Mud, Rocks, Blazes

Letting Go on the Applachian Trail

De: Heather Anderson

Narrado por: Chelsea Stephens

Following her best-selling memoir, Thirst, here is the next step in Heather “Anish” Anderson’s adventurous life journey - one of deep emotion and self-discovery

Despite her success setting a self-supported Fastest Known Time record on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2013, Heather “Anish” Anderson still had such deep-seated insecurities that she became convinced her feat had been a fluke. So two years later she set out again, this time hiking through mud, rocks, and mountain blazes to crush her constant self-doubt and seek the true source of her strength and purpose.

The 2,189 miles of the Appalachian Trail, from Maine to Georgia, did not make it easy. Anderson struggled with its infamous rain, humidity, insects, and steep grades for 54 days. But because she had to fight for every step, she knew when she reached the summit of Springer Mountain, the AT’s southern terminus, that she had fully earned the trail. Of greater value, she learned to love herself and her body, and to feel the depth of her power. Examining emotional scars as well as her relationship with her mother, Anderson’s deeply internal yet highly physical journey in Mud, Rocks, Blazes is an essential story.

©2021 Heather Anderson (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

Raw, painful

The author writes a compelling picture of her experience on the FKT attempt on the Appalachian trail. She paints a painful portrait of her own self-hatred, how she punishes herself physically on the trail, and how she overcomes this self-hatred. It’s honest, vulnerable and courageous.

The narration is very emotionally artful, and the narrator has a wonderful narrating voice. However, she has an extremely distracting habit of huffing air out at the end of nearly every sentence- a staccato audible exhale. It is hard to listen to- I had to take breaks from the book and listen to something else. Other than the constant staccato huffing, her narration would have been perfect. I wonder if that is something that can be fixed in the studio; if so, that would be transformative for this audiobook.

The Essence of Determination

Very inspiring and motivating. The next timeI struggle to walk 10 miles, I'll think of Heather and push on.

Wonderful account

Self-love is hard. Opening, understanding, and getting rid of all of the parts of you that you wish weren't there, or wish you could silence. Mud, Rocks, Blazes was wonderful and I really enjoyed hearing how Anish vanguished her demons and attained her goal!

Enjoyed

I enjoyed the perspective. I plan to listen to more of Heather's books. Continue on your path.

The second struggle is always the hardest

Part two of Amish’s journey to find herself is even crazier than the first. Her honesty about her mental struggle, and the physical hardship of doing the impossible on trail is, as was Thirst, inspiring.

Loved it!

Great description of the hike, but also thought provoking reflections. This is one of my audible favorites

Excellent Story of Endurance

Really enjoyed this book. Made me want to go hike the AT but at a much much slower pace. If you’re into reading about feats of endurance, you’ll love this book.

Beautiful, empowering story

This read had me homesick for the trail! I enjoyed living vicariously through Anish’s adventures. It was raw, real, painful, suspenseful, beautiful - a journey of digging down and finding the grit to keep going and not only discovering self, but learning to love self, too. I felt like I was there hiking beside her. Ended in happy tears. Highly recommend.

Love Yourself

It was amazing what she was able to accomplish on the appalachian trail. But her journey of self acceptance was the real story.

Liked it, took a while to get in to

I just really prefer the author to narrate. It doesn’t sound authentic and the inflection is all off when its a 3rd party. I did enjoy it once it got into the AT hiking diary piece but theres a lot the beginning that was all over the place. It’s a good read/listen though - you get some good visuals and learn about challenges along that particular route