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A Walk for Sunshine: A 2,160 Mile Expedition for Charity on the Appalachian Trail, 3rd Edition
| Our Price |
$ 12.44
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| Retail Value |
$ 15.95 |
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| You Save |
$ 3.51 (22%) |
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| Item Number |
2176590 |
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Item Description...
Product Description
Jeff Alt takes you along every step of his 2,160-mile Appalachian Trail adventure filled with humorous, frightening, and inspirational stories including, bears, bugs, blisters, skunk bedmates, and hilarious food cravings. As Alt walked on through freezing temperatures, driving rain, and sunny skies, he was constantly buoyed by the knowledge that his walk was dedicated to his brother who has cerebral palsy. Alt's adventure inspired an annual fundraiser which has raised over $150,000 for the Sunshine Home where his brother lives. As you walk along with Alt, you experience the success of turning dreams into goals and achieving them. Alt shares his life lessons from the trail with a focus on family, stewardship of the earth, and good health. New chapters to this edition include: The Sunshine Home and the annual Walk-With-Sunshine he inspired; What is Cerebral Palsy?, Jeff's hiking gear list, including gear and tips to take the whole family hiking. A Walk for Sunshine has been featured in media nationwide including ESPN and Hallmark Channel.
Outline Review
When Jeff Alt (trail name: "Wrongfoot") first decided to hike the 2,160-mile Appalachian Trail, he intended to do it alone. As it turned out, several hundred others walked alongside him. Hiking the AT was a longtime personal goal of Alt's, but as he began to plan his trip he realized that he wanted his effort to somehow serve a greater purpose. So he decided to share the experience by turning his adventure into a fundraiser for the Sunshine Home, a facility in Maumee, Ohio that cares for 850 developmentally disabled residents, including his brother, Aaron, who has cerebral palsy. In the seven months leading up to his walk, Alt focused completely on fundraising and training, eventually raising $16,000 that allowed the home to buy much-needed communication devices, lifts, and walkers. He also inspired an annual fundraiser, "Walk with Sunshine," and is contributing part of the proceeds of his book to the cause. In addition to finishing, Alt's goal once his feet hit the trail was "to share the spirit for which I was walking" with everyone he met, and this he certainly accomplished. In return, he learned a great deal about life from the colorful characters he encountered on the trail, while countless kind strangers offered "trail magic" in various forms, including food, lodging, and greatly appreciated laundry services. He also received overwhelming support from his family and the residents and staff of Sunshine Home, who helped him through quarter-sized blisters, fatigue, and even self-doubt during his 147-day trek. Charming, inspiring, and often funny, A Walk for Sunshine gives readers a good feel for both the logistics involved in undertaking such a journey and the culture of "thru-hiking" the AT. It's also a moving reminder that "living your dream is one thing, but sharing it lets everyone live it with you." --Shawn Carkonen
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Item Specifications...
Pages 303
Dimensions: Length: 0.75" Width: 5.75" Height: 8.75"
Weight: 0.8 lbs.
Binding Softcover
Release Date Sep 12, 2009
ISBN 0967948231
EAN 9780967948232
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Availability 6 units.
Availability accurate as of May 25, 2012 08:02.
Usually ships within one to two business days from Momence, IL.
Orders shipping to an address other than a confirmed Credit Card / Paypal Billing address may incur and additional processing delay.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | Wonderful book Dec 19, 2009 |
| I loved the book. A wonderful cause Jeff set out to support. We need more people in the world like Jeff! I'm looking forward to his next book. | | | | Alt's Journey Is One of Mind, Body and Soul Nov 1, 2009 |
| Jeff Alt's adventures should be of interest to anyone who has pursued a goal or dream, suffered setbacks and challenges yet still come out victorious. Reading the book and seeing how he was supported throughout his journey is proof of the old adage: There is no honor in failure, only in never trying. | | | | I Wish I Was There Oct 30, 2009 |
What a fascinating book! It's a journal of stories, maps, and photos that made me feel good and wish that I, too, could have the courage to hike and explore the beauty of the Appalachian Trail. It was not only inspirational, but made me feel like I had been there with him all the way! This was an easy, delightfully refreshing, quick read.
| | | | This is a GREAT book in so many ways Sep 22, 2009 |
Coming from a serious backpacking, camping family I was intrigued when this book was given to me. Mainly because I assumed it would be your average tale of back packing with a few interesting tid bits, but not much else. No I wasn't that interested in why the author decided to do this 2160 mile trek. What I wanted to know he wrote about and wrote so well about.
Like the lessons in equipment he learned, be it the boot inserts which were wrong, or the backpack that a fellow trekker helped him alter so it was more comfortable. Or how he over packed. He was also very wise, in working with his family members to assure that at certain post offices along the way would have new supplies waiting for him.
There is some great 'humor' as well. Ok maybe not humorous for non hikers, but very funny for those who have been there, done that. Like waking in the middle of the night in a mountain shelter to discover there is a sleepy skunk sleeping on your sleeping bag near your feet, that come morning has left. Or meeting fellow hikers who bring plenty of mouse traps, that they bait and set, so while sleeping in the hiker shelter (many of these are along the AT) you hear snap, snap, snap as one mouse after another is trapped and killed. Having discovered that mice are in just about every well known hiking area, I was pleased to read that the AT shelters have roof hooks where you can hang you back pack and thus awake without seeing a flurry of mice running to get away.
The author makes you feel as if you are actually with him on the trek, as he talks about the various friends he is making along the hike, be it Packrat, Zeb,Crash, or even one scary fellow named Sponge, who thanks to the author, was a good reminder that not all people you find on remote hiking areas are people you want to meet, which is why its very important not to be naive, but be really prepared mentally as well as physically for hiking. Oh and the Vegetarians...
For those of us who have never hiked the AT, but have done the Pacific coast hikes from California to Alaska it was so interesting to read of the authors encounters with horses, moose, bears, boars, and the various people who work hard to keep the hiking areas clear and safe. Reading about the varied weather he encountered was really interesting since I bet there are many people who don't realize that Tennessee, the Carolinas can get snow in the early spring. You can almost feel the cold sleet hitting his face as he hikes for a week and more in horrid weather. Or how his leg and ankle really got bummed up when trekking thru high snow without snow shoes. Or people leg coverings that would prevent rain from soaking your boots and thus soaks and feet. And duct tape. They may joke about the stuff, but between blisters and boots that blew out, he sure was glad he had some with him. And I am so glad he wrote about the seasoned hikers of the AT who over many years had tried the hike but never finished it. As well as those who had done the hike more than a few times.
So as I would read the book I would read a few chapters, look at the map at the beginning to get a sense of how much territory he had traveled each day, and then I would put the book down and do some things outside or inside, only to think of what could be next in the book, so as soon as I was done working I would grab the book and start reading again. There were even nights when I would go to bed, but be so interested in what was next, that at 1 am I would turn the light on next to the bed, sit up, grab the book and read more, until my eyes were just to tired to read anymore.
Also appreciated the Epilogue where the author speaks of the lessons from the trail. As varied as the value of humor,going after your goals and dreams now, not later, self motivations drives success, success comes in small steps, or how hiking can clear your mind and give you a whole new view of things. And how fragile our environment can be. He writes of this often when he shares how certain areas of the AT were well worn and had erosion issues. Or how the soil gets so packed down on some days when hundreds of hikers are in one area. Am glad he noted this since I live in the Sierras of California and know so many wonder volunteers who work hard to repair the thousands of miles of hiking areas we have. Consider becoming a volunteer. Pages 292-293 has his list of items he took along with some advise on what he took with him and why.
This is a must read book for anyone who thinks of hiking or had been hiking for any length of time. It is full of so much wisdom that could actually save you a lot of grief if you do plan on hiking. Sure hope the writer does another book because he such a gifted writer.
| | | | A True Inspiration Jul 23, 2009 |
| A Walk for Sunshine ia a very inspirational telling of an everyday person who seeks to accomplish an extraordinary task in honor of a beloved brother and a good cause. I found Jeff's story to be a very heartwarming and humorous telling of what it takes to accomplish the monumental task of completing the Appalachian Trail thru-hike. Not knowing a lot about the great outdoors and even less about thru-hiking did not stop me from enjoying this book and reading it several times. I found myself wondering whatever happened to the myriad of intrigueing characters Jeff encountered on his journey. Jeff Alt has a great story to tell! | | | Write your own review about A Walk for Sunshine: A 2,160 Mile Expedition for Charity on the Appalachian Trail, 3rd Edition
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