Hiking the Hexa: Up, down and (almost) over the hill on France’s newest long-distance walk - Softcover
Synopsis
Is a long-distance hike on your bucket list? Want to read a book that tells the whole truth and nothing but the truth about a first-timer tackling a thru hike? This memoir is for you. At the age of 55, Kiwi journalist Claire McCall and her partner set off on an epic walking adventure in France to attempt four stages of the Hexatrek, a freshly minted long-distance hike.
This book, which incorporates a French translation, is not a guidebook on how to hike the Hexa (although you'll certainly glean some tips), rather it is a frank and funny account of the physical and mental journey: a tale of two almost over-the-hill people trying to get over a fair few more. It’s a story of highs and lows, miles and milestones, of once-in-a-lifetimes and never-agains.
Progressing step-by-step south from the starting point in Alsace on the border of Germany, this is a travelogue of the body and mind. Walking through charming villages and immense scenery in the footsteps of history and along the precipitous ridges of time, it is also an examination of the human condition – the need to challenge ourselves (particularly in midlife), and the nature of success and failure. It’s about acknowledging that life sometimes pushes you close to the edge and learning that laughing and battling stubbornly upwards is sometimes easier than coasting down.
The author writes with a wry, gentle humour and a refreshing honesty about this great Gallic adventure. It’s an awesome (in the true sense of the word) tale of climbing peaks, appreciating the valleys, finding fondues, making friends, navigating cranky cows and ultimately going the distance in one way or another.
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