Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail

Trail of the Lost is a compulsively readable narrative about the search efforts undertaken to help find three hikers who went missing along the Pacific Crest Trail in 2016/2017. The author, a previous park ranger and currently a nurse, becomes involved in the search efforts and this book is a product of that time.

The author is definitely a talented writer. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had previously been a journalist. The narrative of the book is exceptional, the book was hard to put down, and the author treated her subjects very compassionately, all things I appreciated.

I also appreciated the takedown of the obviously pseudo-scientific idiot who was peddling some expensive horsesh*t to families desperate to find their loved show more ones. (LPT: any time somebody uses a vaguely worded explanation including the phrase "quantum physics," run far, far away from them.) There is also a psychic involved in the process, and the author explained that while they can't typically solve anything (except by chance), they may be able to reveal clues that other people miss.

Basically, this book was realistic. Nobody just overturned a leaf and magically found something obvious. The process of finding somebody who has been lost for months or even years in an extremely vast trail system is not like what we see on TV or in the movies. It truly is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

I appreciated the explanation of the process. How seemingly small clues about personality or gear can uncover leads. The enormous number of interviews that occurred. I was also fascinated by the people who misled the searchers (either intentionally or not), some in ways that may have seriously derailed active investigations.

At some point while reading this book, I thought to myself "if I get through this whole book and they don't find any of the three hikers, I'm going to be seriously annoyed." But by the end of the book (and even as of the time of me writing this review), none of them have been found. I wasn't seriously annoyed though, as the book didn't really need to rely on finding the missing hikers to come to a satisfying (for this reader, at least), albeit sad, conclusion.

The author really made me think about the process of coming to terms with somebody simply vanishing. When do you let go? When do you decide that you can't keep putting other people's lives at risk to search for somebody who is most likely dead? How can you find closure in your life?

At the end, the author and others certainly have helped to raise awareness about being locatable. With the advent of smart phones and satellite GPS trackers, it seems amazing that people can still go missing today, but they do. And what they have learned in the process of searching for the missing three PCT hikers has led to their ability to more easily recover the remains of missing hikers today.

For me, this book goes no higher than 3.5 stars even though I generally enjoyed the narrative due to the fact that the three hikers' stories are interwoven to such a degree that it became hard for me to follow each one individually. The author also uses her narrative prowess to sometimes intentionally mislead the reader about finding big clues, only to reveal that it was related to a different search and rescue case. show less

The odds against finding someone lost in the vast wilderness that makes up the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) seems pretty remote. Yet it turns out that there are plenty of people willing to drop everything to go looking for the missing just to give their loved ones some sense of closure. This is the story of these remarkable people. They face the inevitable hardship of trekking in remote places with few clues. Lankford brings home just how difficult this task can be, especially when it is further compounded by fake leads, charlatan experts, and indifferent authorities. Yet, she emphasizes the importance of such work to the families of the lost. Despite some truly remarkable technology that can be brought to bear, there is no substitute for show more good old shoe leather. The book emphasizes not only just how popular through hiking the PCT has become, but also how treacherous it can be. Truly, the best part of this book is all the insider information about the trail and the ways the hiker community unites to cope with its challenges. show less

"And one more thing, call your mom."

I've been follow the story of Sherpa for years. I joined the FB group long ago, since I'm from the PNW, and my heart always broke when his mom would post something and follow up with a request for a phone call. I first heard about David O'Sullivan's story while watching the show Disappeared. I was floored because, again, it involved the PCT and he was so early in his trek before he vanished. Sadly, I'd never heard of Chris Sylvia until I cracked this book.

It always blows me away when people disappear. I feel like I'm in thousands of random photos in the background, oblivious, or in some type of CCTV footage daily. But something like the PCT is the perfect place for someone to disappear. And that makes show more these stories compelling.

I grabbed this for the cover and title but stayed for the well-told, heart-wrenching stories. The behind-the-scenes peek into SAR searches, drone views, the squinters, and the long hikes were jaw-dropping but also inspiring. Even knowing the up-to-date info on at least 2 of the stories, I was completely drawn into the humanity and love in this story. I can't imagine the heartache of the not knowing so learning all they have done to try to find them was astounding and amazing. This is well written and hooked me from the first page. I hope [a:Andrea Lankford|195369|Andrea Lankford|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1683395404p2/195369.jpg] keeps telling us stories, I'll definitely keep reading them!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. show less

After the phenomenal popularity of Cheryl Strayed’s book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail, the number of hikers on this trail has jumped exponentially. With the amount of traffic, it seems improbable that hikers would go missing and vanish. And yet they do.

Frantic families search for days, months, even years for their loved ones, trying to backtrack the missings’ last known locations, nailing up posters on the trail and its surrounding towns, organizing professional search and rescue and amateur volunteer rescue teams. Drones, dogs, boots on the ground, social media fund raising and even psychics all play their part. Could the missing have been victims of a crime? Dropped out of the hike to join a nearby cult? show more Became confused or injured and lost their way, waiting for rescue that never came?

These are the stories of three of the missing and the herculean efforts to find them.

You’ll finish this book with respect for the searchers and the vastness of the wilderness trail that simply makes people disappear. You will also be left with the question of when to accept that your loved one’s fate may never be known.

This is a great book on how the searches are conducted and the efforts the families make. Ultimately it leaves more questions than answers and so I found the end unsatisfying. show less

I really enjoy travel/wilderness survival stories, so I grabbed this while browsing at the library. The book follows a multi-year search for three hikers who all disappeared from the Pacific Coast Trail around 2016 and 2017. The author is a nurse and former National Parks ranger and has years of experience in wilderness search and rescue. At first, I thought the book was mainly a vent at official search and rescue protocols, and in some ways it is. She's frustrated with the bureaucracy and secrecy around missing persons in the national and state parks. At the same time, the book details stories of volunteer searchers also needing rescue because they're inexperienced and run into trouble.

In the end, the book walks through three families show more searching for lost sons. The official outlets are stretched and unofficial groups are often shut out, leaving a weird middle-ground where you cannot make progress. Community and the care of strangers brought together by common cause helps everyone involved keep looking when there is little hope left. show less

Fans of Jon Krakauer's writing will devour this odyssey of trying to find three hikers who disappeared of the Pacific Crest Trail. Andrea Lankford, a former cop and park ranger, has gone on many different search and rescue missions and there is nothing worse than not being able to bring home a missing person. The Pacific Crest Trail is over 2,600 miles long and is not for the faint of heart. Cheryl Strayed popularized the route after her memoir, Wild, became an international bestseller. An experienced searcher and hiker herself; Andrea finds herself drawn to three missing person cases of hikers gone missing on the PCT trail. Together with their mothers and a tenacious searcher named Cathy they spend years of their life, sanity, and show more resources combing the wilderness and following up leads. Heartfelt, educational, and ultimately hopeful; rather than dissuading hikers from attempting the trek, this story still makes the route beautiful while putting on strong cautions and safety warnings for it. Wonderful writing. show less

Andrea Lankford was a park ranger and first responder, who lead many rescue missions, tracking down missing hikers through our National Parks. She left the force and became a nurse but was drawn back into the mysteries of several missing hikers that disappeared on the PCT, (Pacific Crest Trail). With bulldog determination, she begins to piece these stories together, discovering some disturbing revelations along the way. This true-adventure story is a marvel and it definitely helps that Lankford is also a gifted writer. She is a new hero of mine. Highly recommended.