STRAYED, Cheryl: Wild: a journey from lost to found.
London: Atlantic, 2013.
Loosing a loved one can be a very traumatic experience for those left behind, leaving them devastated and aimless. For the author of this book, with an absent, alcoholic father, her mother is so important. Though they often argue, they love each other dearly. Suddenly, the mother dies at the age of 45 years, after a short, severe illness.
Cheryl loses her way completely – drugs, uncontrolled sex – she just slides into darkness. By chance, she sees a book on the Pacific Crest Trail – a hiking trail from Mexico to the border of Canada, many hundreds of miles. She decides, that is what she has to do. Her knowledge and experience of hiking is next to nothing, but she is determined to try. Her backpack is stuffed with too many items, she can scarcely shoulder it and has to lie on the ground to get her arms through the straps. Her first attempt to put up her tent in a stiff wind is barely successful.
As the days progress, she keeps on putting one foot in front of the other. The healing power of nature in the stunning scenery she encounters, the moon and stars, the quietness is working on her. Trouble also occurs, of course: a vicious rattlesnake in her path, hiking boots that are too small and torture her feet and nails, shifty characters she meets along the way. She walks in scorching sun, looking for water, and through deep snow, wades through rivers and struggles up rocks and cliffs.
After 94 days and walking about 1000 miles she comes to a point where she leaves the trail. Slowly and surely she has gained her balance again, she can face the world and start living.
Recently, this story was made into a major movie (“Wild”) with Reece Witherspoon in the role of Cheryl.
Ingrid Brunke
