MEXICAN WATER, ARIZONA — On the popular Pacific Crest Trail Facebook group “Northern Terminus or Bust!”, commenter Jonny Cotton is properly disdainful of the hiking classic Wild by Cheryl Strayed. Mr. Cotton’s comments regularly meet the forum-appropriate level of vitriol, including “Ugh, what a drama queen,” “It’s a trail, not a psychotherapy session,” and “She didn’t even complete a thru-hike!!!”
The Hiking Times has discovered that Mr. Cotton is living a double life. In private, he has read the book six times. He’s recommended it to multiple friends, calling it a “moving journey of how nature can heal the raw wounds of life” and even an “insightful look at some of the ins-and-outs of thru-hiking.”
Other forum members are shocked at this revelation. “I mean, Jonny has always hated on Wild just like the rest of us. Finding out that he secretly likes it… I’m so betrayed,” says fellow poster Pierce Legge.
The Hiking Times 