Episode Details

About the Guest

Heather Anderson is a Michigan-born long-distance hiker, author, speaker, and National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. She has completed the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail three times each, making her one of very few triple-triple crowners in history. In 2018 she completed all three in a single calendar year: 7,900+ miles in eight months. She has held multiple fastest known time records on long trails, including an unsupported FKT on the 800-mile Arizona Trail completed in 24 days and one hour. She hosts the Fastest Known Time podcast and is the author of three books: Thirst; Mud, Rocks, Blazes; and Farther.

Farther — The Book

Farther chronicles Heather's 2018 calendar year Triple Crown. It is written entirely from memory — no trail journal, no notes — eight years after the hike. Heather says she doesn't work from outlines; she writes the way she hikes: the structure comes from the journey itself. The emotional core of the book is the tension between accomplishment and self-doubt — the experience of having done a great deal and still not knowing if you can do the next thing — and the way that walking, repeated across years and phases of a life, becomes both a constant and a mirror.

 

The Books

• Farther by Heather Anderson — memoir of the 2018 calendar year Triple Crown. Available now.
• Mud, Rocks, Blazes — Heather's memoir of her AT speed record.
• Thirst — Heather's memoir of her PCT speed record.

Heather's Media Recommendation

• A Fabulous Through Hike by Derek Lugo — a newly released account of Lugo's CDT through-hike. One of very few books written about the Continental Divide Trail. Heather's recommendation. (Note: Derek Lugo has appeared on Hiker Trash Radio — see also his first book, The Unlikely Through Hiker, about his AT hike.)

Links & Resources

• Heather Anderson — Website: https://www.wordsfromthewild.net
• Heather Anderson — Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wordsfromthewild
• Fastest Known Time Podcast (hosted by Heather): https://fastestknowntime.com/podcast
• Chippewa Watershed Conservancy: https://www.chippewa watershed.org
• Farther (order): https://www.wordsfromthewild.net

Upcoming Appearances

• Appalachian Trail Days — Heather speaking on the calendar year Triple Crown and Farther.
• AT Trail Festival near Harpers Ferry, Loudon, Virginia — June 5th.
• Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan — September (TBD).

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