Trudge: A Midlife Crisis on the John Muir Trail

Lori Oliver-Tierney is every woman with a dream. She is fifty, asthmatic, overweight, with arthritic knees. And like so many married women with children, she's lost herself.

When she decides to hike the John Muir Trail, considered by many to be the most challenging and beautiful part of the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail, she's sure it will help her reconnect with the adventurous girl inside.

But by the end of the first day, Lori realizes she may have made a huge mistake.

Monstrous bleeding blisters oozing with pus line the backs of her heels. It soon becomes painfully apparent her hiking partner, Debra, can hardly stand her. She can't breathe and is using her asthma inhaler with alarming frequency. Trudging along, Lori walks most of the trail alone, and eventually loses her way.

Lost on the trail Lori is forced to dig deep into her soul to find the strength to go on. But will inner strength be enough? Given her grim circumstances she chooses to believe her husband's words: even ordinary people can do extraordinary things.