About this ebook
Dancing with the Mountains… Alzheimer’s, Angels, and the Appalachian Trail – A Journey of Spirit chronicles Paul’s thru-hike to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association and prove 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 Appalachian Trail. Sprinkled with humor and humanity, It is the spiritual response to Bill Bryson’s bestseller A Walk in the Woods.
On his pilgrimage, Paul eludes the FBI, meets his guardian angel, survives a lightning strike and a near drowning, encounters the ghost of a relative, acquires a trail name (Sondance), finds a Field of Dreams, walks off the war, solves the death of a Hollywood starlet, discovers Saint Francis and the Buddha in New York, embraces a religious cult, visits ground zero for the 60s hippie movement (Arlo’s not Alice’s Restaurant), receives a sacred stone from a Lakota medicine man, meets a female apostle, discovers his father’s parallel spiritual journey, and copes with the death of his parents. His adventure ultimately reveals nature is not only the handiwork of God but the hand of God that leads each of us on a unique spiritual journey.
About the author
Paul J. Travers received a BA from the University of Maryland in English and an MA from Pepperdine University in Human Resources Management. Following graduation, he served as an amphibious armor officer in the US Marine Corps. A former park ranger and historian with the Maryland Park Service, he is also the author of Eyewitness to Infamy (An Oral History of Pearl Harbor), The Patapsco: Baltimore’s River of History, The Flight of the Shadow Drummer, and The Cowgirl and the Colts.
Over the past decade, he has been involved with various historical and environmental groups. Proving that “60” is the new “16,” he has fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming a drummer in a rock n’ roll band. After sixty seasons, he finally reached the Big Leagues as a ballpark tour guide with the Baltimore Orioles. He continues to hike the Appalachian Trail.
