A Walk for Sunshine: A 2,160 Mile Expedition for Charity on the Appalachian Trail

by Jeff Alt

Overview

20 years later, this story of celebrating family, stewardship of the earth, good health, and the American spirit still resonates with many.

In this 20th anniversary edition of Jeff Alt’s A Walk for Sunshine, Alt takes you along every step of his 2,160-mile trek across the Appalachian Trail. He walked over 5 million steps through freezing temperatures, driving rain, and sunny skies, and the only constant he could rely on was the knowledge that his walk was dedicated to his brother who had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. It’s this adventure that would inspire an annual fundraiser for Sunshine, the home that cares for his brother, and raise over $500,000.

Packed with inspirational stories featuring bears, bugs, blisters (oh my!), hilarious food cravings, skunk bed mates, and captivating characters, Alt details how his experience turned his dreams into goals, and how he was further able to achieve them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780825308499
Publisher:	Beaufort Books, Incorporated
Publication date:	09/09/2017
Edition description:	Revised edition, Revised
Pages:	285
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 5.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Jeff Alt's adventures have been featured on ESPN, Hallmark Channel, in the Associated Press, and more. Alt is a celebrated author and a talented speaker. He is the author of Four Boots One Journey, Get Your Kids Hiking, and A Walk for Sunshine. A Walk for Sunshine won the Gold in the 2009 Foreword Reviews Book of the Year awards. It took first place winner in the 2009 National Best Books Awards Sponsored by USA Book News, and won a Bronze in the 2010 Living Now Book Awards sponsored by Jenkins Group. Get Your Kids Hiking won the Bronze in both the 2014 Living Now Book Awards, and the 2013 IndieFab Award in Family and Relationships. Alt is a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA). He has walked the Appalachian Trail, the John Muir Trail with his wife, and he carried his 21-month old daughter across a path of Ireland.

Table of Contents

Preface
Stepping Out     15
Aaron     19
Only 2,159 miles to Go     26
Wrongfoot     32
Strange Bedfellows     38
Lightening My Load     42
All Alone in the Woods     46
Hitchhiking is for Hitchhikers     52
Some Make it, and Some Don't     56
I'm Still Alive     62
Hiker, 12. Mice, 0     66
Ouch! It's Beautiful     72
My Spirit Warmed by the Sun     78
Meatless in Hot Springs     86
Leave the Stress Behind     92
Pyscho on the Trail     96
Don't Drink the Water     102
Over the Hump     106
I Believe in You     112
Let's Go All the Way!     116
Yee Haa! The Gangs All Hear     122
Woof, Woof!     130
Photos     139
Only Forty-Eight Miles to Dinner     144
All For a Woman     154
Let's Walk Together     164
Your Beer Will Be OK!     176
A Rocky Birthday     190
Bootless In New Jersey     198
That Ain't No Bull     208
No Senior Discounts on the AT     216
Where's The Moose?     222
Vegeterians Don't Pack Meat     230
Sunshine in New Hampshire     240
Yahoo!     250
We Did it!     262
Post Script: Walking the Extra Mile     268
Epilogue: Life Lessons from the Trail     272
Suggested Reading     285
About the Author     287

What People are Saying About This

Steve Porino

"Jeff wrote a book on his 147 day hiatus from civilization, A Walk For Sunshine. [The Sunshine Home is] where the developmentally disabled...are cared for and where his brother Aaron has lived for over a decade. The trail became a fundraiser for the home and the home became the motivation for Jeff-without which he might have never reached the final chapter of his Appalachian tale, the peak of Mt. Katahdin, Maine."--(Steve Porino, Host, ESPN's Inside America's National Parks)

Editorial Reviews

"An inherently fascinating, absorbing, and entertaining read from cover to cover, this new twentieth anniversary edition of "A Walk for Sunshine" is unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library collections." —Midwest Book Review

"I recommend this book to anyone who is a hiker, or who has a physical goal they want to reach, whether it's running a race, climbing a mountain, or winning a championship because you learn so much about the qualities needed to accomplish a daunting task." —Enthusiastic About Life

"Jeff's book is unique because it not only documents his personal journey on the AT but also captures the real challenges and joy of trekking for a cause.  It ain't sunshine all the time to push through boundaries to accomplish a goal your heart truly is set to achieve. In this edition, I appreciated Jeff's outline in the end of concrete steps to take in order to make one's social cause a success for those of us who wish to make hiking a tool to make a difference." —Brown Gal Trekker

From the Publisher

Jeff's book is unique because it not only documents his personal journey on the AT but also captures the real challenges and joy of trekking for a cause. It ain't sunshine all the time to push through boundaries to accomplish a goal your heart truly is set to achieve. In this edition, I appreciated Jeff's outline in the end of concrete steps to take in order to make one's social cause a success for those of us who wish to make hiking a tool to make a difference.

Brown Gal Trekker

I recommend this book to anyone who is a hiker, or who has a physical goal they want to reach, whether it's running a race, climbing a mountain, or winning a championship because you learn so much about the qualities needed to accomplish a daunting task.

Enthusiastic About Life

An inherently fascinating, absorbing, and entertaining read from cover to cover, this new twentieth anniversary edition of "A Walk for Sunshine" is unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library collections.

Midwest Book Review

THE AUTHOR'S SENSE OF HUMOR IS REFRESHING... An easy and enjoyable read strewn with laughter at natures antics and stark realities of life. As Jeff is faced with daily dilemmas in out of the ordinary circumstances, he begins to reach deep within himself to discover what most of us may never take the time to find out -- his true being. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
—Karen Martin

Nature Society News

This book is an excellent source of inspiration for living your life the best you can. This book has given me a better outlook on life and the people around me. There are so many funny parts to this book, you will laugh from cover to cover, in between the sob and pain you feel for Jeff as he details his adventure.
&3151;Joey Coakley

Roanoke City Magazine

A Walk For Sunshine tells the tale of a man who trekked 2,000 miles to honor his handicapped brother. Mr. Alt gathered donations, turning the trek into a fundraiser. That's all in the book. So is the now funny, but then ugly story of the day he put his arch supports in the wrong boots and developed such enormous blisters he had to wrap his feet in duct tape...
—Jim Knippenberg

The Cincinnati Enquirer

Alt's effervescent personality shines through on every page. His words amply convey the camaraderie among fellow hikers, the beauty of the eastern mountains, and the physical hardships that must be endured on a walk of over 5 million steps. Selected as Book-of-the-Month.
—Walt Young

Outdoor Times

Alt tells about how he made friends with fellow hikers and others along the trail, tried to court his future wife, and what happens when a trail thin hungry hiker comes to town and meets up with Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Associated Press

I recommend this book to anyone who is a hiker, or who has a physical goal they want to reach, whether it's running a race, climbing a mountain, or winning a championship because you learn so much about the qualities needed to accomplish a daunting task.

Enthusiastic About Life Maira Garcia