Zero Days

In April of 2004, Barbara Egbert, Gary Chambers, and their precocious 10-year-old daughter, Mary, embarked on a 2,650-mile hike from Mexico to Canada. That October, well after the snow had begun to fall in the high country, the family arrived in Canada, and Mary became the youngest person to successfully walk the famed Pacific Crest Trail.
Named for the precious days off when hikers rack up zero trail miles, Zero Days is Barbara Egbert's account of their epic journey, which required love, perseverance, and the careful rationing of toilet paper. The trio—who adopted the trail names Nellie Bly, Captain Bligh and Scrambler—weathered the heat of the Mojave, the jagged peaks of the Sierra, the downpours of Oregon, and the final cold stretch through the North Cascades range to Canada.

Along the way, they discovered which family values, from love and equality to thrift and cleanliness, could withstand the long, challenging trail and 137 nights together in a 6-by-8-foot tent.