Product Description

Praise for Cindy Ross's A Woman's Journey:

"Ross lets readers into her heart."­­Publishers Weekly

"A beautiful book, a wonderfully fascinating narrative."­­Annie Dillard

A true account of a family's five-year adventure in the untamed wilderness of the American Rockies

The Continental Divide Trail, a rugged, 3,100-mile footpath running along the crest of the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico, is infamous for its tricky mountain passes and snowy traverses. In 1993, Cindy Ross, her husband, and their two toddlers, ages one and three, set out together on the Trail. Using llamas as kid-carriers and packers, they successfully hiked the entire Trail over the next five summers, covering the last 700 miles on tandem mountain bikes in 1998.

In Scraping Heaven, Cindy Ross­­the author of four critically acclaimed books­­deftly interweaves evocative descriptions of the landscape with dramatic accounts of sudden snowstorms, gale winds, and wildlife encounters. Through it all, her intimate reflections on marriage, family, and children provide contrapuntal depth and interest far beyond the high Rocky Mountain peaks.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #878630 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Helen Keller said, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." And it is with this in mind that seasoned trekkers Todd and Cindy Ross set out to hike along the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail from Canada to Mexico with their two toddlers, Sierra and Bryce, and a string of four llamas. When Ross (A Woman's Journey) and her husband first met, two of the main loves they shared were of hiking and the outdoors. But when their children arrived, they were afraid they would have to wait years to return to the wilderness-until hearing of the docile nature and great versatility of the llama as a pack animal. And so they began in the summer of 1993, hiking through the Colorado Rockies, learning the habits of llamas, inventing more efficient ways to wash diapers on the trail and keeping two toddlers entertained, warm and healthy while trying to stay sane and absorb the vast beauty of the trail that drew them. After two months, more than 300 miles, bags of candy, wet and smelly socks, lightning storms and temper tantrums, what their friends and family thought would end early in disaster was completed with success and the desire to do it all over again. That summer in 1993 ends five years later as the Ross family returns summer after summer to the Continental Divide Trail in their quest to grow closer and be one with nature. Not only are readers given the opportunity to experience the sheer beauty and at times frightening dangers of the trail, but they also watch two children grow and learn to call the trail their home. Well written, captivating and incredibly educational, this adventure is a lesson in the simplicity of life and the beauty of accomplishment.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"Well written, captivating and incredibly educational, this adventure is a lesson in life's simplicity and the beauty of accomplishment." -- Publisher's Weekly; September 2, 2002

From the Back Cover
On the high Rocky Mountain slopes the line between heaven and disaster is razor thin, yet it was there that Cindy Ross and her husband were irresistibly drawn with their two small children. This is the story of their five-summer, 3,100-mile trek over the rooftop of North America--a rousing adventure with a powerful message for parents.

"This is both an epic adventure of the first order and the heartwarming story of the family who accomplished it."--John Flinn, travel editor, San Francisco Chronicle

"A magnificent and determined family adventure that, in its unfolding, celebrates the vast landscape of the human spirit. Scraping Heaven bears witness to the power of the land and its ability to sow relationships that will last a lifetime."--Steve Zikman, author, The Power of Travel: A Passport to Adventure, Discovery, and Growth, and coauthor, Chicken Soup for the Traveler's Soul and Chicken Soup for the Outdoor Soul

"Sure to strike home with anyone who loves the outdoors, thanks to its coverage of topics that range from the controversial to the personal . . . An inspirational read."--Brian Fiske, senior editor, Mountain Bike magazine

"A heartwarming tale."--Bruce Ward, Continental Divide Trail Alliance

"Cindy's indomitable drive and unbounded love carry her and her family along this high-altitude footpath . . . A precarious and incredible balancing act."--Anne LaBastille, author, the Woodswoman Trilogy, Women and Wilderness, and Jaguar Totem

When Cindy Ross first met Todd Gladfelter, in 1980, they were both already avid long-distance hikers. By their eighth wedding anniversary they had trekked many thousands of miles together on the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Tail, and beyond. Their family would soon include two young children, but their shared passion for the long haul never diminished, taking them even farther than they ever had gone before. Scraping Heaven is the warm and heartfelt account of their incredible adventure in a wilderness few will ever explore.

Running along the crest of the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico, the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail (CDT) divides the waters of the North American continent. To the native people of the West it is the backbone of the world, and to walk it is to scrape heaven. Remote and still unfinished, the CDT is the "big league" of hiking, a vast and challenging terrain. Over five summers, from 1993 to 1998, Cindy and Todd hiked the entire trail with their children.

For a couple whose love for hiking was a life force, the chance to share the joy of an extended mountain trip with their young son and daughter, ages one and three, was both an indescribable thrill and a decision of enormous magnitude. It was a challenge that would involve the addition of llamas as kid-carriers and pack animals, the participation of numerous individuals and sponsors, and incredible planning. And then there was the fear to contend with: fear of injury, violent electrical storms, mountain lions, and the unknown.

Their journey compounded the ordinary challenges of marriage, parenting, and family life with snowy traverses, winds strong enough to lift a child, fatigue, ornery animals, steep mountain crossings, and the countless other trials of a harsh but stunningly beautiful environment. But it taught their children more about self-reliance, trust, interdependence, and self-determination than anything else could have done.

Evocative and dramatic, this incredible story of real-life adventure is sure to entertain and inspire. Ross is a keenly observant and witty storyteller with a profound message to share about parenting in a cocooned society.

Customer Reviews

A Dissapointment
When i first saw this book on the bookshelf I was excited about reading the very appealing story of this family and the way they journeyed along the Contintental Divide Trail. I very much enjoy reading outdoor adventure books such as Bill Bryson's "A Walk In the Woods" and Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air". Both excellent and well written stories.

I picked up this book with similar expectations. I was very dissapointed to say the least. The story was redundent, not well written and extremely self-indulgent. Another problem I had with this book was the constant projection of thoughts and feelings onto her husband and children. Instead of telling a compelling story of long distance hiking with her familiy, friends and llamas, the author tries too hard to create a platform for her contrived introspection. She ends up portraying herself as very narcissistic.

My recommendation: Save your money.

Scraping Heaven Merges the Sublime with the Nitty Gritty
Some adventure books are driven along with the end goal in mind, a striving to reach something, building to a climax. The book, Scraping Heaven, is a story where the end, the finish, is not as important as in these other tales. It is an adventure where the goal is the path,where Cindy Ross's dreams and life force become the motivation for the day-to-day jounrey along the Rocky Mountain spine of the Continental Divide. Experiences are what matter, both sublime and the nitty gritty.

She writes beautifully about her young son, "Bryce stands calmly on the rock ledge with the very exposed and rugged view behind him; pink cheeks and blue eyes the color of the mountain lake peep out from his dirty hood. His rosebud little-boy lips curve up in a smile, and he looks like the prince of this exquisite domain- his kingdom, his gold. My Continental Divide son."

Or how remote a place feels like home: "How can such a wild, unknown place come to feel so familiar?...You must live in it. You have to immerse yourself in the sylvan streams, the sunrises and sunsets, the sound of bugling elk. Living in the Tetons makes them yours. It's a different kind of ownership, a different kind of home, and perhaps it's more lasting."

You can feel and hear what she writes about; "Afterward we lie on large rocks that have soaked up the sun's rays to warm and dry ourselves. The kids yell across the lake to the granite cirque we sit in and it echoes their voices. The land is talking back to them, and it tells them of the largeness of their world."

Cindy does not gloss over the details of the nitty gritty: the personality clashes, the stinky socks, the kids fighting about getting cooties from drinking out of the same side of the water bottle, washing boogers out of hankies in lake water, and how intimacy with her husband tends to evaporate on the trail. Sometimes the sublime merges with the nitty gritty:
"At night it's a land of yipping coyotes and stars so abundant that if you are a little boy, and wake up in the middle of the night, you stand and stare with your mouth open and your head tilted way back, and you pee on yourself because you just can't believe how many stars there are in the sky."

What really emerges from these pages is the author's love of life. The only thing stronger that that is her love of family. Heh Ophra, Heh Kelly & Regis- You want books that are saturated with tales of strong women and families bonding while fighting daunting obstacles together? Here's your next book! This family even confronts the big questions:
"My Catholic faith of 42 years has left me wanting. After our hike last year, wew returned to our church, and a priest who is fond of preaching hell and damnation and sin. After one Mass, Sierra said, "We leave here feeling worse. I feel closer to God on the trail. Why do we go? And I started to wonder that myself"

Together they are living the big question, "How does one truly live?" Cindy's kids grew up on the backbone of the world, the majestic peaks of the Rocky Mountains. Eventually they came to a finish line at the Mexican border. I wished at that point that the book could go on. But in the Epilogue, we get the feeling that there will be more tales to tell from this wilderness family in the promise of the future. More good stories from Cindy Ross- mother, wife, and life explorer.

The Next Best Thing to Being There
If you can't go out and thru-hike the CDT yourself - then read Cindy's book instead! As with all of Cindy's previous books, her writing puts you right on the trail with her and her family. You feel all of the joy, the pain, the tears, the laughter and see all of the incredible beauty on this magnificent trail. To hike such a trail is a monumnetal undertaking, but to include your young children in such a hike is incredible. Her honesty about life on the trail with her family only reinforces the respect I have for her and her family. I highly recommend Scraping Heaven - truly a work of art.