir, Wild.
We’ve all been here. Rookie mistakes, taking too much gear and not enough sense.
Wild (the book)
At twenty-six, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s rapid death from cancer, her family disbanded and her marriage crumbled. With nothing to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to walk eleven-hundred miles of the west coast of America – from the Mojave Desert, through California and Oregon, and into Washington state – and to do it alone. She had no experience of long-distance hiking and the journey was nothing more than a line on a map. But it held a promise – a promise of piecing together a life that lay in ruins at her feet.
This book is well written, entertaining and worth the taking the time to read. Cheryl takes the time to introduce and familiarise you with the people she meets along the PCT as well as friends and family from her old life.
Unlike other recent tales of travel and personal conquest there are very little photographs in this book. Actually there’s none and even less on Cheryl’s website. The book isn’t just about sore feet, an over sized backpack and boobs. Which brings me to the movie. Eh. Other than getting a good giggle watching Reese attempt to hoist an over sized, weighted pack onto her petite frame I found the movie to be missing the depth and structure that the book had. Key characters are missing. Please believe me when I say that this tale is more then just walking along singing to yourself and randomly shagging people in dirty lane ways.
The more experienced hiker will get a good giggle reading about gear failures (remember it’s the user not the tool that fails), over packed packs and the magic of just being out there. Everyone will understand the pain of new shoes. There isn’t much to the movie past this. Walk, walk, walk, pain, struggle, curse words. Oh lady friends-we must form a solemn sisterhood. It’s rather flat and two dimensional, especially when compared to the written world that Cheryl has created. The movie doesn’t do the book justice. Visual cues are slapping you in the face, but without the context behind these cues the viewer is left none the wiser to their deeper meaning.
Do yourself a favour and take the time to read the book before seeing the movie.
Outside Online has featured a few articles on Cheryl and her PCT experience.
What Gear Did Cheryl Strayed use while hiking the PCT?
You can buy the boots that Cheryl wore on the trail. They have been updated and released. Read more.
Looking for more inspired reads? Try here.
