Review: "Pack Light" by Shilletha Curtis

Pack Light by Shilletha Curtis
Published May 2024 via Andscape Books
★★★

But speed had no effect on my morale; I knew every hundred miles would yield surprises waiting for me. The trail always provided. For myself, I knew I would get to wherever it was when I would. I had everywhere to go and nowhere to be. (loc. 827*)

Burned out professionally and struggling personally, Curtis set herself a new challenge—to hike the Appalachian Trail, Georgia to Maine. She knew what it took to hike long distances, but she didn't know how much the trail would challenge her or how much it would inspire her, and she wasn't sure how safe she would, or wouldn't, be as a queer Black woman on the trail.

On the face of it this is an Appalachian Trail memoir, but Curtis's story is just as much about her childhood and mental health as it is about becoming a thru-hiker. Without spoiling the details, I'll say that she had a fair amount to work through, and she (sensibly) went into the AT with no expectation that it would 'fix' anything—but hoping that she could find something akin to peace. The writing isn't my favorite, but Curtis writes directly and with passion.

I'm particularly interested in her experience as a Black woman on the trail. A recent survey from The Trek suggested that the overwhelming majority of AT thru-hikers are white, and only a tiny fraction are Black (this is not news, but it's always nice to have data!), and Curtis knews going in that she'd be not only a minority on the trail in more ways than one, but she'd be a visible minority. And as much as indignant straight white men might have wanted to claim that that didn't matter, they're not the ones having to ask themselves how much of a threat other hikers, or locals, could be to them. Curtis discusses this fear frankly—and some of the experiences she had on and near the trail that make it quite clear that her fears were well founded—and I found it startlingly sad, if not surprising, that the place she felt safest was in the vicinity of NYC, where day hikers flood the trail and diversity abounds. (Diversity and people getting out on the trail are fantastic, obviously—just that one should also be able to feel safe deep in the woods with few people around.)

Curtis has set out to change those demographics, at least in a small way—she's en route to be the third Black person, second Black woman, and first queer Black woman to complete the triple crown (AT, CDT, and PCT). I hope this book can be one of many resources for others to follow in her footsteps.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.