I absolutely loved Trail of the Lost; I don’t think I’ve ever consumed a nonfiction book so quickly. The center of this book is the story of three missing hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), but it stretches out in so many directions like the branches of a redwood reaching toward the sun. It’s a story of love, loss, community, & the natural beauty of America.

Lankford lays out the story, taking us up & down the peaks of her experiences & those of the missing. As a reader, I felt like I got to know both the missing hikers & those involved in their investigations so well that I truly became a little emotionally attached; I was invested in the answer to every question that was being asked. And I credit Lankford’s storytelling style, beautiful writing, & personal passion for this.

Now, I am not a hiker. In fact, I would identify as “I’m outdoorsy in that I like to drink on porches.” But I can appreciate the beauty of our natural landscapes & the dangers they can pose. This book was a perfect glimpse of a world that interests me but that I’ll most likely never experience first-hand (hiking the PCT) & one that I hope to never experience (the search for a missing loved one). I also learned so much from this book, including the history of the trail, important figures of PCT history, hiking culture, & search & rescue techniques. Through Lankford’s eyes, I fell in love with a wilderness I’m likely to never see myself.

Overall, Trail of the Lost showcases what can be the most beautiful aspect of this country: not just the natural landscape, but the communities that have been built around it, no matter their original purpose. Nature & the human experience brought this community together. And is there anything more human than the feeling of being lost? Of wanting to find & to be found?

Thank you to NetGalley & Hachette Books for providing this ebook ARC for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I may be a little partial to this book because my son is an avid hiker. He has completed the Appalachian Trail already and is looking into starting the PCT. This book would be my worst fear!
It goes into details about several persons who have gone missing while hiking the PCT. I found it interesting to know there have been no known murders. I also found it interesting learning about the methods and theories that are used to locate the missing. I can not imagine being in the position of not knowing where my son, husband, wife, friend or other person from my life was. Many of these cases go on for agonizing years.

First off, my thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. To call it heartbreaking is an understatement. The care and dedication of the author and her numerous colleagues is amazing. Living in a state that had one of the Appalachian Trail's more recent disappearances, that was finally solved a few years ago, this book resonated with me. I can't imagine having a loved one just disappear as some of these hikers have. It is gut wrenching to imagine the questions and wondering that their loved ones face. There were small spots of the book that felt out of place, or just thrown in as an afterthought. However, these instances were minor compared to the remainder of the great writing. Thanks to Lankford, I have a couple additional books she mentioned that I am interested in reading as well as looking into more of her own works. I read this book in a single day. I had to keep reading, because I wanted to know, WERE THEY FOUND????? I will leave that question for other readers to find out.

arc book review 📚

Trail of the Lost
Andrea Lankford
Pub Date: August 22, 2023

Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

As a park ranger with the National Park Service, Andrea Lankford led search and rescue missions for over twelve years in some of the most beautiful (and dangerous) landscapes across America, from Yosemite to the Grand Canyon. Twenty years later the trails have called her back to continue to serve in a new way.

Trail Of The Lost delves into trail culture, search theory, rescue policy, missing person statistics and real stories, the people that prey on hikers, hope, and the heartache of those left searching.
This book is beautifully written, fast paced, and jammed full of raw knowledge and emotions.

Striking Quotes:

“When it comes to collecting data on people who have vanished from public lands, the federal government often does a poor job if it even tries at all.”

“…at least several times a week a hiker is reported overdue. Most of them are found alive, and according to search statistics, over 97 percent of lost hikers (alive or dead) are located within twenty-four hours.”

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

#bookstagram #netgalley #arc #trailofthelost #trailofthelostbook #andrealankford #readersofinstagram #nonfiction #bookworm #nationalparkmissing #readmore #readmorebooks #bookish

Such a great book! I very much enjoyed reading it although sad for the reason it was written. It is great to see what the search for the three men has become though! So many other people are being helped! That’s awesome.
The only thing that was a negative for me is all the dates. I kept losing track of when and where I was in the timeline.
Thanks for the opportunity to read this book and learn from it!

This book was a bit hit or miss for me. Some parts of it were so engaging that I couldn't put it down - others dragged and I found myself skimming. Overall, a good outdoor adventure nonfiction book, and a good read for anyone who is looking for stories of missing persons in the wilderness.

Ths is a great book for hikers, and anyone interested in the wilderness or finding missing hikers. I recommend it to those who camp or hike. It follows cold cases and that makes it very interesting,.

This one was tough. As someone that hikes frequently, I understood the passion that was being written. I understood every heartache they faced upon each failed tip. Authors writing style is amazing and I felt everything they were conveying.

I really enjoyed many aspects of this book. I enjoyed the people we got to meet and the stories we heard about those lost on the PCT and their loved ones.

I did feel like it bounced around a bit too much in storyline sometimes. And I felt like the afterword included information. (Like about the charity) that would have been better incorporated into the appropriate timeline sections of the story.

Overall I did really enjoy the book though!

Empathetic, earnest, cautionary.

Balanced combination of facts (stats, history of the trail) and the personal experiences of the author (a former US park ranger and hiker of the Pacific Coast Trails) with perspectives from law enforcement, search and rescue volunteers, friends and loved ones of the missing, and the missing themselves in some cases.
The author writes the above perspectives in third party omniscient style, which was engaging. This doesn't read like a textbook, but it also wasn't cringey or over-the-top dramatic.

-We are introduced to a technique or approach used in finding the missing, and then we learn about how that could or couldn't be used for the individual cases. Minor annoyance was that the necessary time jumps sometimes left me confused. For certain conversations, meetings, and SAR operations we are going back in time to earlier in the case and it isn't quite clear until we've read a few paragraphs in (then I'd have to go back and reread what I just read). Just a date or sentence reminder declaring "The first time I met ____, this happened" would help.
-👌 Empathetic handling of a difficult subject. We see each of the missing as a full person, both loved and flawed. There's no victim blaming, but also no sugar-coating of the hikers and their decisions. I also gained appreciation and empathy for how difficult these cases are for law enforcement, park rangers, SAR, volunteers and others involved in figuring out if a person is even missing and where to start.
-👌 Educational. And hopefully inspires solutions. I learned that bureaucracy is the largest hurdle faced by family, friends, law enforcement, and rescuers. We need better record-keeping, allowance for innovative drone tech, SAR funding that isn't locked into counties/regions, and better regulation around SAR technology claims...
-👌 Empowering. I think this could be eye-opening for a lot of outdoor enthusiasts. Even if we aren't planning thousand km multi-month hikes, it's easy (maybe easier) to overestimate our ability to survive and find a way back when we venture off the paved paths. USE TECH! And for those that are at peace with the risks that come without tech or with pushing themselves to the limits of their abilities, I think it's important to see how misadventure traumatizes friends and family. This made me think there should be a hiker will and testament to declare your wishes in the event you go missing, and it's something that can be given to friends and family so they know it was a conscious decision on your part.

Reader Recs:
-True crime and Missing 411 consumers
-Hikers and outdoorsy people of ALL skill and experience levels
-Those interested in search-and-rescue or online sleuthing techniques and tech
-Those grieving the loss of or missing a loved one. Use caution, but this could be a validating, cathartic read
-Truth-is-stranger-than-fiction readers

Content Heads-Up: Grief. Loss of a loved one.

I am a sucker for a good missing person story, so I was excited to snap up this story about three missing hikers. Without spoiling anything, the best feedback I can give is that this book should not be categorized as True Crime. It is a compelling story of the SEARCH for three missing men. Readers really get a chance to get into the minds of search and rescue professionals and understand all the obstacles they face as they seek to bring closure to the families of the missing.

The author is a former parks worker and experienced search and rescue volunteer, and I liked getting to hear her story. She managed to put a lot of personality into her writing -- a rare feat in this type of non-fiction. Some of the sacrifices she and other searchers made in their quest just completely blew my mind...I can't imagine what drives them to that point, but I'm impressed by it none the less.

I'm not a big hiking fan, but I also enjoyed the descriptions of life on the PCT, and the characters that undertake this journey.

There is a chapter on psychics, but I just skipped it. I understand why desperate people might resort to such measures, but it's not for me (and the author was clearly a major skeptic as well).

The four-star rating I'm giving this book is well-earned, but it took me a bit to come up with this decision because I felt a bit duped by the unsatisfying ending, and by the "True Crime" miscategorization. The more I reflected after finishing the book though, the more I realized that this feeling was the reality for those who lose someone to the wilderness, and for those who search for them.

I think this is a really good non-fiction account of what its like to search and search and search for a missing family member. The resources, the outreach, relying on absolute strangers to show up and help. The sadness of these guys still missing is something I had a hard time with - I wanted so badly for there to be a resolution of sorts- even if it was a sad ending. I couldn’t help but google the three missing men the book highlight, and in that way I think this book does its job: breathing life into otherwise cold cases that would go unnoticed.

I received a kindle copy from NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Hachette Books for an advanced copy of this book on nature, the beauty and dangers of hiking, and how someone being lost can change so many lives.

The woods are lovely dark and deep a poet once said. They are also lonely, dark and deep, full of places where people might never be found. Or even places where a person who is lost might find themselves, and want to start over. Nature draws people for a variety of reasons, for solitude, company, to prove and find oneself, sometimes even destroy themselves. Nature is a place where the slightest misstep could leave one with a broken ankle far from help and even with GPS and phones one might never be found, even by those trained to find the lost. Those left behind are left with many questions and few answers. What happened, why did a person who was an amateur or mediocre or experienced hiker disappear? Are the gone, lost are just starting anew somewhere. Was it nature, or was it something much darker, more human that took my loved one away. Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail by former park ranger, nurse and writer Andrea Lankford has written about the attempt to find three lost souls who set off into the woods and never came out, and what those left behind have to deal with.

Much more than just a book on missing hikers, this book focuses on what can make hikers disappear, how to search for them, the dangerous of the trail from natural to human, and the toil on families who are as lost at their friends or family. Lankford tells of her days as a park ranger, and a search for a lost hiker that still remains with Lankford almost twenty years later. Lankford gives a very good explanation for how difficult it is to find a human needle in a haystack that can the 1,000 of square miles. Readers than meet the three hikers the book focuses on, each having their own reasons to go hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail. Known as the trail from the book and movie Wild, the Trail stretches from Mexico to Washington State, over 2,700 miles long. The popularity of the trail has gained since the media focus, and so have the dangers on it. A lot of illegal drug growing takes place in the forests. A cult actively recruits among the hikers, and of course there is always others humans who do odd things for a variety of reasons, set fires, steal things along the trail, and other illegal activities. Lankford takes part in the searches and describes a world of thru-hikers who take the trail, emergency personal, searchers, families and of course the trolls from social media, and grifters who prey on vulnerable families.

A book that is far more than a nature book, or a true crime book. Lankford discusses and shares lots of information on how to search for missing people, how to deal with grief, setting up social media for searches and more. Lankford has put in the time searching and has the screws in her ankle to prove it. The book is beautifully written, with discussions on dealing with families, cops, trolls, and how not knowing is worse than knowing. When a person is missing an entire group is almost stuck in amber, not knowing what to do. Lankford goes into the science of drones, and looks at the hucksters who promise DNA sniffers from helicopters in finding bodies in the woods. The people Lankford interviews really make the book though, Lankford has really captured them, and given them a chance to show what they go through waiting for news. A book that has quite a lot of emotional depth.

Recommended for hikers to get an idea of what might be happening around them, and for families to understand why people take to the hiking trail. Also a book for those who have lost in this way, to know that others have had this experience, and that people do know what they are going through. A very impressive an thoughtful book.

Excellent book. Excellent writing. It's engrossing and logical. No metaphysical funny business. These people disappeared and possibly met with foul play. The possibilities are discussed.
What is most impressive is that by simply recounting the stories of three of the missing and many others who got into trouble, it's clear that Americans and even foreigners are regarding the wilderness as their day trip playground. Uh, sorry, that's a big mistake.
Even if the 5 foot high snow drifts don't get you the cliffs or the mountain lions might.
People have lost their respect for the wild. Comes through clearly in this excellent book.

I love stories about thru-hikers. I find the big three trails within the U.S. fantasizing.

Now I mostly read the stories of those who've completed the hikes, so this was a nice change of pace (even though the story is very sad) since it's from a different perspective - a park ranger and the stories of three missing hikers. You'll read about all the efforts it takes to rescue hikers and also experiences grief through fellow family members.

This compilation of stories of missing hikers on the PCT is downright eerie at times. The searches are harrowing, costly and time consuming and often fruitless. The elements can be scary and the author's experience as a park ranger and nurse provides the suspense and expertise that brings this home. The location, the personalities, and the grief of the searches stand out.perfect for those readers drawn to true crime and nature.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley

A deeply engaging account from a former NPS officer about the challenges of locating missing persons on the Pacific Crest Trail, Trail of the Lost dives deep into the stories of three missing hikers in a way that is incredibly informative while also achieving something rather rare in this era of true crime obsession: it remains deeply sensitive to the families of the missing, and recounts with frank empathy the struggles they go through when the government-led search efforts end and the private search efforts begin. This should be required reading for anyone that wants to have their "Wild" experience trying to through-hike the PCT. Thanks so much to NetGalley, the publisher, Ms. Lankford, and especially the families of the missing who agreed to have their stories told.

I really appreciated the insight from a fellow hiker about missing hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail. The descriptions made me feel as if I were there on the PCT. The author was dogged in her pursuant of answers.

Review: I have a curiosity about adventure seekers who go missing so this was right in line with my likes. Parts were very engrossing, and others were a bit blah. Since the stories have no real conclusion, I as left feeling lost too.
Recommended For: Non-fiction fans and those who enjoyed the book Wild.

Andrea Landlord's reputation precedes her, and as an avid outdoor enthusiast (with enough self awareness to know I would not be a successful thru hiker) I was excited to pick this book up. What followed was an engaging, insightful, heart wrenching but ultimately hopeful tale of the efforts to find three missing hikers and how those efforts have impacted future searches for missing people. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and thought it provided great description to place the reader in the moment. I will definitely be recommending this to others!