The Trail

A Novel

By: Ethan Gallogly

Narrated by: Jake Hunsbusher

Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

A Transformative Journey on the John Muir Trail.

Set authentically in the High Sierra, The Trail is a moving story of how nature helps us find what’s missing in our lives.

The Trail is fused with humor, philosophy, and trail lore. Woven in is a back story detailing the origins of the John Muir Trail: a 211-mile trail spanning the rooftop of the Sierra Nevada from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the continental United States.

The tale begins with Gil, who in the wake of his father’s death and recently fired from his job, agrees to accompany his father’s old hiking partner Syd on a monthlong trek on the John Muir Trail. There’s just one problem: Gil hates camping and is woefully unprepared for the rigors of the journey. Moreover, he soon learns Syd may not survive the hike.

Former Sierra Club leader Ethan Gallogly takes you on a wild tour across the Range of Light, describing its glorious scenery in vivid detail while introducing you to a diverse cast of characters drawn from his own personal experiences as a hiker.

Narrator Jake Hunsbusher brings the Audiobook to life with his fantastic reading of what is destined to become an outdoors classic!

Includes a PDF of the 43 maps and sketches by acclaimed mountain illustrator Jeremy Ashcroft, showing the topography of each section with illustrations of the trail’s iconic scenery.

Whether you’re planning your own John Muir Trail trek, have walked the trail before, or are simply an armchair explorer looking for a compelling story—this book is for you.

Critic Reviews:

“The author shines in his descriptions of the natural world... A subtle and vivid tale of finding peace in the great outdoors.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Unreservedly Recommended.” (Midwest Book Review)

“It’s a fantastic book. Everything rings true.” (Elizabeth Wenk, author of the best-selling John Muir Trail guidebook)

“A Walk in the Woods meets Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” (Peter Snow Cao, Bike China Adventures)

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Ethan Gallogly (P)2022 Ethan Gallogly

Critic reviews

"The author shines in his descriptions of the natural world... A subtle and vivid tale of finding peace in the great outdoors." (Kirkus Reviews)

"It's a fantastic book. Everything rings true. I already have several people I plan to give copies to." (Elizabeth Wenk, author of the best-selling guidebook John Muir Trail: The Essential Guide to Hiking America's Most Famous Trail)

"A Walk in the Woods meets Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." (Peter Snow Cao, Bike China Adventures)

Wow, what a treasure!

This book made me laugh, think and self-reflect. I always thought of nature as being a gateway to spirituality; whatever spirituality means to you, I have dreamed of taking a long hiking trip myself, mainly to get away from the daily grind but also to find inner peace. Due to chronic hip pain this dream is not realistic, but I enjoyed living vicariously through the main characters' journeys. I would recommend this book to anyone who is open-minded, curious, spiritual, loves nature and likes to self-reflect.

Too much filler.

I liked the story, however, I almost stopped listening because of the overused descriptions of women’s figures. Too many references to movies and tv shows too. It just seemed like filler fluff writing.

The best parts are the facts with solid information and the self reflections. I think with re-editing it could be great.

A Different hiking story with terrible narration

The whiny protagonist , Gil, was terrible to listen to. I skipped over large portions of this book because his whiny ways were simply too much to bare. i don't know if this is how he is portrayed in the physical book or if that was part of the narrator's interpretation. Needless to say it was very challenging to listen to.

There are a lot of characters in this book and the narrator reads all the characters in unique made-up voices, some really tough to stomach.

i thought the main of this book was poor.

The preachy, know it all ways of Sid, the older gentleman grew tiresome as the chapters progressed.

The overall story was different from other back country books I've read; this was more focused on telling a story with a plot than simply logging miles and states of mind. The book did rekindle an old goal to hike the JMT so that was a nice takeaway from the book.

Sierra / Backpacking Overview with some Zen

This book is a little strange, on one hand, the overview and the hiking scenery stories are good. On the other hand, the performance is rather annoying because it sounds like the author is constantly whining and the overall life story is kind of a coming of age while hiking the JMT is not that interesting.

Some reviews are commenting on the vulgarity but I don’t find it any different than what you would run into day-to-day life (as a male) so I think folks are being a little sensitive here.

The last thing I would say is, if you don’t hike very often this book has a ton of good insight about what it takes from an equipment standpoint, and just hiking in general. It was funny when they bring up the ultralight hikers and gear backpacks lol. If you were interested in backpacking, this would be a a good way of thinking about it.

The last thing I’ll say is I like the Sid story, dealing with end of life and the thoughts that go into that plus the meditation of the trail. The one thing I cannot get over is the fact that Sid appears to be kind of counterculture and concerned about the right way of hiking, etc. however, his obsession in his goal is to get to Mount Whitney, which is the overused mountain on the West Coast is a bit of a letdown.

Amazing

Very well written and well played out story it will take you deep in the life of a hiker

definitely worth it

One of the greatest trail books I've listened to yet. More about a moving story than it is about simple trail miles. May not be one hundred percent factual but definitely one hundred percent entertaining.

I really enjoyed this book

I enjoyed just about every aspect of this book. While Gil started off too focused on female hikers, I came to appreciate his transformation. I found the generational differences between the main characters relatable and humorous. The most meaningful aspect of this book for me were the relationships between Gil, Sid, hiking and life. I could often apply what I was listening to to areas of my own life.

perspective

after reading wild, then how wild turned me into a hiker, this book put it all into perspective for me.

The Ready Player One of hiking novels

At first I didn’t realize this was a novel (I bought it quickly during an audible credit deal) and was disappointed because I typically prefer non-fiction accounts of trails.

However it was very enjoyable way to learn about the JMT and references to so many other books.

The author did an excellent job of describing various parts of the JMT that has painted a picture in my head. While some bits might seem a little hokey they are great delivery methods to learn.

I really want to thank the author for the Recommended Reading list, that list alone is worth the cost of the book and will keep me busy for some time!

A good listen!

I really enjoyed this book. The story is good and the reader did a great job.