Lost in the Wild

Danger and Survival in the North Woods

Cary Griffith

2006

"He stumbles through the woods like a somnambulist. He is devastated. He is trying to remove himself, trying to bring himself awake, but he's beyond conscious thought. He is tired, and he tries to focus on his mission - to find someplace to hide, someplace to sleep, someplace safe, out of the weather, out of the cold.

But he is cold. He can feel it as he walks. His legs are still wet and stiff and his feet are numb. His brain isn't functioning. It is as though the freezing water has reached around his cerebral cortex and deadened it with an icy grip." p. 140 Lost in the Wild

Griffith researched his subjects well. Giving an accurate second-hand account of survival stories takes a decent amount of labor - and to do it well - takes some skill and creativity.

Griffith gives an account of two seperate survival struggles of two young males, with two different sets of outdoor experience who get lost in the North Woods of the Bounday Waters Canoe and Wildreness Area (BWCWA) of Minnesota and the Quetico Park of Manitoba, Canada.

The two stories overlap by chapter in the book which allows the reader to compare and contrast the two stories - the novice who makes all kinds of mistakes and the expert outdoorsman who thinks clearly and posseses strength of character. Miraculassly both young men make it out alive.

The book was inciteful and well written. The reader will walk away with the stories vivid in their mind as if the reader was part of the story in some way. The stories were exciting and gripping.

Anyone who plans to daypack or overnight pack in the Boundary Waters needs to read this book...it may save your life!!!