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Walking on the Wild Side : Long-Distance Hiking on the Appalachian Trail / Kristi M. Fondren.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New Brunswick, NJ : Rutgers University Press, [2015]Copyright date: ©2015Description: 1 online resource (150 p.) : 1 map, 9 photographsContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780813571898
  • 9780813571904
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 306.48125
LOC classification:
  • GV199.42.A68 F65 2016
  • GV199.42.A68 F65 2016
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- 1. From Georgia to Maine: The GA- ME Is Afoot -- 2. Hiker Trash: Constructing a Long- Distance Hiker Identity -- 3. April's Fools: A Situated Subcultural Identity -- 4. In Search of Ithaka: Long- Distance Hiking as Spiritual Quest -- 5. The Appalachian Trail, an ATopia? Social Differentiation and Hierarchies among the Tribe -- 6. Hike Your Own Hike: What the Hiking Subculture Tells Us about American Society -- Appendix: Research Methodology -- References -- Index -- About the Author
Summary: The most famous long-distance hiking trail in North America, the 2,181-mile Appalachian Trail-the longest hiking-only footpath in the world-runs along the Appalachian mountain range from Georgia to Maine. Every year about 2,000 individuals attempt to "thru-hike" the entire trail, a feat equivalent to hiking Mount Everest sixteen times. In Walking on the Wild Side, sociologist Kristi M. Fondren traces the stories of forty-six men and women who, for their own personal reasons, set out to conquer America's most well known, and arguably most social, long-distance hiking trail. In this fascinating in-depth study, Fondren shows how, once out on the trail, this unique subculture of hikers lives mostly in isolation, with their own way of acting, talking, and thinking; their own vocabulary; their own activities and interests; and their own conception of what is significant in life. They tend to be self-disciplined, have an unwavering trust in complete strangers, embrace a life of poverty, and reject modern-day institutions. The volume illuminates the intense social intimacy and bonding that forms among long-distance hikers as they collectively construct a long-distance hiker identity. Fondren describes how long-distance hikers develop a trail persona, underscoring how important a sense of place can be to our identity, and to our sense of who we are. Indeed, the author adds a new dimension to our understanding of the nature of identity in general. Anyone who has hiked-or has ever dreamed of hiking-the Appalachian Trail will find this volume fascinating. Walking on the Wild Side captures a community for whom the trail is a sacred place, a place to which they have become attached, socially, emotionally, and spiritually.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780813571904

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- 1. From Georgia to Maine: The GA- ME Is Afoot -- 2. Hiker Trash: Constructing a Long- Distance Hiker Identity -- 3. April's Fools: A Situated Subcultural Identity -- 4. In Search of Ithaka: Long- Distance Hiking as Spiritual Quest -- 5. The Appalachian Trail, an ATopia? Social Differentiation and Hierarchies among the Tribe -- 6. Hike Your Own Hike: What the Hiking Subculture Tells Us about American Society -- Appendix: Research Methodology -- References -- Index -- About the Author

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

The most famous long-distance hiking trail in North America, the 2,181-mile Appalachian Trail-the longest hiking-only footpath in the world-runs along the Appalachian mountain range from Georgia to Maine. Every year about 2,000 individuals attempt to "thru-hike" the entire trail, a feat equivalent to hiking Mount Everest sixteen times. In Walking on the Wild Side, sociologist Kristi M. Fondren traces the stories of forty-six men and women who, for their own personal reasons, set out to conquer America's most well known, and arguably most social, long-distance hiking trail. In this fascinating in-depth study, Fondren shows how, once out on the trail, this unique subculture of hikers lives mostly in isolation, with their own way of acting, talking, and thinking; their own vocabulary; their own activities and interests; and their own conception of what is significant in life. They tend to be self-disciplined, have an unwavering trust in complete strangers, embrace a life of poverty, and reject modern-day institutions. The volume illuminates the intense social intimacy and bonding that forms among long-distance hikers as they collectively construct a long-distance hiker identity. Fondren describes how long-distance hikers develop a trail persona, underscoring how important a sense of place can be to our identity, and to our sense of who we are. Indeed, the author adds a new dimension to our understanding of the nature of identity in general. Anyone who has hiked-or has ever dreamed of hiking-the Appalachian Trail will find this volume fascinating. Walking on the Wild Side captures a community for whom the trail is a sacred place, a place to which they have become attached, socially, emotionally, and spiritually.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 30. Aug 2021)