Four Boots-One Journey: A Story of Survival, Awareness & Rejuvenation on the John Muir Trail

Because I enjoyed Jeff Alt's well-written book about the Appalachian Trail ("A Walk for Sunshine"), I was eager to read about his journey with his wife, Beth, as they hiked the John Muir Trail. This book also was well-written and entertaining. Of course, there's not as much meat to it, because the JMT is so much shorter than the AT, but I enjoyed reading about how the couple handled the trail and being with each other 24/7 for three weeks. Plus it’s a great way to honor Beth's brother, Mike.

I loved this book. I'm a hiker and backpacker, now trying to get my beautiful wife of 30+ years more into the backpacking scene, and the book provided some good pointers for helping do that along with a big dose of entertainment. With some backpacking experience, it was easy for me to picture every scene in my mind with Jeff's writing. Perhaps a non-outdoors person wouldn't find the book as entertaining as I did, but I still think they would enjoy it.The motivation for the Hike for Mike, depression awareness, adds another dimension and sub-plot to the book, and for me at least, really added to the reading experience. As I closed the final pages of my kindle, I found myself more interested in learning more about depression than learning more about the John Muir Trail. I would have expected just the opposite. Well done Jeff and Beth, you achieved your goal.

The author's focus is more on his relationship with his wife and the spiritual aspects of the journey. That was ok, but I was reading it as we hiked the JMT and wished for more about the trail and trip. Where our hike and his connected he had some good insights. It was interesting to see how different the trip was at his pace, which was 2.5x faster than ours. I was glad we were moving at a slow enough pace to experience the journey in greater depth.

She was trying to make sense of everything after a family tragedy and he was hoping that his passion for hiking would be the solution. Little did they know that the whole experience would help them get a deeper understanding of each other.. Walking along with them on the trail and imagining the scenery made this the first book I ever read without it putting down. I am not a hiker, but this and Jeff's Book on the AT are very enjoyable.

I found this book to be realistic describing the challenges and the adventures.

This is the first book in a long time that did not read it over the course of a week, I read it all at once. It was about more than a backpacking hike. It was about dealing with the upset that life can throw at you. This was a changing experience for 2 people, and I thought their story was well told.

I am an avid hiker and have hiked much of the Sierra Nevada, but not the length of the John Muir Trail. I enjoyed the author's description of their JMT through-hike. Much of the descriptions were familiar territory and nice to read. Also, the purpose of their journey to promote depression awareness was laudable.On the negative side there are many editorial errors that I found distracting -- spelling errors, missing words, etc. I actually laughed out loud when the author spoke of waiting for the lightning to strike after hearing the thunder (rather than the other way round).

Thoroughly enjoyed this true story of a couple who hiked the John Muir Trail. The couple was dealing with the grief of losing a family member and used the hike to heighten awareness of depression, and also to share a love of wilderness and physical activity. Very interesting book that would surely be useful for someone attempting the hike the JMT.