Becoming Odyssa: Adventures on the Appalachian Trail

Written by Jennifer Pharr Davis

Narrated by Jennifer Pharr Davis

After graduating from college, Jennifer isn't sure what she wants to do with her life. She is drawn to the Appalachian Trail, a 2,175-mile footpath that stretches from Georgia to Maine. Though her friends and family think she's crazy, she sets out alone to hike the trail, hoping it will give her time to think about what she wants to do next. The next four months are the most physically and emotionally challenging of her life. She quickly discovers that thru-hiking is harder than she had imagined: coping with blisters and aching shoulders from the thirty-pound pack she carries; sleeping on the hard wooden floors of trail shelters; hiking through endless torrents of rain and even a blizzard. With every step she takes, Jennifer transitions from an over-confident college graduate to a student of the trail, braving situations she never imagined before her thru-hike. The trail is full of unexpected kindness, generosity, and humor. And when tragedy strikes, she learns that she can depend on other people to help her in times of need.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Highbridge Company
• Release date: Mar 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781684574285

Jennifer Pharr Davis

Jennifer Pharr Davis is a hiker, author, speaker, and National Geographic Adventurer of the Year who has covered over 14,000 miles of long distance trails on six different continents. In 2011, Jennifer covered the 2,185-mile Appalachian Trail in forty-six days, eleven hours, and twenty minutes, maintaining a remarkable average of forty-seven miles per day. By doing this, she claimed the overall (male or female) fastest known time on the “A.T.” and became the first woman to set the mark. Jennifer has also backpacked over 700 miles in her 2nd and 3rd Trimesters of Pregnancy, walked across the state of North Carolina while nursing her son, and set foot on a trail in all 50 states with her daughter. Jennifer has authored books and written articles for the New York Times, Outside magazine, Backpacker, and Trail Runner. She is also a professional speaker and the founder and owner of Blue Ridge Hiking Company, a guiding service that strives “to make the wilderness accessible and enjoyable” for hikers of all ages, genders, and ability levels. She is also a former board member for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and an ambassador for the American Hiking Society. Jennifer lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her husband Brew and their daughter Charley and son Gus.

Reviews for Becoming Odyssa

[Tim Creamer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good story, fine plot twists. I will say that the author focuses too much on her religion. I am fine with religion and her views about religion, but at times it became too much and dragged the story down.

I did enjoy her daily thoughts and the grind of thru hiking. This book is almost as good as AWOL, but not quite. 4/5 isn’t bad!

[Audrey Heeren Vance · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fun account! Her details and descriptions make me want to grab my hiking stick and hit the trail.

[Brad Aniya · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the best backpacking thru-hiking books. Jennifer is a great story teller. We’ve listened to this audiobook multiple times. Highly recommended!

[Randy Johner · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was well written, well read, highly entertaining, and felt real because of the honesty and detail shared on each page- full of fun and adventure from the beginning to the end!

[Thea Kavanaugh · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Inspiring and thrilling to listen to Odessa’s journey as a through hiker, a woman, and a solo hiker. Highly recommend to anyone who loves exploring the wide outdoors

[Christy Hall · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great audiobook! Very motivating, especially during long walks and hikes. Informative about the AT and through hiking.

[wellreadsoutherner · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It is an easy light read about a thru hiker on AT and her experiences. Could have gotten a little more in depth. Maybe it's just the Kindle version but there was a serious amount of capitalization and punctuation errors. Weird.

[amekole · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book chronicles one woman's journey on the Appalachian Trail, hiking from Georgia to Maine. As someone who still considers myself a hiker, I found this book inspiring. I enjoyed reading about her trials and tribulations as well as her joys and exaltation. I once aspired to hike the Appalachian trail and was eager to go along for the ride and live vicariously through Odyssa. I found her story interesting as well as thought provoking as she explored both the wilderness and her own inner world. She made me want to leave some trail magic of my own. Next time I do a section hike with my family I will definitely be on the lookout for thruhikers to become a "Magic Mama". Highly recommend to any hiker or camper out there.

[fiadhiglas · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

As a weekend hiker who's fascinated by the AT (I like reading others' accounts; I don't want to hike it myself), I really wanted to like this book. The author does have lots of adventures, and she's very good with describing hiking.

But she never seems to learn that everyone isn't exactly like her, and that's okay. Maybe she had a very sheltered upbringing. I kept trying to cut her slack because she's young and hasn't had much life experience yet.

WAY more God talk than I want to see in a book that's not explicitly religious.

And there's so much more insight she might've learned, if she had just gotten out of her own head more. It's just not very interesting.

[booklove2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Jennifer Pharr Davis is like a superhero but better. We are alike in some ways. We are only a year apart in age. We both spent part of 2005 in different areas of Maine. But Jennifer is the superhero. I couldn't imagine walking alone on the Appalachian Trail as a young female. I once tried to walk a couple miles around a lake after having eaten only a couple donuts the entire day and didn't get very far. As if I didn't think that was pathetic enough, imagine my shame when Jennifer hikes over 2,000 miles on a diet mostly consisting of junk food! Candy bars! Toaster pastries! The way she withstands the black flies alone amazes me. I've had the experience of dealing with black flies in Maine. They are ten times worse than mosquitoes. Jennifer says she starts to fall apart because most of her gear is falling apart, but I believe it is really due to those pesky black flies.

I have already read a memoir about hiking the Appalachian Trail. I was worried this book wouldn't be as good as Bill Bryson's 'A Walk in the Woods' and maybe a bit redundant. Bryson is hilarious which made his book a favorite. Hilarity is here also in bits of 'Becoming Odyssa', maybe not as much as Bryson's book, but 'Becoming Odyssa' is important for so many other reasons. The humor is just a bonus. Bryson may go on interesting tangents, but Jennifer's book is much more courageous and inspirational. Jennifer is the sort of person you wish all memoirs were based on. I don't like reading memoirs about horrible people. From her writing, Jennifer seems like a genuine, kindhearted, amazing person. Her personality alone is something to aspire to. Her writing style makes it seem like she is a friend telling you her experiences. Jennifer goes through some tough stuff: a creepy stalker, being hit by lightning, a thru-hiker that reminded me of The Office's Dwight Schrute (though hilarious on TV is not someone I would want to be walking the Appalachian Trail with). One particular event Jennifer goes through is horrible and heartbreaking. But when she is doing well on the trail, it is lovely to read. You want to see her succeed on the trail. And she goes above and beyond succeeding.

I really have nothing negative to say about this book. It is definitely a new favorite in the memoir genre. 'Becoming Odyssa' should be read by armchair hikers, those who actually are hikers and would like to read another persons experience, those planning on hiking the Appalachian Trail and trying to find a primer on the topic beforehand, or really anyone who likes a great adventure.