Up: A Mother and Daughter's Peakbagging Adventure

· Sold by Crown
5.0
3 reviews
Ebook
256
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

When Trish Herr became pregnant with her first daughter, Alex, she and her husband, Hugh, vowed to instill a bond with nature in their children. By the time Alex was five, her over-the-top energy levels led Trish to believe that her very young daughter might be capable of hiking adult-sized mountains.

In Up, Trish recounts their always exhilarating--and sometimes harrowing--adventures climbing all forty-eight of New Hampshire's highest mountains.  Readers will delight in the expansive views and fresh air that only peakbaggers are afforded, and will laugh out loud as Trish urges herself to "mother up" when she and Alex meet an ornery--and alarmingly bold--spruce grouse on the trail. This is, at heart, a resonant, emotionally honest account of a mother's determination to foster independence and fearlessness in her daughter, to teach her "that small doesn't necessarily mean weak; that girls can be strong; and that big, bold things are possible."

Ratings and reviews

5.0
3 reviews
A Google user
April 6, 2012
When Trish first told me she was writing a memoir about her hikes with Alex I just assumed it would be an extension of her trip reports that we all write from time to time where we record our hikes and then post them on various hiking boards for other hikers to read and critique. Little did I realize as I began reading that it would turn out to be so much more than just a chronicle of their hikes together, but her dreams and desires for Alex as she explores the world around her laced with its joys and sorrows that we all must experience in everyday life. Some parents try to protect their children against the perils that the world has to offer even to the detriment of the child who will learn late in life that the world is not fair. Alex will have no such handicap, for she was told and shown very early in life how the world can be a joyous place, yet has the capacity for cruelty as well. Each chapter becomes a classroom as Trish and Alex leave a trailhead and hike to a far off peak encountering some of nature’s wonders as well as her dangers. Not every peak is mentioned in the book and I thought it odd why some were omitted; particularly the North Slide of the Tripyramids, which has turned grown men and women into sniveling puddles of humanity, yet Alex scampered up the slabs with the aplomb of a seasoned hiker. Once I finished the book I realized that UP is not a trip report, but a mother and daughters’ journey of discovery. On a personal note, I have hiked with Trish, Alex and Sage on a number of occasions and have witnessed firsthand Trish’s gentle teaching style and I have no doubt both Alex and Sage will achieve whatever goals or aspirations they set out to conquer in life and this will be accomplished by no small measure due to their childhood filled with wonder and adventures guided by the loving hand of their mother. I love all three, yet Alex holds a special place in my heart for she is an old soul, one who has wisdom, poise, and grace well beyond her years and I suspect that she will be the one to scatter my ashes over West Bond when the time comes. Though don’t rush me on that last point.
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About the author

PATRICIA ELLIS HERR holds a master's degree in biological anthropology from Harvard University and homeschools her two daughters. She lives in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

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