Trail Notes: Trail Flix

Back in 1994, I washed dishes for Rafaelle’s Italian Restaurant, thus imbuing my sixteen-year-old person with a high bar for chicken marsala and a deep respect for food service professionals. That being said, when a friend of mine asked if I wanted to work at his family’s video store, I left my apron on the spot.

Video Magic was one of those delightful local video stores of the mid-90s, and for two blissful years, I received a paycheck for watching movies and creating inane lists: What is the best Christopher Walken movie of all time? What are the Top 5 Christmas movies involving Bruce Willis? Who was the Best Rapper/Actor Combination: 2Pac, Ice Cube, or Queen Latifah?

So when last week’s rain kept me off the trails, I harkened back to that golden era of film and asked, “ What are the best trail movies?”

Our quest begins by asking, “Should trail movies actually have to feature a trail? This kind of purist inquiry might serve us well in the genre of Christmas movies that actually have to mention the birth of Christ, but in the very niche world of trials, it eliminates almost everything but “Wild,” “A Walk in the Woods”, and “The Way.” I heartily recommend the first two books, but the movie adaptations fall well short of the prose, so if you’re looking for a Hollywood Star on the trail, forego Robert Redford and Reese Witherspoon, and enjoy Martin Sheen, who turns in a fantastic performance as a grieving father on the Camino de Santiago.

We might also ask, “Do documentaries count as movies?” This is a thorny subject, as there is much controversy around titles like “The Endless Summer” (surfing) and Warren Miller films (skiing), or more recently “Free Solo” (climbing) and Billy Yang films (trail running). To complicate things further, nowadays, some of the best content for hiking is found on YouTube with people like Homemade Wanderlust or Kyle Hates Hiking.

However, if you find yourself rained out and needing a trail fix, “Mile, Mile and a Half ” scratches the itch with fantastic cinematography of the John Muir Trail while following a group of artist friends on their sojourn.

Finally, if we are just looking for the best movie about hitting the trail, then the answer perennially points us to “The Lord of the Rings.” Tolkien doesn’t get nearly enough credit as a nature writer, and between Bilbo’s maps, Frodo’s descriptions, and the Hobbits’ walking songs, we can’t help but want to see mountains with Gandalf! Peter Jackson’s interpretation of the texts in the breathtaking New Zealand countryside solidifies this classic as one of the best trail flix ever.

So next time you get rained out, throw on the extended version of “The Fellowship of the Ring,” and start crafting your own walking tunes with a cuppa. As a bonus, it will also refresh you for the forthcoming “The Hunt for Gollum” film, which takes place between “The Hobbit” and “Fellowship.”