When Tyler Oakley was 15 years old, he fell asleep in his Boulder home thinking about the coming holidays. It was December 20, 2018, and his house was cluttered with Christmas decorations. His biggest worry as he closed his eyes was getting through his Spanish final the next day.
Sometime around 2 a.m., Oakley woke to find two men hovering over his bed. He panicked, jumped up, and reached for his phone, but it wasn’t there. Neither was his skateboard.
The men were not burglars, though. He knew this because they stood flanked by his uncle and aunt, his longtime guardians. One was a larger, burly man who looked ex-military. The other was smaller and had a calmer disposition. Only one explanation for the situation popped into the teenager’s head: He’d recently been smoking and drinking with his friends, even dabbling in cocaine and psychedelics. Were these friends of his uncle’s, staging an intervention?
They weren’t. The men simply told Oakley they were “transporting” him. To where, he didn’t know. Neither the men nor his aunt or uncle said much else.
Oakley refused, but the two men issued an ultimatum: There are two ways this can go. Either you come of your own volition—or we’re going to take it into our own hands. The teen relented. They restrained his arms anyway and led him to a dark passenger van outside. The door slid shut, and the engine turned over.
Frustrated, scared, and confused, Oakley’s mind raced as he considered possible scenarios. He had heard of lockdown facilities for troubled teens. Was that where he was going? He peppered the men with questions but received only vague answers. After a couple of stops, a change in vehicle, and more driving, the men delivered Oakley to the Utah backcountry.
For the next three months, he would take part in a wilderness therapy program called Second Nature. Cut off from all outside contact, Oakley would backpack in the Uinta Basin, sometimes in deep snow, with a handful of other teenagers and Second Nature staff. The only reprieve from hiking and setting up camp was a weekly meeting with
