Charleston County Public Library

Girl in the woods, a memoir, Aspen Matis

eng

autobiography

platesmapsillustrations

no index present

non fiction

Girl in the woods

897424024

Aspen Matis

a memoir

"On her second night of college, Aspen was raped by a fellow student. Overprotected by her parents who discouraged her from telling of the attack, Aspen was confused and ashamed. 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. 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. In this ... memoir, Aspen chronicles her journey, a five-month trek that was ambitious, dangerous, and transformative. A nineteen-year-old girl alone and lost, she conquered desolate mountain passes and met rattlesnakes, bears, and fellow desert pilgrims. 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. On the trail and on her own, she found that survival is predicated on persistent self-reliance. She found her strength."--Publisher's website

Prologue -- Part I: Terrible seeds. The Garden City -- Terrible seeds -- Blood on the tracks -- The things I carried -- The dangers of the desert -- Unbound ghosts -- Mirages -- Hollow words -- Wild dreams -- Trail magic -- Part II: The range of light. Love in the woods -- Distance to paradise -- No harm will befall you -- The range of light -- Part III: The way through. A thousand miles of solitude -- The director of my life -- Inside fire -- Love notes under rocks -- A hiker's guide to healing -- A girl in the woods -- Epilogue