A thru-hike decision leads into wilderness exploration, beginning with the Appalachian Trail and then focusing on Western Brook Pond in Newfoundland. The narrative treats wilderness as more than inspiration, contrasting sublimity with horror during a storm that pins the hiker on a ridge. The work moves beyond a simple travelogue by shifting into detailed observations of ant trails and distinctions among English words for lines of movement. It also covers game trails, fiber optic wires, and a period as a shepherd, using humor and pacing to recount misplacing a flock of sheep. Philosophical reflections connect the landscape to the damage done by colonialism while maintaining a readable, cohesive flow.
"For the better part of an hour, awash in mounting waves of tympanic rumble, I had time to reconsider the merits of hiking. Stripped of its Romantic finery, the wild ceased to inspire; only a gauzy scrim separated sublimity and horror."
"Chapter two immediately solidifies this, launching a discussion of ant trails and the fine distinctions of various English words for lines of movement."
"On Trails bounces around gleefully from topic to topic: Game trails, fiber optic wires, Moor's stint as a shepherd. And all throughout, Moor seamlessly navigates shifting tones. One moment, he's waxing poetic about the power of nature, the next, he's spinning an anecdote about misplacing an entire flock of sheep with a comic's sense of pacing, then turning philosophical about the damage done by colonialism."
"It's a testament to Moor's skill that the book not only manages to be compulsively readable, but never feels disjointed as h"
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