Lost on a Mountain in Maine

To the people I have met and the friends I have made during my years in Maine
.

—
Donn Fendler

D
EDICATION

F
OREWORD

M
AP

 
1  M
Y
A
DVENTURE
B
EGINS

 
2  P
LUMES OF
P
AMOLA

 
3  S
HARP
R
OCKS AND
S
LEET

 
4  G
HOSTS ON THE
M
OUNTAIN

 
5  B
LACKFLIES
A
RE
N
O
F
UN

 
6  I H
EAR
F
OOTSTEPS

 
7  B
EARS
A
RE
N
OT
S
O
B
AD

 
8  I F
IND A
C
ABIN

 
9  I H
EAR AN
A
IRPLANE

10 E
VER
S
EE A
S
WINK?

11 S
OLDIERS IN A
S
WAMP

12 J
OURNEY'S
E
ND

A
FTERWORD

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR

C
REDITS

C
OPYRIGHT

A
BOUT THE
P
UBLISHER

T
his book was written to show young people what faith and determination can accomplish.

In the seventy-five years since this book's original publication, I have received thousands of letters from around the world. In addition, I have had the honor and privilege to speak at a great many schools and libraries, especially in Maine. To talk to students after my presentations and to answer their questions has been a wonderful experience for me. I will never forget hearing adults tell me where they were when word was received that I had survived. Their kind encouragement has meant a great deal to me.

What I have learned from that adventure in the Katahdins has been a guide throughout my life. It has strengthened my faith in God and in prayer, while teaching me to be responsible for my actions and to never, ever give up when reaching for a goal in life—even when things look their darkest.

All of the awards and commendations the book has received will never compare to what the people of Maine did for my family and me during the time I was lost. I pray that I am able to continue to meet and talk with young and old alike for many years to come.

M
Y
A
DVENTURE
B
EGINS
• F
IRST
D
AY

T
HE TOP of Katahdin was just ahead. We could see it through a break in the cold, misty clouds that whirled about us. Henry wanted to race for it, but I shook my head. Those last hundred yards were heavy ones and, in spite of the stiff, rocky climb, I was cold and shivery.

Just as we reached the summit, the mist closed in around us and shut off our view of the mountain below. I was disappointed. Who wouldn't be, after such a climb? We waited, shivering in the icy blasts that swept around us, for another break in the clouds. Dimly, just like a ghost, we saw a man standing over to the right, on a spur leading to what is called the Knife Edge.
¹
He saw us, too, and waved to us, then started towards us.

Henry is the son of a guide and he seemed pleased. “Let's wait here until he comes over,” he said, “then we can start back together—that's the best thing to do.”

But I was cold and shivery. I never was good at standing cold, anyway. Nights, when Ryan and Tom slept with only a sheet over them, Dad always came in with a blanket for me. I thought of that, and of Dad somewhere back on the trail behind us.
²

“Let's get out of here now,” I said. I remember that my teeth were chattering as I said it, but Henry shook his head. He wanted to wait for the man.

I think Henry was just a little bit nervous and who wouldn't be, with all that big cloud-covered mountain below us and clouds rolling like smoke around us? But Henry was wise. I can see that now. He
knew
Katahdin.

I was nervous, too, and maybe that is why I decided to go right back and join Dad and the boys. Maybe I was sorry that I had gone on ahead of them. Maybe
that
had been a foolish thing to do. Such thoughts run through a fellow's head at a time like that. Anyway, they ran through mine and made me more and more anxious to get back to the folks below.

I had on a sweatshirt under my fleece-lined jacket. When I made up my mind to start back, I peeled off the jacket and gave the sweatshirt to Henry. “That'll keep you warm while you're waiting,” I said, “but I'm going
back, right now
. I'll tell Dad you and the man are coming down soon.”

Henry said I was foolish and tried to stop me, but I knew I was all right. I guess I thought I knew more than he did, for I only shrugged my shoulders and laughed at him. Just then, an extra heavy cloud rolled in around us. I thought of people being lost in clouds and getting off the trail—and maybe that hurried me a little as I pulled up my fleece-lined reefer about my neck and started down. Boy, I can see now what a mistake
that
was! A fellow is just plain dumb who laughs at people who know more than he does.

The clouds were like gray smoke and shut Henry from me before I had gone a dozen yards. The going was very rough, and the trail wound in and around huge rocks. It hadn't seemed so awfully rough on the way up—I mean the last hundred yards, but
then
you climbed slowly—while going down, you could make better time. I hadn't gone far before I noticed that the trail led me up to rocks that I had to climb over like a squirrel. That seemed funny to me, but I went on just the same, because a fellow forgets easily, and I figured going down was different, anyway.

Nobody can really understand how rough the going is, up there, until he has tried that Hunt Trail in a mist. I suppose Henry would laugh at me for saying so. He's been over the trail so often. However, I wasn't worried—not just then. I kept looking ahead, expecting to see Dad and the boys break through the cloud at any moment.

Everything looks different in the clouds. You think you see a man and he turns out to be only a rock. It kind of scares a fellow, especially when you are alone and awfully cold.

When I had gone quite a distance over the rocks—far enough, I thought, to be down on the plateau—I stopped and looked around. I couldn't see anything that looked like a trail. I couldn't find a single spot of white paint.
³
I thought I
must
be down on the plateau, but could not be sure. There are plenty of huge rocks on the plateau, but the trail winds in and out around them. The going is fairly level and the rocks don't bother as long as you are on the trail, but
I
was in the middle of the worst mess of rocks you can imagine. I began to worry a little. Boy, it's no fun getting off the trail, when the cloud is so thick you can't see a dozen yards ahead!