"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 Trail, 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 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."--BOOK JACKET.