LOST IN THE WOODS
58 | July• 2019
enough to shelter her for the night.
She crawled under the log and lay
there. Yoda snuggled close, warm-
ing her as the temperature dipped to
about 5°C. An experienced camper,
Jean wasn’t frightened by the forest’s
strange noises or creepy-crawlies. But
her predicament did keep her awake.
To distract herself, she thought
about the dinner she’d planned but
wouldn’t get to eat: noodle soup
with pork and vegetables, and fresh
cherries for dessert.
And she thought of Jack. Jean
recalled the first time she’d laid eyes
on him. It was 1982. Armed with her
Master of Business Administration
(MBA) degree, she had applied for a
job at a San Francisco bank, where
Jack served as a vice president. After
she was hired as an assistant vice
president, Jack took her to lunch to
congratulate her. Mutually attract-
ed, they began to date, fell in love and
were soon married. Thinking about
Jack made her calmer, allowing her
to conclude that if she could make it
until daylight, she’d find her way out.
A
t dawn, Jean left the shel-
ter, forging her own trail
through underbrush
with Yoda now trying to
keep up with her. At home, Yoda had
the run of nearly two hectares, where
he chased deer and explored. But this
adventure was different. The bushes
were high in many places, and he
had to tunnel through. With his short
legs, he couldn’t jump over the logs.
Discouraged, he’d yelp for Jean. But
Jean couldn’t carry him. It taxed her
strength, and she might fall. Yoda
was on his own.
Jean, meanwhile, was fighting her
own battles with panic. So much
could go wrong in the wilderness
for even a young, able-bodied hiker.But for a septuagenarian, the perils
were magnified. Crossing over slip-
pery rocks, she worried she’d fall
and break a leg. She avoided ravines,
knowing that if she plunged into one,
she could never climb back up.
Before she knew it, another day had
passed. Her chances of being rescued
had not improved. As night fell again,
Jean and Yoda found another fallen
tree to sleep under.T
he next morning, her third
day lost in the park, Jean
had given up on finding
her own way out. She’d
read stories about people who’d
endured in the wild, and the rules
of survival were simple: find a waterSHE ATE WILD
CURRANTS,
TENDER PINE
NEEDLES, AND
EVEN ANTS,
WHICH HAD A
LEMONY TASTE