Force of Nature: Three Women Tackle the John Muir Trail

I would like to share a book called Force of Nature: Three Women Tackle the John Muir Trail by Joan M. Griffin which I received a physical copy of in exchange for this review.

I wanted to read this book for a couple reasons. One is these women are in there 50’s and I’m on the backside of 50 and have friends I wouldn’t mind taking a trip with but I couldn’t see us hiking a trail of any kind but after meeting these ladies I might try it if they would come with me.

I liked how Griffin sets off on this adventure in the wake of a tragedy in her life, wearing a necklace that reminds her to show “courage, spirit, and strength” on the trail. Making you feel like you are on the adventure with Joan and the other ladies. After losing my daughter this motto could be mine as well and would be a nice necklace for Charlie and I.

I wanted the trip to keep going because it is full of beauty and people I would like to meet, but the trail presents many physical and mental challenges to those who attempt to conquer it especially when hiking in a group. As the journey begins Griffin goals is to capture the majestic wilderness with her newly-acquired camera, which she soon loses to an accident and she ends ends up using a pen and journal to record her journey which I would prefer pen and paper to a camera although I can’t read my own writing a lot of times and have to depend on a camera. Now I know if I were to go on the hike to pack a extra camera or two.

I had fun meting other people who would join the hike as others depart. The original trio, was known as “The Three Women” among their fellow hikers. I love how they faced many challenges including foot injuries and fatigue, to swarms of relentless blood-sucking bugs, and Squirrels, but they never gave up.

To add to the challenge the story shares moments of tension and a murder that transpires near their campsite. Which would have made me and my friends throw in the towel. How about you? They there were waterfall crossings, a number of steep switchbacks, and dangerous river crossings which I don’t think my knees would have held up to. How about you?

We get to hear from ”Buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh, who offers thought-provoking insights on nature’s beauty and our place within it. Force of Nature: Three Women Tackle the John Muir Trail would be a good book for Charlie to read as he would learn about places he hadn’t heard of.

Even though Force of Nature: Three Women Tackle the John Muir Trail is written by women for women I could see men being amazed at all the things these women went through and they could learn through them if they took the time to read the story. Which is why I am sharing my copy with David.

About:

“Lace up your hiking boots! Let Griffin guide you over granite mountains, through thunderstorms, and wildflower-studded meadows.” –Barbara Olson Lawrence, author of the forthcoming Drawing Water

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.

Force of Nature is equal parts gripping adventure tale, personal memoir, and vivid nature writing.

Meet the Author: Joan M. Griffin

Joan lives under the spell of wanderlust. She takes wing, whenever possible, for actual destinations near and far and for literary locales in the pages of books. A third-generation Californian and proud UCLA Bruin, Joan lives in the Northern California foothills of the majestic Sierra Nevada, a world she loves exploring. Joan navigated her way through two careers—marketing computers, then sailboats—before applying her love of storytelling to her dual passions for teaching and writing.

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates