Trail Memoir
TrailMemoir.com is the only website devoted exclusively to promoting the art, craft, books, authors, and business of trail memoir! We’re life-long hikers and writers and we love this genre as a vehicle for people to explore the transformative power of trails. The world needs more trails, more walking, and more reflection. And we are here to advance all of the above!
Use this site to find a trail memoir you’d enjoy reading, a trail you’d enjoy hiking, or just to draw inspiration from other hikers and writers. If you’re working on a trail memoir, or have a trail journal you’re thinking of turning into one, our essays and tutorials will help you on your literary journey.
Darrow Kirkpatrick
I’m an early-retired civil and software engineer.
I’m also an outdoor adventurer with five decades of hiking, biking, and technical rock-climbing experience including first ascents in the Shawangunks of New York and in the sandstone belt around Chattanooga, Tennessee. Between 1981 and 1985 I climbed three “big walls” in Yosemite Valley, California: The Shield and The Nose on El Capitan, and The Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome.
In 2011, I founded Can I Retire Yet? — winner of the 2019 Plutus award for Best Retirement Blog. My personal finance books include Retiring Sooner (2013) and Can I Retire Yet? (2016) which together have sold more than 16,000 copies.
In 2021 I completed a section hike of the Colorado Trail, the subject of my memoir, Two Sticks, One Path: A Journey Beyond Fear on the Colorado Trail.
Contact: darrow@TrailMemoir.com
Sarah Novell-Lane
I work as an Air Quality Chemist for the State of Alaska. When I’m not running a gravimetric lab or working outside in the rain, I’m pursuing one of my many projects—writing, cooking, and hiking among them.
Living five minutes from one of the world’s most accessible glaciers in Juneau, Alaska, I spend as much time outdoors as possible and I’m spoiled by the abundance of hiking trails in the area. My favorite outing happens to occur in winter when it’s possible to skate, ski, or walk across the frozen Mendenhall Lake to explore ice caves or the face of the Mendenhall Glacier. My favorite hiking partner is of the canine variety.
I’m an avid writer of fiction though I’m looking to branch out into memoir. I hope to complete a hike worthy of penning a good tale. The Chilkoot Trail in Alaska and Everest Base Camp are two treks I’m hoping to conquer, as well as a walk across Britain.
Contact: sarah@TrailMemoir.com
Trail Memoir 