Every character has their essential trait or gimmick, and they could all be roughly described as archetypes of one sort or another, but they’re also fairly fun in how they bounce off each other, and how they grow (or don’t grow) throughout the narrative.Ī. The characters weave in and out of the text, dropping out and coming in at a rapid pace. This includes Bawdy, the literature professor who actually hates literature (other than Vonnegut) Flutterby, a savvy former nurse who hikes much faster than everyone else Coyote, a lecher and ex-con and Ella, who’s mostly just trying to hike the AT for the sake of her blog. Walter (or “Bartleby,” as he’s known on the Trail) might be the ostensible protagonist, but just as often Stumbling Thru, Book One focuses on a colorful cast of side characters. This is obviously not how most marital disputes are settled, but to each their own.

His wife wanted him to do something, and to believe in it, and unless he could come up with something better, he’s going to have to hike the AT. Naturally, there’s a history here: he’s hiking it against his will. His backpack barely fits, the food he carries is far too heavy, and for someone attempting to hike the Appalachian Trail, he just doesn’t seem very happy. When fellow thru-hikers meet Walter, he seems to them incredibly strange, even though thru-hikers are in the first place a strange set. Forced by his wife to hike the Appalachian Trail, the story details the various other misfits and weirdos he meets, all of them bound by the common goal of reaching Maine by the end of the year. Stumbling Thru: Hike Your Own Hike, follows the adventures of a depressed, forlorn man.

Stumbling Thru by A. Digger Stolz