Stay the course
I enjoyed reading “Off the Map” in the May ’22 issue. I’ve been lost right behind our lake home three times but have always managed to get back. That first time prepared me to find my way home much faster when it happened again, once after logging had removed the trees and once hiking with a friend.
My first experience was the summer I was on maternity leave with a four-month-old baby. It was blueberry season, and I wanted to go picking. My mother-in-law offered to take care of my son, so off I went, saying I’d be back in an hour or so. I headed north across a rail line behind our cottage. I then decided to head off the trail towards the west, searching for a good blueberry patch. About a half-hour later, I stood up from some bushes and realized I wasn’t sure where I was.