Alive
It was a cold, windy afternoon near Birch Branch in northeast Tennessee. I had been having consistent emotionalbreakdowns on this hiking trip with my school. This trip was my second, everyone else’s third. The worst breakdown wason the third day of the expedition.
We had been hiking out of our last camp for what had seemed to be a couple of hours. By this time, we were aboutseventy-five percent of the way to camp, the last stretch being uphill. I feel another breakdown coming. And it comes hard.
Breathing hard and crying, I froze on the trail. My whole body reacted to my emotion at the time, I was shaking. In myphysical and mental condition, I could not continue.
One of the instructors on the trip with us noticed I was struggling, and helped lighten my load by giving some otherstudents the heavier stuff from my pack: my personal food, my sleeping bag. Little did I know that the coming six dayswithout these things were going to be some of the toughest in my life.
My panic attack subsides within a couple minutes, but I am left alone. Alone in the woods, with nothing more than a tent,some small snacks, and some other miscellaneous things. I decide to start walking, I don't really know where, but I was hoping I would end up out of the woods.
On my first day alone, I told myself I was going to walk until sunset, then set up camp. Now, if you know anything aboutme at all, you can probably guess that that didn't happen.
The first hours on the ridge alone were difficult to say the least. Without a sleeping bag, I was worried my first trial wasthe cold. My pack felt like it weighed almost nothing, now that all the important stuff was gone. The wind made noisesthat sounded almost supernatural. The only things protecting me from the cold were my clothes, my tent, and a thinemergency blanket I found in my pack.
Now, let it be said that these things were not the proper amount of stuff that I should have had. But then again, I alsoshould have had a group with me, along with a ton of other supplies.
The first night alone was one I spent in a confused and worried state. My brain went back and forth between I’m going tobe okay and Oh no what is happening? Soon enough, I tired myself out at a very early hour, and decided to get somesleep.
***
Days two through six are sort of a blur. Most of it was spent writing or sleeping. The only thing I purely remember aboutmy time in the woods was moving my camp on day two. I remember heading downhill initially, but I can't recall much ofmy [mis]adventure in the woods. Something I have managed to piece together is my rescue.
***
I remember being in my tent, writing, and getting ready to nap. I napped almost everyday, mostly because I didn't haveanything better to do. Right as I start to get ready for my nap, I hear my name, and whistles. My immediate reaction wasto ignore it because I thought I had been hearing things. It didn't take long for me to hear it again and again, and veryquickly, I realized that someone was actually calling my name.
“AVA!” I yell back, now leaving my tent, and not really knowing why I am yelling my own name. I soon find the peoplethat were calling my name coming towards me.
Not long after spotting the two men who were calling my name, a golden retriever type dog runs towards me and startsbarking. From behind the dog, the two men approach me and the barking dog.
“Ava?” The shorter one asks.
“Yes?”
“We are Search and Rescue. Do you need anything? Food? Water? First aid?”
“I could use some food. And I have some blisters.”
These exchanges go on for about ten minutes before we start packing up my campground. One of the men makes somewalkie-talkie calls. It doesn't take long before an ATV shows up to take me and my pack out of the forest.
The ATV ride down and out of the forest was varying levels of surreal. For one, I was convinced I was going to die. Outthere. Alone. Secondly, my brain hadn’t really wrapped the fact that I was going to be okay.
I’m not really sure how long the ATV ride was, but I do remember seeing the red rescue truck on the road when we gotthere. It’s a weird thing to say now, but seeing that road after so long felt great.
The truck ride home was filled with questions from both sides. The man who drove the ATV tells me that there are a lot ofpeople at the fire station waiting for me. I was just wondering who. So many people (that I didn't know were there)greeted me with hugs and kisses and tears.
Now, I am so glad to be home. It took me a long time to write this. Remembering and bringing this all up has been hard.A lot of this story has been a blur, going slow and fast at the same time. I want to thank all of the people involved in thesearch for me. I didn't get to meet all of you, but the ones I did meet were wonderful people, and I appreciate everythingyou did to save me and help bring my family back together. I would also like to thank everyone for sending love andprayers to my family and I when we needed it most.
Cover Photo by Charles Rondeau. Edited by Katrina Kwok.
