Scraping Heaven: A Family's Journey Along the Continental Divide (Hardcover)

Beginning when their children were one and three years old - barely old enough to walk across their living room rug - Cindy Ross and her husband spent five extraordinary summers hiking the length of the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail from Canada to Mexico. Ross undertook the challenge to teach her children that any worthwhile experience comes with its own set of challenges. Scraping Heaven is a revealing, touching account of one family's metamorphosis - an appealing adventure in a setting few will ever encounter. It is both an entertaining narrative of the trek and a heartfelt record of one family's growth. To the day-to-day challenges facing new parents, Ross added risky mountain crossings, winds strong enough to pick up a child, fears of bear and mountain lion attacks, snowy traverses, and in one instance, being chased by an angry bison. Ross, author of four books and a prolific freelance writer whose work has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, and Washington Post, writes frankly about overcoming her fears of thrusting her children into a harsh but stunningly beautiful environment. The Continental Divide Trail runs along the crest of the Rocky Mountains. To walk along it, Ross writes, is "to scrape heaven." Much of the Trail is unfinished, just a designated route in a guidebook. Its remoteness meant that Ross and her family rarely saw other people. She and her husband, Todd Gladfelter, accompanied occasionally by friends, used llamas as kid-carriers and packers, which enabled them to go into the wilderness for weeks at a stretch, and take necessary supplies such as 100 cloth diapers. They finished the final 700 miles of the trip in 1998 on tandem mountain bikes. Scraping Heaven recounts the family's growing intimacy with the land, and with each other. Scraping Heaven will appeal to parents, backpackers, and anyone interested in travel narratives. We will be able to capitalize on Ross's media connections to publicize the book. Of Ross's A Woman's Journey, author Annie Dillard wrote, "She has put together a beautiful book, a wonderfully fascinating narrative." Publishers Weekly wrote, "Ross lets readers into her heart." Of her Kids in the Wild, The Denver Post wrote, "Ross and Gladfelter have produced a guide that will comfort and inspire parents."

On the high Rocky Mountain slopes the line between heaven and disaster is razor thin, yet it was there that Cindy Ross and her husband were irresistibly drawn with their two small children. This is the story of their five-summer, 3,100-mile trek over the rooftop of North America a rousing adventure with a powerful message for parents.

"This is both an epic adventure of the first order and the heartwarming story of the family who accomplished it." John Flinn, travel editor, San Francisco Chronicle

"A magnificent and determined family adventure that, in its unfolding, celebrates the vast landscape of the human spirit. Scraping Heaven bears witness to the power of the land and its ability to sow relationships that will last a lifetime." Steve Zikman, author, The Power of Travel: A Passport to Adventure, Discovery, and Growth, and coauthor, Chicken Soup for the Traveler's Soul and Chicken Soup for the Outdoor Soul

"Sure to strike home with anyone who loves the outdoors, thanks to its coverage of topics that range from the controversial to the personal . . . An inspirational read." Brian Fiske, senior editor, Mountain Bike magazine

"A heartwarming tale." Bruce Ward, Continental Divide Trail Alliance

"Cindy's indomitable drive and unbounded love carry her and her family along this high-altitude footpath . . . A precarious and incredible balancing act." Anne LaBastille, author, the Woodswoman Trilogy, Women and Wilderness, and Jaguar Totem

When Cindy Ross first met Todd Gladfelter, in 1980, they were both already avid long-distance hikers. By their eighth wedding anniversary they had trekked many thousands of miles together on the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Tail, and beyond. Their family would soon include two young children, but their shared passion for the long haul never diminished, taking them even farther than they ever had gone before. Scraping Heaven is the warm and heartfelt account of their incredible adventure in a wilderness few will ever explore.

Running along the crest of the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico, the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail (CDT) divides the waters of the North American continent. To the native people of the West it is the backbone of the world, and to walk it is to scrape heaven. Remote and still unfinished, the CDT is the "big league" of hiking, a vast and challenging terrain. Over five summers, from 1993 to 1998, Cindy and Todd hiked the entire trail with their children.

For a couple whose love for hiking was a life force, the chance to share the joy of an extended mountain trip with their young son and daughter, ages one and three, was both an indescribable thrill and a decision of enormous magnitude. It was a challenge that would involve the addition of llamas as kid-carriers and pack animals, the participation of numerous individuals and sponsors, and incredible planning. And then there was the fear to contend with: fear of injury, violent electrical storms, mountain lions, and the unknown.

Their journey compounded the ordinary challenges of marriage, parenting, and family life with snowy traverses, winds strong enough to lift a child, fatigue, ornery animals, steep mountain crossings, and the countless other trials of a harsh but stunningly beautiful environment. But it taught their children more about self-reliance, trust, interdependence, and self-determination than anything else could have done.

Evocative and dramatic, this incredible story of real-life adventure is sure to entertain and inspire. Ross is a keenly observant and witty storyteller with a profound message to share about parenting in a cocooned society.