On the first day of Jeff Alt's 2,160-mile hike of the Appalachian Trail, he was so excited to start he dropped his foot pads into the wrong boots.

"It was terrible," he said. "I had eight or nine blisters on one foot. I went through an entire pack of moleskin in a day."

But learning to laugh at that kind of adversity led the Ohio outdoorsman to write his book of essays, "A Walk for Sunshine." Originally published in 2000, it's been reissued by Dreams Shared Publications with a new epilog by Alt, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the journey.

Alt talks about the book, the trail and what it all means to him a decade later at his lecture "Life Lessons from the Trail" at 4 p.m. Saturday at REI-Pittsburgh, SouthSide Works, 412 South 27th Street.

Alt began his hike to raise money for Sunshine, a personal assistance home where his brother was struggling with cerebral palsy.

"In the 10 years since then, I've been thinking of how the bigger picture stuff applies to my daily routine," said Alt. "Humor got me though difficult times on the trail. Like, when I figured out my [foot pad] mistake, I realized I had to find humor in the situation, so I started calling myself WrongFoot. I learned to laugh at myself."

Now married and with a family, Alt works as a teacher in Cincinnati. But he escapes to the woods often, he says, "when I'm stuck with a dilemma or a big decision. Everybody finds his own peace and place of escape. It's all very healthy."

For details call REI at 412-488-9410. Find more on Alt, the book and the Appalachian Trail at jeffalt.com.