Escape to the Mountain: Mid-life Redemption on the John Muir Trail

Stephen Wade Smith
Emerick Publishing Company (2006)
ISBN 0978834305
Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (2/07)

This is an amazing story of a man, who, while fulfilling a life time goal discovers so much more as he pondered the questions: “What will I learn? What was the meaning of life? And what was important to me?” He concluded, “I was beginning to sense that my purpose for hiking the John Muir Trail was larger and more important than I had imagined.  It wasn’t just about accomplishing a goal I had set.  It was about shaping a better character for the second half of my life.  I saw that I needed a higher level of maturity and purpose.”

Smith relived a summer of backpacking in the Sierra’s as he reviewed his detailed journals, translating them into “Escape to the Mountains.” Much of that which Stephen chronicled in his journals I have to live vicariously, through him, having never backpacked. However, I experienced with him the sound of silence, the grandeur of the scenic vistas of the Sierra’s, and the taste of blueberry cheesecake.  Dozens of photos and maps illustrate the events and bring the story to life.

I was profoundly impacted by the insights he shared with his son in the chapter “Lessons Learned from the Mountains.”  These are the principles I would like to articulate to my own sons.

Smith is an outstanding communicator, motivator, and teacher.  He introduced tips for back packing, fly fishing, and business management, while writing on the environment, goal setting, core values and family relationships. By the time I finished the final line of the last chapter of the book I felt I knew Stephen personally.  This is a book I want to pass along to each of my own four sons.

Stephen Wade Smith’s book, “Escape to the Mountain,” is an inspiring story of a man finding strength, and renewal, of realigning his priorities through a return to nature on the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I highly recommend the book for nature lovers, back packers, and the thousands who, each year, visit the magnificent State and National Parks throughout our country.

 

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