A teen hiker was lost in the woods for over two days. Being lost in the wilderness can be absolutely terrifying. Not to mention deadly. Between wild animals, the elements, and lack of resources, things can get unpleasant very quickly. Luckily, this young girl made it out in one piece. Now, she is sharing her experience on how she survived those two days and what happened while she was in the wilderness.
Teen Hiker Who Was Lost In The Woods Shares Her Experience
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Esther Wang, a 16-year-old girl, got separated from her youth group while hiking. Then, the teen hiker was lost in the wilderness for two days. Afterward, once she was safe and sound again, Ms. Wang decided to share her experience. Global News shares that she published a letter online detailing exactly what happened. She shared that she was hiking with four other people, all part of a youth group.
However, at some point during their hike, Wang began to face some difficulty with the trail. As she struggled with her footing, she lost sight of her group. Global News shares some of Wang's thoughts. She wrote, "At one point, the group made a turn somewhere along the trail, but I did not notice because I was solely concentrating on following the trail right in front of me."
In an attempt to rectify the situation, Wang tried to turn around and find the correct path that the rest of her group and taken. However, the path turned treacherous yet again and she tripped and fell down. Her letter continues, "Scared and lonely, I curled into a ball, and I tried to stay as calm as possible."
Things Get Dicey
Despite her best efforts of contacting the others and search crews, it was to no avail. That was when she realized she needed to shift her focus from being rescued to surviving. The teen wrote, "Thankfully, I was able to refill my water bottles and I had packed food for the hike. I tried to get some sleep on the rocks nearby, but I was cold and freezing."
Ms. Wang admits that she saw the lights from search crews around one in the morning. However, despite her turning on her headlamp and trying to signal them, they missed her. While she was deflated at her lack of a rescue, this teen lost in the woods knew she could not give up. After climbing further up the mountain proved to be too difficult, Wang began to climb back down.
She took another tumble, this time hitting her head. However, she kept on pushing. From there, Wang saw "a yellow helicopter" and tried everything in her power to get it to notice her. However, yet again, they missed her. Once again she climbed up hoping she would have a better vantage point. Exhausted from her excursion, she spent another freezing night sleeping in the wilderness.
How This Young Girl Survived The Wilderness
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The following day the teen who was lost in the woods made her way back down the mountain, determined to escape the wilderness. She chose to follow a river downstream which lead her to an uplifting discovery. Wang wrote, "I noticed pink tape on some trees around me and my hopes soared high." She followed that tape and it lead her to a gravel path, which later lead to a familiar landmark. She wrote, "The sign at the beach was labeled 'Hiker's Beach' and I knew I needed to get to the Gold Creek parking lot which was in the opposite direction, according to the sign."
Despite her exhaustion, Ms. Wang pushed forward. The teen shares that it was around 9:15 pm that night that she made it to the parking lot. There she saw a group of people, two of which were her parents. Wang credits her success to two things. First, the search teams. She wrote, "They led the way, and I was able to follow." Second she credits her success to the four years she spent in the Air Cadet program. Wang wrote, "The information I have learned from aviation to survival skills played a huge role in my ability to sustain myself in the wilderness."
Thank goodness she had that experience and knowhow. Otherwise, this teen hiker that was lost in the woods could have suffered an entirely different fate.
