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.

Fantastic mix of travel story and philosophy!

If you enjoy traveling vicariously through the books you read and contemplating the bigger questions in life, you won’t want to miss this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved how natural history and tidbits about Asian philosophies were sprinkled through the story of the trip. Also enjoyed the story telling - very engaging!

wonderfull book

Not often one can find book so engaging , entreating and valuable. Multithreaded story offes little gemstones for everyone. Some statements are worth direct memorization :-)..
Beutifull, concious take on basic life dillemas. Highly recommend.

Listen to this!

I would highly recommend this book. We are section hiking a trail similar to this and have shared some of the struggles that they go through. There are parts that made me laugh out loud and parts that made me cry. It is well written.

Nice listen for a old hiker like me

I really enjoyed this book. The best part about it is that the author drew on his own experience on the trail and used it to craft a fictional story. This is especially enjoyable to me since I have also written a couple of hiking related books (Sawyer's Run and The Last Hike) that were a mix of non-fiction and fiction. You don't see that very often. Most hiking stories are memoirs, and while I have enjoyed a great deal of them, it's nice to read them as fiction as well. Great job Ethan!

What an adventure!

This book resonated with me in so many ways. I love it! Couldn’t stop listening to it once I started. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me ponder the meaning of life.

The narrator is SO good! There are so many characters in the book and he made them each and everyone of them come alive in ways that I really cannot imagine anyone else could. Can’t wait to read other books narrated by him.

The ending was poignant and I liked it. But I was sad nonetheless, when the book ended. Looking forward to reading other books by this author.

Loved it

I have hiked part of PCT and JMT and really loved this book and all of the historical information. Great story too!

great story

great story with relatable circumstances that I found hilarious. was disappointed to find out at the end that it wasn't a true story.