Summary:
Three friends, women in their fifties, set out to hike “the most beautiful long-distance trail in the world,” the John Muir Trail. From the outset, their adventure is complicated by self-inflicted accidents and ferocious weather, then enriched when they “adopt” a young hiker abandoned by her partner along the trail.
The women experience the terror of lightning at eleven-thousand feet, the thrill of walking through a towering waterfall, and the joy of dancing among midnight moonshadows. For a month, they live immersed in vast natural beauty, tackle the trail’s physical demands, and find camaraderie among an ensemble cast of eccentric trail characters. Together, they are pulled forward toward the trail’s end atop the highest peak in the High Sierra, Mt. Whitney, and the culmination of their transformative journey.
Review:
As hiking memoirs go, this one is pretty straightforward. Although the author admits to going on the hike partially in response to the death of a close friend, she’s mostly taken up with the challenges of the trail while she’s out there. Basically, that means that this is less on par with Wild than might seem at first glance. The thing I did appreciate was the opportunity to read about ladies my age going out on a long-distance hike. So many of the memoirs that I read are by people in their 20s or 30s. I feel like we need more stories by people who are in their older years and still finding adventure.
The other thing I really appreciated about this book was the focus on NOT having to push yourself through twenty or more miles per day. The majority of hiking memoirs have their authors chugging through the wilderness at warp speed (or at least that’s what it seems like to this fifty-something here). As someone who has hiked, who has short legs, and is constantly huffing and puffing to catch up with people of normal proportions, it’s so nice to see a good day’s hiking as coming in at around seven or eight miles!
The narrative splits between the author’s experiences with her hiking companions and with those they meet on the trail, and descriptions of the intense beauty of the High Sierra. Having spent time in the high country myself, I can attest to the accuracy of what she describes. This hike is a tough one, make no mistake, but to be able to see all of that beauty for yourself is a fitting reward for the effort. While part of me doesn’t want to encourage too many people to try to attempt this hike (overtourism is a thing, folks), another part of me wants everyone to know how lovely our world is and how precious places like this truly are.
My only complaint about this book is that it seemed to drag on a bit at times. I feel like editing it down a little would have made for a stronger story. It’s still enjoyable, but I did find my attention wandering occasionally.
It’s nice to read something that gives me hope that my own adventuring days aren’t over yet! Force of Nature a strong addition to the genre of hiking memoirs.
