When the cosmic tumblers click into place, miracles can happen. Inspired by his dying father's dream of hiking the Appalachian Trail, Paul Travers embarks on a journey that reveals the healing power of America's sacred mountains. This narrative chronicles his thru-hike to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association while proving that "60 is the new 40." More than a travelogue, it is a love story about fathers and sons, families battling Alzheimer's, and the people and places along the trail. With humor and humanity, it serves as a spiritual response to Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. During his pilgrimage, Paul eludes the FBI, meets his guardian angel, survives a lightning strike and near drowning, encounters the ghost of a relative, acquires a trail name (Sondance), and discovers a Field of Dreams. He walks off the war, solves the death of a Hollywood starlet, finds Saint Francis and the Buddha in New York, embraces a religious cult, and visits ground zero for the 60s hippie movement. He receives a sacred stone from a Lakota medicine man, meets a female apostle, uncovers his father's parallel spiritual journey, and copes with the loss of his parents. Ultimately, his adventure reveals that nature is not only the handiwork of God but also the guiding hand that leads each of us on a unique spiritual journey.
