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Library | Collection | Collection | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Fresno Central Library (Fresno Co.) | Searching... Unknown | Biography Area | DAVIS JE Dav | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
In 2011, Jennifer Pharr Davis became the overall record holder on the Appalachian Trail. By hiking 2,181 miles in 46 days--an average of 47 miles per day--she became the first female to ever set that mark. But this is not a book about records or numbers; this is a book about endurance, faith, and, most of all, love.
The most amazing part of this story is not found at the finish, but is discovered through the many challenges, lessons and relationships that present themselves along the trail. This is Jennifer's story, in her own words, about how she started this journey with a love for hiking and more significantly a love for her husband Brew. Together, they were able to overcome rugged mountains and raging rivers, sleet storms and 100 degree heat, shin-splints and illnesses. They made new friends and tested old friendships; they shared together laughter, and tears--a lot of tears. But, through it all, they fell more in love with one another and with the wilderness.
By completing this extraordinary amateur feat, Jennifer rose above the culture of multi-million dollar sports contracts that is marked by shortcuts and steroids. This is the story of a real person doing something remarkable. Jennifer Pharr Davis is a modern role-model for women--and men. She is an authentic hero.
Author Notes
Jennifer Pharr Davis grew up in the North Carolina Mountains, where she developed a love for hiking at a young age. At age twenty-one, Jennifer hiked the entire Appalachian Trail as a solo female and fell in love with long-distance backpacking. Since then, Jennifer has hiked more than 11,000 miles on six different continents, with North American hikes including the Pacific Crest Trail, Vermont's Long Trail, and the Colorado Trail, and completed three thru-hikes on the Appalachian Trail. She has hiked and traveled on six continents; some of the highlights include Mount Kilimanjaro, the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, and the 600-mile Bibbulmun Track in Australia. In the summer of 2011, Jennifer topped her own 2008 Women's Endurance Record for the fastest thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail, making her the overall record holder for both women and men. Jennifer is the first woman to hold the overall title. Jennifer hiked from Katahdin, Maine to Springer Mountain, Georgia. Her goal was to hike the entire 2,180-mile faster than the current overall speed record of 47 days, 13 hours and 31 minutes, which she did in 46 days. To break the record, Jennifer hiked an average of 47 miles a day, camping along the trail. She had trail support from legendary ultra-runner and former AT and Pacific Crest Trail speed record holder David Horton, as well as veteran AT expert Warren Doyle and Davis' husband, Brew Davis. Her hiking and backpacking accomplishments, as well as her influence as an outdoor role model, are remarkable and momentous. Jennifer is a 2012 National Geographic Top Adventurer of the Year nominee for her record-breaking thru-hike, has been on CNN, The Early Show, NPR numerous times, and was featured in Fitness Magazine and Shape magazine, among others. Jennifer has also written for Trail Runner magazine, Away.com, is a frequent contributor to Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine , and has written three guidebooks. Jennifer lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her husband, and is the owner and founder of Blue Ridge Hiking Co.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Davis, an Ashville, N.C., native and intrepid hiker, returns to the Appalachian Trail (Becoming Odyssa) to chronicle in this modest work, her record-breaking hike in 2011 from Maine to North Carolina in just over 46 days-2,181 miles at an average of 47 miles a day. After a devastating heartbreak in 2007 at age 24, Davis plunged back into her hiking as a way of healing and finding new purpose, making short work of Vermont's 272-mile Long Trail by herself in August 2007. With her husband Brew, the newlyweds resolved to take on the Appalachian Trail together, he accompanying her as support as she aimed to attack first the women's record in August 2008, then the men's record set by Andrew Thompson in 2005. In June 2011, Davis set out again, but this time the trail and pace proved grueling, and she developed ailments including shin splints and gastrointestinal upsets. She infuses her straightforward account with spiritual elements, deeming her hiking adventures a kind of Christian "calling" by using her "gift and talents to their fullest potential." In the end, this account will inspire others to take to the trails. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A celebrated long-distance hiker's account of how she captured the Appalachian Trail speed-hiking record. For Davis, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail was no ordinary footpath. It was the place where she had met her first love, a man who broke her heart in 2007. Four years later, it became the place to which she once again felt "called" by God to "praise Him with the talents and gifts He had given me." Davis had by then married a fellow Christian named Brew who had been helping her do something totally new: supported hikes. With his help, she broke the women's thru-hiking record in 2008. She did not attempt the overall record until 2011, however, since she knew it would involve her somewhat reluctant then-boyfriend Brew. "I don't know if my husband would ever have agreed to such a difficult, thankless task if we hadn't planned the adventure directly after we got engaged," she writes. Davis began her marathon hike in the rugged mountains of Maine, following the A.T. through 12 other states and into "the heart of backcountry Georgia." Brew faithfully met her with food and water at designated stopping points, while fellow hiking enthusiasts accompanied her along portions of the trail. Over 46 grueling days, Davis endured injuries, illness, emotional meltdowns, sleet storms, extreme heat and stifling humidity, all of which tested the limits of her mind, body, marriage and friendships. In the end, she discovered that her 2,181-mile journey was not just about living out a dream, but about understanding the nature of love. Like the A.T. itself, "love is not always easy and not always fun." At the same time, it is the truest way to becoming "your best self." A serviceably written yet inspired exploration of the meaning of commitment.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.