Michael Herrick What Mountains Teach

What Mountains Teach is an inspirational novel about the midlife crisis of a man questioning his commitment to love. Tired of his life and his wife because they’ve grown apart and his solitary nature further challenged by the difficulty of relating to his two daughters, he escapes to the mountains where he was once happy. He reads an Appalachian Trail journal of a young man named Strider who found the ideal woman to love and, from encounters with various women along the way, learned to make a commitment to her. Now out of shape and unhappy, disillusioned and cynical, Walt wants to be left alone with his thoughts. As he walks a thousand miles, he has various experiences with hikers who alternately bother him and enlighten him. Thoughtfully plunging into life-changing experiences, he discovers in the mountains the surprising difference between the woman he wanted to love and the woman he needs to love.