This was my first book on the Appalachian trail and first introduction to the AT. I had never heard of backpacking in the USA just Europe. Born and raised in California, I am so shocked how much of the trail system through our country are out there. I started hiking with my family locally just two years ago and love it. So when I heard about this book through my preschool family. I was so excited to read it. It was both entertaining and had so much information on many different tidbits of information I was not aware of. I could picture the Appalachian trail in my head as if I was backpacking with Bill, the author. I could feel his pain, frustrations, and relief at times. I went in thinking this was his account of the adventure, but it was so much more. I really enjoyed reading about his incites about the Forest service, different parts of the trail, where he was from,and how people actually hike: thru hikers who do the whole trail and section hikers that only hike and camp sections at a time. If you are into nature,love to hike, love to read about being in the woods, and want to know more about pushing one's limit,then you will get his take on the AT trail. If you are looking for guidance on how to, what you need to hike, how to prepare to hike long distances, then this is not a good book for that. It is not a "How to" book. He doesn't go into detail about how he prepared for the trip. He talks about his life, how he made the decision to go, his experience on the trail and how it affected him. What he got out of it. How it changed him. I find perspectives very interesting to read about. So if you are like me,then this is the book for you. There are many backpacking videos on Youtube.com and books you can borrow from the library if you want to explore backpacking long distances.