Chapters 13-14, The Accumulation of Trees, Wild Summary and Analysis

Chapter 13 begins with Cheryl giving a brief history of how the PCT came into existence. After this overview, she realizes that the people who fought so hard to have the PCT created had her in mind when they were creating it. She realizes that no amount of modern conveniences could take away the pleasure of being in the wild. Cheryl is on her 6th week of the trail now and, as she hikes throughout most of this chapter, she is wearing her sandals (which are duct taped to her feet) because her boots went over the side of the mountain by accident.

As she sets up camp one night, she longs to speak with one of her siblings or with Eddie, to be near family. Cheryl remembers the last...