Description

Hav­ing hiked more than 40,000 miles of trails across the globe, Justin “Trau­ma” Lichter recounts the sur­vival instincts, phys­i­cal endurance, and men­tal resilien­cy need­ed to be a thru-hik­er. Despite count­less close calls, Trau­ma con­tin­ues to push the lim­its of long dis­tance hik­ing, safe­ty and wilder­ness sur­vival. Short Sto­ries from Long Trails is at times fright­en­ing, stom­ach-turn­ing, humor­ous, and heart­warm­ing, includ­ing tales about:

• A wide vari­ety of char­ac­ters, from over-friend­ly motel clerks to escaped con­victs, run-ins with lions, ele­phants, griz­zlies, and oth­er beasts, big and small
• All types of weath­er, from one of the wettest sea­sons on the Appalachi­an Trail to the extreme heat of Africa
• Ques­tion­able deci­sions when food or water is scarce, like con­sum­ing uncooked meat and treat­ing water from sludge-like pools
• Los­ing his way in the pop­py fields of Cop­per Canyon, Mex­i­co, amidst heavy nar­cotics traffic
• His his­to­ry-mak­ing win­ter hike of the Pacif­ic Crest Trail, described by the New York Times as “the most dar­ing and fool­hardy expe­di­tion since Lewis and Clark”

Fol­low Trau­ma and his fear­less hik­ing part­ners, includ­ing his dog, Yoni, on hikes through Amer­i­ca, on the Appalachi­an Trail, Pacif­ic Crest Trail, East­ern Con­ti­nen­tal Trail, Con­ti­nen­tal Divide Trail, Great Divide Trail, Inter­na­tion­al Appalachi­an Trail, Flori­da Trail, Pacif­ic North­west Trail, Hay­duke Trail, and Long Trail, as well as hikes abroad, in the Alps, Africa, New Zealand, Ice­land, the Himalayas, and beyond.

Justin “Trau­ma” Lichter is a thru-hik­er, ski patroller, and author. He and his hik­ing part­ner, Shawn For­ry, were the first to suc­cess­ful­ly hike the PCT in win­ter. He is also a Triple Crown­er, hav­ing hiked the AT, PCT, and ECT in one year. He is the author of Trail Test­ed and Ultra­light Sur­vival Kit.