Force of Nature

Three Women Tackle the John Muir Trail

By Joan M. Griffin

Black Rose Writing, 2023

Pages: 378

Genre: Nonfiction – Memoir/Travel/Outdoors

Via: Blog Tour

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So Her Momness and I came back from chugging all over hill and dale the other day and checked the mail. We found Joan Griffin’s hiking memoir, Force of Nature, waiting for us. Cool, we thought. Besides. Who can resist that luscious cover?

Well. Mom and I agreed to join a blog tour for this book for three main reasons: 1) One of us has been hiking since she was knee-high to a bean-sprout (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth); 2) One of us is a native Californian and knows the John Muir Trail (JMT); 3) Mom’s private chocolate stash was running low and I, Kimber, promised her a refill if she finished this book lickety-split-ish. (Yea, verily. It’s amazing what some peeps will do for free chocolate. Selah.)

Okay. Where was I. Oh yeah. Force of Nature. I’ll let Mom give ya some deets:

Setting

In 2006 three middle-aged women set off on “The Grand Adventure of a Lifetime,” thru-hiking the 200 mile John Muir Trail in the Sierras of California. This non-fiction book is an account of same, recalling how three very different women pull together to experience the wonder, awe, ache, and challenge of the John Muir Trail. More than a physical journey, this hike turns into a mental and spiritual odyssey of self-discovery as told by the author. “I hoped for a transformative journey” Griffin writes toward the beginning, “yet I recognized the irony of my yearnings.”

Murphy’s Law

The initial miles are replete with mishap after mishap and a generous dose of Murphy’s Law. This includes her camera “drowning” during a creek crossing. A sprained ankle. Blisters upon blisters. Getting lost. Lightning at 11,000 feet and a near-death-experience. A crushed Grand Plan. And it’s only Day 3.

Ahead?

At roughly halfway through the book and a little over 50 trail miles, the author wonders if they’ve “outlasted Murphy’s Law and only good things lie ahead?” She gets stronger, mentally and physically. Her confidence increases as her fears decrease. She learns to “Gain and maintain a silent kinship with the elements of the natural world around,” explaining that she “sought emotional and spiritual connecting without the mental interference that words, especially proper names, brought to the experience.”

Kimber: For the record, “Nemo,” a hiking dude we meet early on, is a Class A Jerk. You’ll get that if you read the book. I wanted to bite him. But Mom wouldn’t let me. She’s just funny that way.

Format

In terms of format, the narrative is divided into five “legs.” First leg, second leg, and so forth. These coincide with specific portions of the trail. Each “leg” includes observations and experiences from several days, told in a day-to-day, diary-type fashion. This includes meet-ups with trail buddies and “trail angels.” River crossings. Stops to eat, rest, camp, and re-supply. Counting switchbacks. Introspective ruminations on nature and the wilderness. “Conquering” sun cups, snowfields, “impossible” river crossings, swarms of marauding mosquitoes, seemingly endless switchbacks and trail legends.” It takes them 27 days to cover 195 miles.

Vibrant

Vibrant descriptions of flora and fauna, terrain and geography and the like practically leap off the page and put on a floor show. Vivid word pictures of the trail’s feral beauty are so lavishly painted, they almost stand up and walk.  

Ginormous No-No

That being said, we totally cringed at the account of Big Hiking No-Nos, seemingly committed without a second thought. On page 30, for example, there’s a description of Jane walking “Out into the meadow” and “bending to look closely at a patch of purple flowers.” Going off-trail like that is called “meadow stomping.” That is a Ginormous No-No in hiking and conservation communities because it so easily damages/destroys fragile habitats and eco-systems.

Later, on the same page, Cappy chirps, “Let’s walk another half-hour then stop. We can picnic in the meadow.” (Emphasis added.) Oh. My. Muir-ness!  Mom about had a coronary. (Kimber: You sooo do not want to be caught meadow-stomping by Her Momness. Uber Bad Idea. Red alert! Red alert!) Ironically, the author later writes about how disgusted she and her companions are when they find trash discarded by earlier hikers at a remote trail campsite. 

Although this narrative is beautifully written and brims with rich descriptions of the region’s feral beauty, we found it a bit wash-rinse-repeat. Like, do we really need a blow-by-blow description of every trail snack the author consumes between campsites? How many different ways they can set up a tent? Yawn.

Mixed

We’ve read scores of hiking memoirs, including those about the PCT, the Appalachian Trail, the Wonderland Trail (a personal fave), and the JMT. Force of Nature is hard to peg. In fact, we wrote, re-wrote and revised this review several times. Cuz we have mixed feelings about it.

On one hand, the narrative starts to feel redundant and tired in places. Over-written. Did we really need to “listen in” to Cappy’s daily commentary about guide book and topo maps? Zoe’s hips and shoulder owies? Every campsite in creation? There’s also the occasional typo. Like “upward-bound hoards.” (p. 368. The correct word is “hordes.”)

On the other hand, the prose is top-notch. Lyrical. Almost luminescent. And the narrative ends on a high note of encouragement for all who seek to embrace their dreams and goals. So it’s undeniably inspirational and will certainly resonate with hiking and outdoor enthusiasts. Hence, the “hard to peg.” 

Meanwhile, as Muir famously said, “The mountains are calling and I must go.” So later, gator!

Our Rating: 3.5

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About the Author

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 of teaching and writing.

In addition to working on her next book, Joan teaches women’s history and literature for the OLLI programs at Sierra College and UC Davis Extension.

You can find her online at:

Website – https://www.joangriffin.us/

Substack/Blog – https://joangriffin.substack.com/

Facebook Author – www.facebook.com/joangriffinauthor

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/griffin.joan/