Forest Under My Fingernails: Reflections And Encounters on the Long Trail

UTNE Magazine

Self-described nonathlete Walt McLaughlin, a Vermonter with 'troublesome knees and nearly 20 pounds of excess fat,' had never hiked a journey longer than 30 miles before he set out with a backpack, intent on reacquainting himself with the wild and hiking as far as he could on the 270-mile Long Trail that stretches from Vermont's southern border to Quebec. Doubtful of his ability to make it to Canada, McLaughlin instead focuses on his surroundings, taking the time to notice lady's slippers and trout lilies. In recounting his journey, he describes without excessive elaboration day-to-day encounters with black flies, red efts, moose, and fellow through-hikers with trail names such as Puff and Mr. Clean, as well as his own thoughts. For the most part, McLaughlin refrains from philosophizing, simply asking an occasional pertinent question or observing how just 'when the green infinity seems uniform and uninspiring,' something comes along to shake him out of his doldrums. Recommended for city-dwelling humans who long for the cry of a raven, the smell of humus (not hummus), and the beckoning vision of mountaintops.
—Chris Dodge