Beginning when their children were one and three years old - barely old enough to walk across their living room rug - Cindy Ross and her husband spent five extraordinary summers hiking the length of the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail from Canada to Mexico. Ross undertook the challenge to teach her children that any worthwhile experience comes with its own set of challenges. Scraping Heaven is a revealing, touching account of one family's metamorphosis - an appealing adventure in a setting few will ever encounter. It is ...
Read More
Beginning when their children were one and three years old - barely old enough to walk across their living room rug - Cindy Ross and her husband spent five extraordinary summers hiking the length of the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail from Canada to Mexico. Ross undertook the challenge to teach her children that any worthwhile experience comes with its own set of challenges. Scraping Heaven is a revealing, touching account of one family's metamorphosis - an appealing adventure in a setting few will ever encounter. It is both an entertaining narrative of the trek and a heartfelt record of one family's growth. To the day-to-day challenges facing new parents, Ross added risky mountain crossings, winds strong enough to pick up a child, fears of bear and mountain lion attacks, snowy traverses, and in one instance, being chased by an angry bison. Ross, author of four books and a prolific freelance writer whose work has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, and Washington Post, writes frankly about overcoming her fears of thrusting her children into a harsh but stunningly beautiful environment. The Continental Divide Trail runs along the crest of the Rocky Mountains. To walk along it, Ross writes, is "to scrape heaven." Much of the Trail is unfinished, just a designated route in a guidebook. Its remoteness meant that Ross and her family rarely saw other people. She and her husband, Todd Gladfelter, accompanied occasionally by friends, used llamas as kid-carriers and packers, which enabled them to go into the wilderness for weeks at a stretch, and take necessary supplies such as 100 cloth diapers. They finished the final 700 miles of the trip in 1998 on tandem mountain bikes. Scraping Heaven recounts the family's growing intimacy with the land, and with each other. Scraping Heaven will appeal to parents, backpackers, and anyone interested in travel narratives. We will be able to capitalize on Ross's media connections to publicize the book. Of Ross's A Woman's Journey, author Annie Dillard wrote, "She has put together a beautiful book, a wonderfully fascinating narrative." Publishers Weekly wrote, "Ross lets readers into her heart." Of her Kids in the Wild, The Denver Post wrote, "Ross and Gladfelter have produced a guide that will comfort and inspire parents."
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fair. This item is in overall acceptable condition. Covers are intact but may have heavy wear including creases, bends, edge wear, curled corners or minor tears as well as stickers or sticker-residue. Pages are intact but may have minor curls, bends or moderate to considerable highlighting/ writing. Binding is intact; however, spine may have heavy wear. A well-read copy overall. Please note that all items are donated goods and are in used condition. Orders shipped Monday through Friday! Your purchase helps put people to work and learn life skills to reach their full potential. Orders shipped Monday through Friday. Your purchase helps put people to work and learn life skills to reach their full potential. Thank you!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Used Good. Wear to cover, bumped corners, pages clean and unmarked. Firefly Bookstore sells items online and in our store front. We try to add images and descriptions when we can, but if you need additional information or photos of the books we list, please contact us.
Good and bad. The good thing about this book is that it opened my eyes to the experience of hiking with pack animals, i.e., llamas. The bad thing about this book is that Ross (as it struck me, at least) whined repeatedly about problems she chose to cause. A large part of the experience revolved around (poor?) parenting and inter-personal skills. This got very tiring to me. However, I'll give credit that the family stuck together and made it through several years of self-inflicted misery traversing the Continental Divide Trail. The good parts must have really been grand. Perhaps the book should have been more about them? Not for me to say. That's for the author to decide. Her choice left me feeling "down" at least as much as it did "up." So, a mixed bag, but still I'm glad I read the book and perhaps will grow to appreciate its style as the miles go by. I say congrats to her for really baring her soul.