On the Beaten Path: An Appalachian Pilgrimage

In the thick of a midlife crisis, 38-year-old book editor Rubin decided to quit his job and hike the entire Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine. Rubin is the first to point out the selfishness of his whim, which very likely cost him his career and his marriage. Not to mention that Alden was at least 75 pounds overweight at the beginning of his 2,000-plus-mile hike, ""an athlete gone to seed."" Nonetheless, the author set out, stubbornly walking off years of stress and confusion. Over the past 30 years, hiking the Appalachian trail has become something of a counterculture ritual, and Rubin both mocks and reveres his cohorts. He has plenty of vitriol for weekend RV adventurers who ""would never get any closer to the wilderness than the blacktop out of town,"" for college kids who blow their trail money on beer and pot and for hikers whose ""fastidiousness, organization, unceasing questions, discussion and analysis began driving [him] quietly nuts."" The author is no less critical of himself, documenting his own unglamorous moments, which include foul moods, falls along the trail and a bathroom ""accident"" along the trail. Yet Rubin also cherishes the trail, and his honest, fast-paced account should inspire others to try hiking ""the beaten path."" (Apr.)