Without A Trace: The Life of Sierra Phantom

by Danielle Nadler

It started as just another interview. Young journalist Danielle Nadler agreed to call an old man who had lived 50 years in the wilderness of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Through their weekly conversations, the mountaineer boasts of his decades of outdoor survival only to eventually reveal his personal tragedies that drove him to life in the wild. Without a Trace drops readers into the small mountain town of Bishop alongside the man locals call Sierra Phantom just as he surrenders to life with an address, searches for a renewed purpose and a community with which to share it.

264 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 29, 2016

Reviews

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biography of a Fascinating Character

The man at the heart of this story, Sierra Phantom, is a true moutain man. The heart of the great American West, come to life in one man's life story; a story of escaping into the wilderness of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. A man who chose to live free summer, winter, spring and fall in a harsh but beautiful place. A true story, worthy of our attention.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful read. The author did a great job of bring the Sierra Phantom to life. It's not so much about the details of his experiences in the wild but the journey that took him to the Sierra's along with some of his experiences. Great read!

[Jeanne Vogel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

Great book of survival. All types of survival and emotions. Introspective and uplifting. Make sure me want to go to Bishop.

[Frank K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, there's really no way to wrap this book up in a few sentences. With this book, Nadler writes, not just a book of an amazing individual, but of a slice of life that everyone needs to bear witness to. I've never said that a book has "changed" me until this one.

You can't help but take a piece of Phantom with you after reading this book. It'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry, but at the end of it all, it'll make you a better person.

[Trebor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice tale of one of the last mountain men, twentieth century style. Independent, free spirited, and loaded with common sense and survival skills, he made the high Sierra mountains his home. Simple pure and magnificent as his surroundings. A loner who loved people.

[Valérie Beaudoin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A swinging good story

A well written very original story for an original man. Being free is a lot harder than one might think.

[Irene Livermore · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author missed a great opportunity to write about a mans love of living in the Sierras. He wanted to talk about it and share. She wanted to ask z out his life before the wilderness. She was so pleased to push the conversation to her interest of his life that he never got to speak of his 50 years of experience i

Living in the great outdoors. We already knew orphanages were poorly run 70 years ago. We will never really know how he survived up there. I learned about the author, about Phanthoms early years, how she could tell he was lighting his CIG, how cleverly she took him back to his painful youth. I was totally disappointed.