Cooper 1

Cooper, Jeremy

Comp 101 132

Larry Neuburger

February 10, 2011

Narrative Essay

Lost in the Forest

So there I stood, no clue about my surroundings in a place I had never been before.

Being in a forest all alone with nothing but a barely sharp pocket knife is a bad place to be but I

had no choice in the matter, I was lost. I knew the first thing I had to do would be to build some

kind of a shelter, something to keep me out of the weather and safe from any animals wanting to

eat me. Next, I would need to find a food source abundant enough to last until I could be found.

So I set out to find a perfect spot. After walking for hours I came upon a stream that would be a

perfect place to find a never ending food source. With it being spring, the fish would be starting

to spawn, and with hibernation season ending, smaller game would be coming out to feed and

drink from the stream. This would also be the ideal spot for me to build my shelter. The area of

the stream’s location had a fairly wide open clearing, so it would be a good place to stay close to,

and a good place to start a signal fire big enough to be seen easily seen from the air.

I made a pretty basic shelter. I made a typical lean-to with branches I found lying

around. I first found two tall trees kind of close together with branches about five to six feet

from the ground. Next I took the branches I found lying on the ground and attached them to the

trees. With the frame now in place, I began adding to the frame by laying other branches onto the

support beams to make a back wall and putting leaves and grass on top to help keep rain out.

After finishing the shelter I covered the inside with leaves and grass to make a soft place to lie
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down. With my housing all finished I decided it would now bea good time to find something to

eat.

I first tried the old Indian method of fishing with my hands; yes I tried to catch them with

my hands and had no luck. So I decided to get a little more modern, I took sticks and weaved

them together and made a fish trap. I placed the trap in the water between two big rocks so it

would not float away. With my trap in place I began to build two fires. One fire to use as a

signal fire, and the other to cook with. After several hours of gathering fire wood and getting

them started I checked my trap and had 3 nice size bass. After cleaning the fish I put them over

the fire to cook, and sat down to relax after a long first day. I would definitely sleep well

tonight, or so I thought.

On my first night, sleeping soundly, until I heard a sound I did not want to hear. I heard

the growl of the biggest bear I had ever seen. Standing on his hind legs, he must have stood 8

foot tall. I quickly climbed up one of the trees I had used to make my lean-to out of. The bear

seeing me hurried my way, but with me fifteen feet high in the tree he couldn’t reach me. The

bear stayed in my camp site for most of the night, and left shortly before day break. With a long

day and night behind me, I decided to lie down for a short nap before I started my second day on

my own.

After my nap, I got up and checked my fish trap again, this time I had only one fish in the

trap. I really needed to eat so I clean the fish and cooked it. After eating, and still hungry so I

set out to find some food. Using my knife I made a little spear to try to catch some type of small

game, but what I found would help so much more. I found a deer that appeared to have broken

its back trying to jump over a pile of logs. This would give me plenty meat to survive, plus I
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could use the hide from the deer as a cover during the chilly nights. The deer still being alive, I

took my knife and slit its throat, kind of brutal I know, but I looked at it like a mercy killing.

The poor thing just sitting there suffering so I put it out of its misery. The fresh meat from the

buck would be just what I needed to fill my stomach and to last me at least to the rest of the day.

After taking the meat I needed and the hide, I began to scatter the rest of the animal in places far

away from my camp as to keep any predators away. After eating and getting rid of the rest of the

deer I relaxed for a while and just took in the beautiful landscape around me.

Being lost in the woods may seem like a tragedy for most people, and at the first of this

adventure it had been, but after being there for twenty four hours it had begun to grow on me. I

think it is probably the closest to God I had ever been. Just sitting there watching the birds fly,

and seeing the small animals scamper around and watching the trees wave with the wind. I could

search my entire life and never see things like this again.

With my second day coming to a close, and the sun starting to go down in the distance

behind the hills, I decided to build my signal fire back up, hoping it would be seen. When

darkness came I turned in for the night hoping to get a better night’s sleep than the one before.

While sleeping I began to hear a loud noise, louder than the growl from the bear. As I looked out

my lean-to to see what it might be, I could see a faint light about a mile down the creek bed. As

it got closer I could tell it was a helicopter. I quickly threw large piles of leaves on my fire to

make it brighter so they could see me. Their light quickly shined on me I had been found, tears

filled my eyes because I knew soon I would be home safe.

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While this had been a challenging experience, it’s one I will hold dear to my heart. I will

never be able to fully describe how this adventure changed my life. I guess in a way it showed

me how people lived many years ago, and taught me not to take things for granted. I still use my

deer skin blanket to this day. It helps to remind me of the time I spent alone with God.