My Journey to Freedom And Ultralight Backpacking

Catalog No. FCP70010

Back Cover Book Synopsis

Carol Wellman endured, for the sake of her children, more emotional and mental abuse over a period of years (actually, decades) than most of us could have survived. She was locked into a marriage to a controlling man who could not accept the fact that any woman was his equal. Simple things that we take for granted, like getting into a car and driving to a store, deciding what to wear each day, selecting a movie to rent or even what to watch on television, were all subject to the whims and approval of her husband.

This lifestyle was prescribed by a fundamentalist religious cult that she (and her family) was a part of for many years. This cult manipulates its members through guilt and fear, and even managed to turn her family and friends against her when she could endure it no more. Somehow, through all the years of abuse and feelings of hopelessness, she maintained hope and nurtured the spark of freedom; the freedom to someday make her own choices and control her own destiny. Finally, with her children grown, she began her new life anew. This is the story of her new life.

After she gained her freedom and independence and began her recovery, she started hiking. In only a few years, she hiked not only the Pacific Crest Trail and John Muir Trail, but the Appalachian Trail as well. This is the inspiring account of her adventures of hiking thousands of miles (mostly alone) from Mexico to Canada, through the Mojave Desert and the High Sierra, and then in the Appalachian Mountains from Georgia to Maine. When she hasn't been hiking, she has been designing ultralight backpacking gear; award winning gear that has been acclaimed not only nationally but internationally as well. She shares her ultralight hiking expertise here, as well as some of her designs and sewing techniques. Hers is a story of an unquenchable thirst for freedom; of never giving up and of ultimate, personal triumph. It is a story that you will never forget.

David "Rainmaker" Mauldin