** AN AMAZON "BEST BOOKS OF THE MONTH" FOR AUGUST 2023 (Biographies & Memoirs) **
A "Summer STEM Read You Won’t Want to Miss"—American Scientist—"Summer is a great time for adventures, even the armchair kind! Andrea Lankford’s Trail of the Lost is perfect for this kind of read."
“A gripping real-life mystery.”―Publishers Weekly —“A memorable account….Lankford excels at making the searches feel immediate, and asks incisive questions…”
About the Author
Andrea Lankford, a former National Park Service ranger, has performed firefighting, law enforcement, and life-saving wilderness medicine in Cape Hatteras, Zion, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon. As a park ranger, she won several awards for her work as a criminal investigator and she implemented the "Heat Kills. Hike Smart" public education program credited with preventing heat-related deaths at the Grand Canyon—a program that continues to save lives today.
After leaving the NPS, Andrea worked as a Private Duty Concierge RN, primarily in Los Angeles. She now lives in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada.
A Top Ten Book About U.S. Parks
"Ranger Confidential dispenses with the wilderness romance and cuts straight to the heart of how difficult it can be to manage America's National Parks....the book delves into the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of today's park rangers." National Geographic
Andrea is the author of five nonfiction books, including Ranger Confidential: Living, Working and Dying in the National Parks. National Geographic calls Ranger Confidential a Top Ten Book About U.S. Parks, and her hiking guide, Haunted Hikes: Spine-Tingling Tales and Trails from North America's National Parks, was featured in USA Today, chosen by People as a 2006 Travel Pick, and described by Newsday as "spell-binding." She has written for High Country News, Arizona Highways, and Backpacker. Her fifth book, Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail was an instant New York Times Bestseller.
On the trail of the lost, you may not find what you are looking for, but you will find more than you seek. photo by Salisha Blackburn of Storybook Photography 2023
Andrea’s outdoor accomplishments include thru-hiking the entire 2,200 mile length of the Appalachian Trail, kayaking from Miami to Key West, cycling from Fairbanks to the Arctic Ocean, and being the first (with Beth Overton) to mountain bike the 800-mile Arizona Trail from Utah to Mexico. When she was nineteen, Andrea cleaned alligator tanks and milked rattlesnakes for a living. She has been clawed by a leopard, bit by a skunk, stung by deadly scorpions, charged by bears, and survived three nights in the wilderness, alone, with a fractured fibula.
Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail in 1999
Working In Yosemite National Park in 1995
“You can't turn your back on nature, or she will turn her back on you!” says Frog biologist Dr. Paul Farraday in Quagmire, “The X-files”. Photo by Salisha Blackburn of Storybook Photography 2023