The Stranger in the Woods

Knight’s new life was “a confounding mix of incredible commitment and lack of foresight, not at all abnormal for a twenty-year old” (86). To unplug from the world, he avoided learning the human-imposed names of places and telling his family about his plans. He only spent one early night sleeping indoors in an empty cabin.

While Knight knew how to hunt and fish, he had no equipment, and foraging was not viable, as the area had no fruit trees and a very short berry season. The taste of raw pigeon roadkill was not to his liking either. After 10 days of hunger, his scruples about stealing broke when he started picking vegetables from area gardens.

Knight traveled southward until he found North Pond. His first campsite was a tunnel he dug by a riverbank, but he would try six other locations over several months to find the optimal protection from intruders. Finally, Knight discovered the impenetrable Jarsey and the clearing behind the elephant rocks. With winter approaching, he knew that the best way to maintain his anonymous lifestyle would be to raid the poorly secured cabins and campgrounds next to the ponds.