In My Boots: A Memoir of Five Million Steps along the Appalachian Trail

In My Boots: A Memoir of Five Million Steps along the Appalachian Trail

“Amanda K. Jaros's In My Boots does what some of the best works of nonfiction do: it takes the reader on a journey—in this case, a journey that is as much mental and emotion as it is physical.” –Amy Butcher, author of Visiting Hours: A Memoir of Friendship and Murder When Amanda K. Jaros learns about the 2,160-mile Appalachian Trail after college, she walks away from a sheltered life dominated by an angry and volatile father and does something unexpected: spends six months backpacking. Alone. She expects to pass the time in the solitary and peaceful wilderness, reflecting on her life's direction. Instead, she finds herself part of a community ripe with stinky socks, buckets of ice cream, and trail magic. What matters on the trail is not a hiker's past or parents, her fears or failures, but rather, what matters is the connections we make with each other. In My Boots recounts a challenging physical journey following the trail over the windy balds of the South, through snowstorms in the Smoky Mountain National Park, and above the tree line to the alpine zones of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The journey is also emotionally transformative as this twenty-three-year-old leaves behind the compliant and scared girl she once was. With each step away from her damaged childhood, each new friend, each stop in another rural trail town, she comes to understand that to succeed on the trail, and in life, it turns out, the path she walks must be her own. "Amanda K. Jaros's In My Boots does what some of the best works of nonfiction do: it takes the reader on a journey-in this case, a journey that is as much mental and emotion as it is physical." -Amy Butcher, author of Visiting Hours: A Memoir of Friendship and Murder "I was hooked by her engaging prose and carried along with her joy and determination as she grew over the miles from a frightened child and timid young woman into a powerful force of nature. In My Boots is certain to take a place of honor alongside classic hiking memoirs." -Andrea Lani, author of Uphill Both Ways: Hiking toward Happiness on the Colorado Trail Amanda K. Jaros is the editor of Labor of Love: A Literary Mama Staff Anthology and author of 100 Things to Do in Ithaca Before You Die. Her essays on nature and family have appeared in Flyway, Appalachia, Terrain.org, Stone Canoe, and elsewhere. When not writing, she can be found on a trail somewhere, and has hiked the Inca Trail in Peru, several trails in Australia, and is currently working toward completing hikes of the 46 High Peaks in the Adirondacks. She lives in Ithaca, New York, with her husband and son, where she recently took up kayaking and serves her community as a county legislator. Learn more at amandakjaros.com and Instagram @amandajaroschampion.