The Trail: a novel

I just finished this and really enjoyed it. You have to get past the first few chapters, which are kind of corny and seem amateurish in their writing, but once you meet the second character and they start hiking the trail it’s very good. It’s about the John Muir Trail (JMT) in the Sierra Nevadas around Yosemite. It’s full of great historical information, literary references, and plant/animal information. I had heard of John Muir but didn’t know about the trail or all the other stuff he did. It has some humor and some good story telling about friendships and life. Even though I don’t agree with the spiritual aspects of the book, I didn’t let that keep me from enjoying it. Just some FYI. It’s also kindle unlimited.

This was a great story with meaningful insights, particularly toward the end (the value of sauntering vs hiking, being present to one's life and experiences instead of focused on goals and the destination, and "the thing that divides us from real experience is language.")However, long-winded lectures by the older character were so uninteresting to me I skipped ahead a lot, but serious hikers might enjoy the history of the JMT and early mountaineers more than I did. Also off putting were grammatical errors and deliberately casual language by the younger character: " they musta packed in;" Whaddya mean?" This distracted from the story and made the character seem more like an adolescent instead of a college aged man.All in all, the book contained valuable messages but for the reasons noted was a bit of a grind.

It's such a great story/book! If you've ever hiked, camped, got stuck in the rain without the right equipment, etc., this book is for you. It is inspiring, and now I've added the JMT to my bucket list.Great philosophy is woven in as well that I think all would relate to at any point of one's life.Thanks for a great read and will share it with all my hiking adventure buddies.

I initially didn't like this book. I almost quit it three times. I'm glad I pushed through! Its well written and the story within the story is very well done. The ending is a great surprise!

A good description of why we want to, and need to, connect with nature. Interlaced with life philosophy and humor. A great read.

As a trail story the book worked very well. The descriptions were vivid and I liked the day-by-day organization and accompanying maps. If the rest of the content had been cut down perhaps 30-50% then I'd probably rate the book a 4.5 or 5. But by the second half I was overwhelmed by the other content, which breaks down into three categories: (1) historical facts about the trail and its development, (2) environmentalism including related history, and (3) philosophy with a heavy Eastern Orient tilt. The first two are subjects to which I have a predisposition. The latter is a subject that doesn't automatically turn me off unless its discussed to excess. Unfortunately, this book delved heavily into all three subjects to the point of overload and sometimes disbelief. I found myself skipping paragraphs and pages in the last half just to try and make it to the end of the book. Far too often I though to myself "Oh crap, here comes another sermon". I'm not sure if the second half of the book was more heavily saturated with the extra topics than the first or whether my patience had simply run out. Either way, it took much of the shine off of the embedded trail story which I liked a lot. So may rating is an average of a high score for the trail story and a low score for the rest.

I’m not a big fan of novels, but THE TRAIL had been recommended to me by a trusted friend. I finished it recently. It was very inspiring: lots of history and word images from the Sierra, metaphysical/what is life conversation between characters, a reminder that humans need wilderness and we must hold it important enough to preserve and protect; excellent reminders about backcountry hiking necessities, best practices, etc. As far as literature goes, not complex, nor flowery, nor challenging - but therein is the magic. This book’s language isn’t pretentious; just straight forward, bare bones style writing, but impactful and emotionally satisfying.I highly recommend THE TRAIL.

I seldom leave reviews, let alone a book review. This book struck a very personal chord with me. However, I hiked Whitney over 40 years ago. At that time, you didn't have to make a reservation, or participate in a lottery. You didn't need to filter your water. You dipped your Sierra cup in any stream and drank the cool refreshing water. I was not particularly conditioned for the hike but then I had youth working in my favor.I didn't really appreciate what I had experienced or what I had accomplished until I read "The Trail: A Novel."But more than a wonderful story of a young man accompanying a dying man on his last quest, the book offered a wonderful account of the history of the Sierra woven into this beautiful story of life on the JMT. The story was interwoven with Syd's knowledge of ancient philosophy and wisdom and offered an invaluable insight into life and what the true meaning of life is.I came away feeling grateful for my own experience of hiking Whitney but more than that with appreciation of the Sierra and the men like Muir who carved the way for others to follow.

Great book for trail lovers anyone who likes multi day walking often in the wilderness. Very well written JMT trail experience with an accompanying story exploring life and purpose.

Vor fast zwanzig Jahren bin ich den JMT auch gewandert und viele Beschreibungen in diesem Buch haben meine Erinnerungen wach gerufen und es war, als ob ich erst gestern dort gewesen war. An manchen Stellen war mir das rumphilosophieren ein wenig zu dick aufgetragen, aber dennoch konnte ich das Buch nicht weglegen…. Und ich hatte damals denselben Mantra-Song im Kopf wie der Autor. speziell auf dem Golden Staircase.Was mich allerdings erschreckt hat war, wieviele Leute der Autor auf dem Trail getroffen hat. Vor 20 Jahren war definitiv weniger los gewesen und das war gut so.Ein tolles Buch für jeden, der den JMT schon selbst erlebt und und jeden, der ihn noch erwandern will!

There’s a lot in this book. There’s the angst of youth, the fear of death and all the life in between. Partly a great coming of age book, a study on looking at your demise, a travelogue and a philosophy book. I live it

I doubt that the 2 hikers made 400 km in 4 weeks - too little supplies with them. You need 2500-3000 kcal/day minimum. Too much philosophies - not all readers are interested in Tennysons poems and likewise .Finally I mourn with the mule that was left to die just because it was stubborn - I will not buy this author again.

The story was beautifully written and took the reader on their own journey. The same journey we all share "life".=