Yet looking up that dusty path into desolation, basking snakes weren't threats I actively considered. Which meant, for me, a bite would be fatal. In cities, fatality is uncommon-anti-venom is effective-but the untreated bite of a Mojave Green is fatal. Skeletal muscle weakness leads to difficulty breathing: respiratory failure. But after that serious symptoms rapidly develop: vision abnormalities and difficulty swallowing and speaking. Chance of survival is good if medical attention is sought within minutes of a bite – fair if within an hour. The Mojave Green rattlesnake, a pit viper native to the deserts of the southwestern United States, is infamous for its potent, debilitating neurotoxic venom. The snakes were endless, the venom of their bite deadly. I already regretted eating the fruit so soon. I stood and breathed a minute, then walked back north, kept walking, watched my feet quickly move.Īgain I bit my apple, breathed, chewed-my last piece of fresh food everything else was processed or salted or junk. I ran back south a hundred yards I was fine. Told with elegance and suspense, Girl in the Woods is a beautifully rendered story of eroding emotional and physical boundaries to reveal the truths that lie beyond the edges of the map.It rushed over the bone-colored dirt with impossible speed and into a hard-leafed creosote bush, its rattling fast and hollow, more menacing than any human sound.
After a thousand miles of solitude, she found a man who helped her learn to love and trust again-and heal. On the trail and on her own, she found that survival is predicated on persistent self-reliance. Exhausted after each thirty-mile day, at times on the verge of starvation, Aspen was forced to confront her numbness, coming to terms with the sexual assault and her parents' disappointing reaction.
A nineteen-year-old girl alone and lost, she conquered desolate mountain passes and met rattlesnakes, bears, and fellow desert pilgrims. In this inspiring memoir, Aspen chronicles her journey, a five-month trek that was ambitious, dangerous, and transformative. Her desperation growing, she made a bold decision: She would seek healing in the freedom of the wild, on the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail leading from Mexico to Canada. Dealing with a problem that has sadly become all too common on college campuses around the country, she stumbled through her first semester-a challenging time made even harder by the coldness of her college's "conflict mediation" process. Overprotected by her parents who discouraged her from telling of the attack, Aspen was confused and ashamed. On her second night of college, Aspen was raped by a fellow student. Girl in the Woods is Aspen Matis's exhilarating true-life adventure of hiking from Mexico to Canada-a coming of age story, a survival story, and a triumphant story of overcoming emotional devastation.
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