Summoning the Mountains: Pilgrimage into Forty

Summoning the Mountains: Pilgrimage into Forty by Allen, Amy. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781936214839.

Hoping to rekindle the spirit of freedom she once knew, a divorced, single mother sets aside family and societys expectations to seek fulfillment by following a lifelong calling. On the eve of turning forty, Amy reaches for her personal goal of hiking the Appalachian Trail. Accepting the name of "Willow" bestowed by her teenage sons, she settles them into new lives at their fathers house and departs on a 2000-mile walk. Amy journals of walking through storms, injuries, hunger and doubt. Surprised when her sixteen-year old is suspended from school, Willow bends to this new development to find herself mothering on the trail and learning as much from her son as he does from his adventure. When her son returns to school, Willow must find her place within the hiker community and face her fears alone. Willow transports the reader into the forest, giving the armchair hiker a glimpse into a world of coyotes, butterflies, birds and bears, sharing her determination and frustration as she makes her way from Georgia to Maine on foot. This is a story about what it means to embrace challenge in our lives-a story about change.