Lost and found on the Pacific Crest Trail: following in the footsteps of WILD

By Trust for Public Land
Published July 27, 2014

Lost and found on the Pacific Crest Trail: following in the footsteps of WILD

 

The trailer for the new film WILDbased on author Cheryl Strayed’s 2012 memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail is out—wistfully accompanied by Beck’s gorgeous song “Turn Away,” (from his 2014 Morning Phase album).

As in the book, the film recounts Strayed’s thousand-mile solo hike from the Mojave Desert, through California and Oregon, to Washington State. Something elemental in the author’s story—about nature as a kind of medicine, a curative dose of perspective and solace—rang so intuitively true to audiences that Wild sold more than a million copies … and inspired actress Reese Witherspoon to option the narrative for a film that critics are speculating could net her a second Oscar. 

At The Trust for Public Land, our staff passed around a copy of Wild from colleague to colleague until the pages were dog-eared and stained. Here was a lovingly told account of how the Pacific Crest Trail—which The Trust for Public Land works to protect—profoundly altered the course of a young woman’s life. No survey, study, or report could be a better rallying cry for saving land and creating parks. 

Not surprisingly, Strayed’s book has motivated legions of readers—many of them inexperienced, first-time backpackers like her—to pack up, tie on a pair of boots, and follow in her footsteps on the Pacific Crest Trail and others like it. 

For the most recent issue of Land&Peopleour member magazine, we sent a writer to speak with folks who’ve found their own outdoor cures in places protected with help from Trust for Public Land supporters like you. Click through to read their stories below:

Inspired by WILD, Linda Blaney hiked the PCT … READ MORE

 

After serving in Iraq, veteran Sean Gobin hiked the Appalachian Trail … READ MORE

 

Jennifer Crowell (at left) and Laura Clark found friendship and freedom on Crotched Mountain … READ MORE

 

After a devastatingly life-altering accident, Sue Watt got back on the horse … READ MORE

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