I got lost in the woods once. Like, really lost. Like, hundreds of people wearing search & rescue orange & combing the woods on foot, horseback & ATV lost. Y’all, the first time I ever went hiking & camping, I got reeeeeeally lost.

I was 19 & a bunch of gals from my college & I were all set up to camp & hike for a long weekend around the Lake Wedington area. My friend Julia & I had never set off on trail on our own, but we figured we could handle it.

We didn’t look at a map, we didn’t read the info at the trail head, we didn’t even take a bottle of water. We just hit the trail. 13 miles later (we were told that was how far it was by the S&R folks the next day), we bedded down on the bare ground by what sounded like a raging river & huddled up for warmth.

No lamps

No fire

No snacks

No extra layers of clothing as the temps dropped down into the 40s

Critters came & sniffed at us as our imaginations grew wild. We thought we heard people yelling in the distance, & saw light beams reflecting off the tops of the trees. We reasoned that it was simply our imaginations getting the best of us.

We could see what looked to be a street light across the river & started to attempt a crossing, but hearing the raging river flow, thought better of it. When it was bright enough to continue the next morning we saw that there were no houses or streets across the river. Without a doubt, we would have been swept away by the strong current & possibly never made it safely to the other side.

Within a couple hours of daybreak we wandered into some folks’ campsite & asked for directions back to the trailhead. They looked at us completely befuddled & asked if we were “the lost girls”. Julia & I looked at each other, equally baffled, & wondered what they were talking about 😂. We definitely fit that description but had no idea the efforts that had been made to find us.

We were exhausted, mortified, & beyond apologetic for our carelessness. We were also overwhelmed with gratitude for all the folks who had searched for us.

I got lost in the woods once.

I felt really alone, out of my element, & truly in tune with my limitations. That experience burned in me a respect for nature, humanity, & my own capabilities. I could do hard things, even if they were a bit scary. It lit my passion for the outdoors & it 100% made me fall in love with the Ozarks 💚

#ozarks #arkansas #hiking #camping #cautionarytale