Cary Segall

Former Wisconsin State Journal reporter and outdoor rec enthusiast Cary Segall finally completed an informal bucket-list item: hiking the Appalachian Trail. And while many hikers pen memoirs of their own experiences on the trail, Segall felt that old journalistic pull of wanting to tell other people’s stories. So he interviewed many of his fellow hikers; the result is the recently published A Talk in the Woods: Voices Along the Appalachian Trail. Segall will read excerpts and discuss the book with the Wisconsin State Journal’s Samara Kalk Derby. Read Linda Falkenstein’s interview with Segall about the book here.

media release: Hundreds of guides and memoirs have been published about hiking the Appalachian Trail since it was completed in 1937. Finally, we finally have a book that is different from all of them. Cary Segall’s A Talk in the Woods captures the stories and motivations of hikers through the eyes of an award-winning reporter and editor.

Cary was mesmerized by the ramblers, wanderers, and nomads who are part of the three million people who hike some segment of the trail each year. From 2014 to 2018, he traversed the 2,200-mile trail and stopped hundreds of travelers along the way to capture their unvarnished stories.

The result is an examination of the allure of the trail and its challenge, from people who share their own varied motivations to take it on. Every hiker has a story, as does every trail angel and hostel owner. Segall brings them all together in a chronicle from one end of the trail to the other. And along the way, Cary includes tips on gear, food, weather, and terrain, giving the reader the inside scoop, the valuable planning and packing tips from those who have been there.

The book is a must-read for those considering the trail as well as those who have done it and want to re-live the experience.

Cary will be taking audience questions and signing/selling books as well.

CARY SEGALL worked on the sports desk of the Wisconsin State Journal while attending the University of Wisconsin in Madison and took his first backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail with the UW Hoofers Outing Club. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in wildlife ecology and spent three years as a ranger-naturalist in the National Park Service. Cary returned to the UW for a law degree and became a public-interest environmental lawyer. He returned again to the UW for a master's degree in journalism and spent fourteen years as a reporter and seven years as a copy editor at the State Journal.

SAMARA KALK DERBY is a feature writer for Wisconsin State Journal, writing about the arts and the Madison area's eclectic restaurant scene.

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