
Lookout
Love, Solitude, and Searching for Wildfire in the Boreal Forest
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $21.60
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Trina Moyles
-
By:
-
Trina Moyles
About this listen
A page-turning memoir about a young woman's grueling, revelatory summers working alone in a remote lookout tower and her eyewitness account of the increasingly unpredictable nature of wildfire in the Canadian north.
While growing up in Peace River, Alberta, Trina Moyles heard many stories of Lookout Observers--strange, eccentric types who spent five-month summers alone, climbing 100-foot high towers and watching for signs of fire in the surrounding boreal forest. How could you isolate yourself for that long? she wondered. "I could never do it," she told herself.
Craving a deeper sense of purpose, she left northern Alberta to pursue a decade-long career in global humanitarian work. After three years in East Africa, and newly engaged, Trina returned to Peace River with a plan to sponsor her fiance, Akello's, immigration to Canada. Despite her fear of being alone in the woods, she applied for a seasonal lookout position and got the job.
Thus begins Trina's first summer as one of a handful of lookouts scattered throughout Alberta, with only a farm dog, Holly--labeled "a domesticated wolf" by her former owners--to keep her company. While searching for smoke, Trina unravels under the pressure of a long-distance relationship--and a dawning awareness of the environmental crisis that climate change is producing in the boreal. Through megafires, lightning storms, and stunning encounters with wildlife, she learns to survive at the fire tower by forging deep connections with nature and with an extraordinary community of people dedicated to wildfire detection and combat. In isolation, she discovers a kind of self-awareness--and freedom--that only solitude can deliver.
Lookout is a riveting story of loss, transformation, and belonging to oneself, layered with an eyewitness account of the destructive and regenerative power of wildfire in our northern forests.
©2021 Trina Moyles (P)2021 Penguin Random House CanadaListeners also enjoyed...
-
Trail of the Lost
- The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail
- By: Andrea Lankford
- Narrated by: Kristi Burns
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a park ranger with the National Park Service's law enforcement team, Andrea Lankford led search and rescue missions in some of the most beautiful (and dangerous) landscapes across America, from Yosemite to the Grand Canyon. But though she had the support of the agency, Andrea grew frustrated with the service's bureaucratic idiosyncrasies, and left the force after twelve years. Two decades later, however, she stumbles across a mystery that pulls her right back where she left off: three young men have vanished from the Pacific Crest Trail.
-
-
Much ado about nothing
- By Linda Harmon on 10-01-23
By: Andrea Lankford
-
I Hike Again
- Mostly True Stories from 15,000 Miles of Hiking
- By: Lawton Grinter
- Narrated by: Lawton Grinter
- Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Back again with even more "mostly true" tales from the trail, Lawton Grinter's new book I Hike Again is sure to find a place in every adventurer's library! I Hike Again imparts hard-earned wisdom from trails both in the United States (Arizona Trail, Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, Grand Enchantment Trail, Wind River High Route) and abroad (Spain's GR11 and New Zealand's Te Araroa).
-
-
I love this guy’s books!
- By kgohl on 06-26-23
By: Lawton Grinter
-
Entangled Life
- How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
- By: Merlin Sheldrake
- Narrated by: Merlin Sheldrake
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.
-
-
Mycology for Everyone
- By Cephalopods Revenge on 05-12-20
By: Merlin Sheldrake
-
Ranger Confidential
- Living, Working, and Dying in the National Parks
- By: Andrea Lankford
- Narrated by: Julia Motyka
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The real stories behind the scenery of America’s national parks. For 12 years, Andrea Lankford lived in the biggest, most impressive national parks in the world, working a job she loved. She chaperoned baby sea turtles on their journey to sea. She pursued bad guys on her galloping patrol horse. She jumped into rescue helicopters bound for the heart of the Grand Canyon. She won arguments with bears. She slept with a few too many rattlesnakes. Hell yeah, it was the best job in the world! Fortunately, Andrea survived it.
-
-
Depressing from Cover to Cover
- By Drew (@drewsant) on 04-13-15
By: Andrea Lankford
-
Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire
- Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books
- By: Stephen J. Pyne
- Narrated by: Jack de Golia
- Length: 30 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From prehistory to the present-day conservation movement, Stephen Pyne explores the efforts of successive American cultures to master wildfire and to use it to shape the landscape. A timely environmental classic. Pyne was named by Science magazine as "the world's leading authority on the history of fire." The narrator of Fire in America, Jack de Golia, served as a firefighter with the National Park Service and then as a fire information officer for the NPS, Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service.
-
-
fire fighter read
- By ELLIOT ANDERSON on 05-15-24
By: Stephen J. Pyne
-
A Sand County Almanac
- And Sketches Here and There
- By: Aldo Leopold, Barbara Kingsolver - introduction
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 4 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1949 and praised in the New York Times Book Review as "full of beauty and vigor and bite", A Sand County Almanac combines some of the finest nature writing since Thoreau with an outspoken and highly ethical regard for America's relationship to the land.
-
-
Great in some ways; in others, wtf!
- By RG on 06-22-20
By: Aldo Leopold, and others
-
Trail of the Lost
- The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail
- By: Andrea Lankford
- Narrated by: Kristi Burns
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a park ranger with the National Park Service's law enforcement team, Andrea Lankford led search and rescue missions in some of the most beautiful (and dangerous) landscapes across America, from Yosemite to the Grand Canyon. But though she had the support of the agency, Andrea grew frustrated with the service's bureaucratic idiosyncrasies, and left the force after twelve years. Two decades later, however, she stumbles across a mystery that pulls her right back where she left off: three young men have vanished from the Pacific Crest Trail.
-
-
Much ado about nothing
- By Linda Harmon on 10-01-23
By: Andrea Lankford
-
I Hike Again
- Mostly True Stories from 15,000 Miles of Hiking
- By: Lawton Grinter
- Narrated by: Lawton Grinter
- Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Back again with even more "mostly true" tales from the trail, Lawton Grinter's new book I Hike Again is sure to find a place in every adventurer's library! I Hike Again imparts hard-earned wisdom from trails both in the United States (Arizona Trail, Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, Grand Enchantment Trail, Wind River High Route) and abroad (Spain's GR11 and New Zealand's Te Araroa).
-
-
I love this guy’s books!
- By kgohl on 06-26-23
By: Lawton Grinter
-
Entangled Life
- How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
- By: Merlin Sheldrake
- Narrated by: Merlin Sheldrake
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.
-
-
Mycology for Everyone
- By Cephalopods Revenge on 05-12-20
By: Merlin Sheldrake
-
Ranger Confidential
- Living, Working, and Dying in the National Parks
- By: Andrea Lankford
- Narrated by: Julia Motyka
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The real stories behind the scenery of America’s national parks. For 12 years, Andrea Lankford lived in the biggest, most impressive national parks in the world, working a job she loved. She chaperoned baby sea turtles on their journey to sea. She pursued bad guys on her galloping patrol horse. She jumped into rescue helicopters bound for the heart of the Grand Canyon. She won arguments with bears. She slept with a few too many rattlesnakes. Hell yeah, it was the best job in the world! Fortunately, Andrea survived it.
-
-
Depressing from Cover to Cover
- By Drew (@drewsant) on 04-13-15
By: Andrea Lankford
-
Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire
- Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books
- By: Stephen J. Pyne
- Narrated by: Jack de Golia
- Length: 30 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From prehistory to the present-day conservation movement, Stephen Pyne explores the efforts of successive American cultures to master wildfire and to use it to shape the landscape. A timely environmental classic. Pyne was named by Science magazine as "the world's leading authority on the history of fire." The narrator of Fire in America, Jack de Golia, served as a firefighter with the National Park Service and then as a fire information officer for the NPS, Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service.
-
-
fire fighter read
- By ELLIOT ANDERSON on 05-15-24
By: Stephen J. Pyne
-
A Sand County Almanac
- And Sketches Here and There
- By: Aldo Leopold, Barbara Kingsolver - introduction
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 4 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1949 and praised in the New York Times Book Review as "full of beauty and vigor and bite", A Sand County Almanac combines some of the finest nature writing since Thoreau with an outspoken and highly ethical regard for America's relationship to the land.
-
-
Great in some ways; in others, wtf!
- By RG on 06-22-20
By: Aldo Leopold, and others
-
Fire: A Brief History
- By: Stephen J. Pyne
- Narrated by: Jack de Golia
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over vast expanses of time, fire and humanity have interacted to expand the domain of each, transforming the earth and what it means to be human. In this concise yet wide-ranging book, Stephen J. Pyne - named by Science magazine as "the world's leading authority on the history of fire" - explores the surprising dynamics of fire before humans, fire and human origins, aboriginal economies of hunting and foraging, agricultural and pastoral uses of fire, fire ceremonies, fire as an idea and a technology, and industrial fire.
-
-
Full of info, lyrically written
- By A Reader on 11-15-24
By: Stephen J. Pyne
-
Fuzz
- When Nature Breaks the Law
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Mary Roach
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What’s to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology.
-
-
The footnotes
- By Alex on 09-24-21
By: Mary Roach
-
Down the Great Unknown
- John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon
- By: Edward Dolnick
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On May 24, 1869 a one-armed Civil War veteran, John Wesley Powell, and a ragtag band of nine mountain men embarked on the last great quest in the American West. The Grand Canyon, not explored before, was as mysterious as Atlantis - and as perilous. The 10 men set out from Green River Station, Wyoming Territory, down the Colorado in four wooden rowboats. Ninety-nine days later, six half-starved wretches came ashore near Callville, Arizona.
-
-
Modern references take away
- By HC-2 NAS Norfolk '92 on 08-17-19
By: Edward Dolnick
-
North Woods
- A Novel
- By: Daniel Mason
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall, Michael Crouch, Jason Culp, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When two young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become the home of an extraordinary succession of human and nonhuman characters alike. An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to growing apples. A pair of spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths an ancient mass grave—only to discover that the earth refuse to give up their secrets.
-
-
An American Masterpiece
- By Psumissyh on 09-21-23
By: Daniel Mason
-
The Cold Vanish
- Seeking the Missing in North America's Wildlands
- By: Jon Billman
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
These are the stories that defy conventional logic. The proverbial vanished without a trace incidences, which happen a lot more (and a lot closer to your backyard) than almost anyone thinks. These are the missing whose situations are the hardest on loved ones left behind. The cases that are an embarrassment for park superintendents, rangers, and law enforcement charged with Search & Rescue.
-
-
Sad but interesting finished a little confused
- By Jason on 07-09-20
By: Jon Billman
-
Nowhere for Very Long
- The Unexpected Road to an Unconventional Life
- By: Brianna Madia
- Narrated by: Brianna Madia
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this beautifully written, vividly detailed memoir, a young woman chronicles her adventures traveling across the deserts of the American West in an orange van named Bertha and reflects on an unconventional approach to life
-
-
not what I thought
- By J. Abrego on 04-16-22
By: Brianna Madia
-
Green Grass in the Spring
- A Cowboy's Guide for Saving the World
- By: Tony Malmberg
- Narrated by: Tony Malmberg
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to Green Grass in the Spring: A Cowboy's Guide for Saving the World and learn about land stewardship and holistic land management.
-
-
Amazing story, poor performance
- By Aubrey DeMIlle on 11-29-22
By: Tony Malmberg
-
Finding the Mother Tree
- Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest
- By: Suzanne Simard
- Narrated by: Suzanne Simard
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Suzanne Simard is a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence; her TED talks have been viewed by more than 10 million people worldwide. In this, her first book, now available in audio, Simard brings us into her world, the intimate world of the trees, in which she brilliantly illuminates the fascinating and vital truths—that trees are not simply the source of timber or pulp, but are a complicated, interdependent circle of life.
-
-
Couldn't finish, will try the hard copy
- By primrose on 07-22-21
By: Suzanne Simard
-
Deep Creek
- Finding Hope in the High Country
- By: Pam Houston
- Narrated by: Pam Houston
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On her 120-acre homestead high in the Colorado Rockies, beloved writer Pam Houston learns what it means to care for a piece of land and the creatures on it. Elk calves and bluebirds mark the changing seasons, winter temperatures drop to 35 below, and lightning sparks a 110,000-acre wildfire, threatening her century-old barn and all its inhabitants. Through her travels from the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska, she explores what ties her to the Earth, the ranch most of all.
-
-
The most beautiful book I’ve ever read
- By KFratt on 04-26-19
By: Pam Houston
-
The Unlikely Thru-Hiker
- An Appalachian Trail Journey
- By: Derick Lugo
- Narrated by: Derick Lugo
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Derick Lugo had never been hiking. He certainly couldn't imagine going more than a day without manicuring his goatee. But with a job cut short and no immediate plans, this fixture of the New York comedy scene began to think about what he might do with months of free time. He had heard of the Appalachian Trail, but he had never seriously considered attempting to hike all 2,184.2 miles of it. Suddenly he found himself asking, Could he do it?
-
-
On My Feet All Day
- By bannedbum on 08-21-21
By: Derick Lugo
-
A Wild Idea
- By: Jonathan Franklin
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The incredible true story of the entrepreneur turned conservationist - the founder of the iconic company The North Face who used his fortune to protect more than 25 million acres of land from development and exploitation and “foster peace between people and wild nature”.
-
-
How could I have not known.
- By Nancy B. Bryant on 06-01-23
-
The Littlest Library
- A Novel
- By: Poppy Alexander
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jess Metcalf is perfectly content with her quiet, predictable life. But when her beloved grandmother passes away and she loses her job at the local library, Jess’ life is turned upside down. Determined to pick up the pieces, Jess decides it’s time for a new beginning. Unable to part with her grandmother’s cherished books, she packs them all up and moves to a tiny cottage in the English countryside. To her surprise, Jess discovers that she’s now the owner of an old red phone box that was left on the property.
-
-
An entertaining read.
- By Kim Meseck on 11-10-22
By: Poppy Alexander
Critic reviews
WINNER OF THE 2021 NATIONAL OUTDOOR BOOK AWARDS IN THE OUTDOOR LITERATURE CATEGORY
FINALIST FOR THE ROBERT KROETSCH CITY OF EDMONTON BOOK PRIZE
FINALIST FOR THE ALBERTA LITERARY AWARDS (MEMOIR)
“Moyles tells a totally engrossing story of fear and love, self-recrimination and healing, by turns vivid with memory and presence. Page after page, I felt immersed in the rejuvenating wonders of the natural world, rendered here in all their magnificent, everchanging detail. Reader, you will roar through this book.” (Charlotte Gill, author of Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe)
“Trina Moyles has written a beautiful, closely observed love letter to the boreal forest and the wilderness of northern Canada at a time when it is threatened by unprecedented change. But Lookout is more than that: it's also a powerful, unforgettable story about the ways that solitude in nature can break us down, and then put us back together again.” (Eva Holland, author of Nerve: A Personal Journey Through the Science of Fear)
“A vital and howling missive of a book. Lookout holds the wide wisdom and fierce beauty of the boreal forest it depicts. Trina Moyles has spent several seasons sitting in the fire, looking into the heat of love, death and regenerated life; experiencing solitude as intensifying tincture. She writes as a wild and erudite witness, bursting with hunger and feral passion for the living world.” (Kyo Maclear, author of Birds Art Life: A Year of Observation)
What listeners say about Lookout
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lindsay B.
- 12-22-22
Highly enjoyed this
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and had a hard time stopping listening. Made me want to go find a fire tower and spend more time in the woods.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Matt Thompson
- 06-22-21
Who are we, really?
On the surface, one might suppose this book would be a simple glimpse into the adventures and challenges of a unique lifestyle, embraced by those who choose such a path. While this alone would be quite fascinating and worth the time to learn about, I would say that what made Trina’s story truly captivating for me was that it is very much a work of philosophy at its core.
Through powerful, eloquent, and sometimes brutally honest language, Trina invites us to explore our humanity as she recounts the ways in which she was forced to acknowledge hers. Who are we when we are utterly alone, physically and emotionally? How might we respond when we come face to face with our mortality? What does our life look like when decluttered of distractions, when we have more time inside our own minds than we know what to do with? And what can we learn from the experiences of Trina and others like her who have thrust themselves into these periods of mandatory self discovery?
Through honesty and vulnerability, Trina has through her writing offered a gift to the world which is to bring us closer to the answers to such questions, and perhaps a little farther along the path of our own self discovery.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Possum Bean
- 05-15-23
Lookout - great listen.
Yes, we all know authors shouldn't read their own books and this one gets off to a slow start but then she really does find her own stride and I can't imagine a different person reading it. I listened to this book straight through for two days and I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the epilogue and even the ending credits - I was very moved.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 10-12-21
The whole package for adventure!
Family members worked at nearby lookouts when I was growing up, and they still get dreamy-eyed when they talk about it. This was a great listen about the author's experiences, including the challenges and benefits of being alone. I could have done without some of the romance mentions, but that was the initial reason for the author to pursue this adventure. My husband and I have listened to this twice while on road trips and will probably listen again!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!