Lost on a Mountain in Maine

By Donn Fendler and Joseph Egan

Based on the true account of a boy's harrowing journey through the vast wilderness of the Katahdin Mountains, Lost on a Mountain in Maine is a gripping survival story for all ages.

Twelve-year-old Donn Fendler steps away from his Boy Scout troop for only a minute, but in the foggy mountains of Maine, a minute is all it takes. After hours of trying to find his way back, a nervous and tired Donn falls down an embankment, making it impossible for him to be found. One sleepless night goes by, followed by a second . . . and before Donn knows it, almost two weeks have passed, leaving him starving, scared, and delirious.

With rainstorms, black bears, and his fear of being lost forever, Donn's journey is a physically, mentally, and emotionally charged story told from the point of view of the boy who lived it.

Don't miss this thrilling survival story, a proven high-interest winner that pulls in readers the way Hatchet, My Side of the Mountain, and the I Survived books do.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Dec 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9780062225160

Donn Fendler

Since his close encounter with death in the mountains of Maine more than seventy years ago, Donn Fendler has visited countless schools, speaking to eager readers about his journey to civilization. He still receives countless letters from fans inquiring about that time in his life—which he always answers. He carves out months of time to speak to students at many schools about his experiences. Now retired from the U.S. Army, Donn lives half the year in Tennessee, while spending summer and early fall in Maine.

Book preview

DEDICATION

To the people I have met and the friends I have made during my years in Maine.

—Donn Fendler

CONTENTS

DEDICATION

FOREWORD

MAP

1  MY ADVENTURE BEGINS

2  PLUMES OF PAMOLA

3  SHARP ROCKS AND SLEET

4  GHOSTS ON THE MOUNTAIN

5  BLACKFLIES ARE NO FUN

6  I HEAR FOOTSTEPS

7  BEARS ARE NOT SO BAD

8  I FIND A CABIN

9  I HEAR AN AIRPLANE

10 EVER SEE A SWINK?

11 SOLDIERS IN A SWAMP

12 JOURNEY’S END

AFTERWORD

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CREDITS

COPYRIGHT

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

FOREWORD BY DONN FENDLER

This book was written to show young people what faith and determination can accomplish.

In the seventy-five years since this book’s original publication, I have received thousands of letters from around the world. In addition, I have had the honor and privilege to speak at a great many schools and libraries, especially in Maine. To talk to students after my presentations and to answer their questions has been a wonderful experience for me. I will never forget hearing adults tell me where they were when word was received that I had survived. Their kind encouragement has meant a great deal to me.

What I have learned from that adventure in the Katahdins has been a guide throughout my life. It has strengthened my faith in God and in prayer, while teaching me to be responsible for my actions and to never, ever give up when reaching for a goal in life—even when things look their darkest.

All of the awards and commendations the book has received will never compare to what the people of Maine did for my family and me during the time I was lost. I pray that I am able to continue to meet and talk with young and old alike for many years to come.

MAP

CHAPTER 1

MY ADVENTURE BEGINS • FIRST DAY

THE TOP of Katahdin was just ahead. We could see it through a break in the cold, misty clouds that whirled about us. Henry wanted to race for it, but I shook my head. Those last hundred yards were heavy ones and, in spite of the stiff, rocky climb, I was cold and shivery.

Just as we reached the summit, the mist closed in around us and shut off our view of the mountain below. I was disappointed. Who wouldn’t be, after such a climb? We waited, shivering in the icy blasts that swept around us, for another break in the clouds. Dimly, just like a ghost, we saw a man standing over to the right, on a spur leading to what is called the Knife Edge.¹ He saw us, too, and waved to us, then started towards us.

Henry is the son of a guide and he seemed pleased. Let’s wait here until he comes over, he said, then we can start back together—that’s the best thing to do.

But I was cold and shivery. I never was good at standing cold, anyway. Nights, when Ryan and Tom slept with only a sheet over them, Dad always came in with a blanket for me. I thought of that, and of Dad somewhere back on the trail behind us.²

Let’s get out of here now, I said. I remember that my teeth were chattering as I said it, but Henry shook his head. He wanted to wait for the man.

I think Henry was just a little bit nervous and who wouldn’t be, with all that big cloud-covered mountain below us and clouds rolling like smoke around us? But Henry was wise. I can see that now. He knew Katahdin.

I was nervous, too, and maybe that is why I decided to go right back and join Dad and the boys. Maybe I was sorry that I had gone on ahead of them. Maybe that had been a foolish thing to do. Such thoughts run through a fellow’s head at a time like that. Anyway, they ran through mine and made me more and more anxious to get back to the folks below.

I had on a sweatshirt under my fleece-lined jacket. When I made up my mind to start back, I peeled off the jacket and gave the sweatshirt to Henry. That’ll keep you warm while you’re waiting, I said, "but I’m going back, right now. I’ll tell Dad you and the man are coming down soon."

Henry said I was foolish and tried to stop me, but I knew I was all right. I guess I thought I knew more than he did, for I only shrugged my shoulders and laughed at him. Just then, an extra heavy cloud rolled in around us. I thought of people being lost in clouds and getting off the trail—and maybe that hurried me a little as I pulled up my fleece-lined reefer about my neck and started down. Boy, I can see now what a mistake that was! A fellow is just plain dumb who laughs at people who know more than he does.

The clouds were like gray smoke and shut Henry from me before I had gone a dozen yards. The going was very rough, and the trail wound in and around huge rocks. It hadn’t seemed so awfully rough on the way up—I mean the last hundred yards, but then you climbed slowly—while going down, you could make better time. I hadn’t gone far before I noticed that the trail led me up to rocks that I had to climb over like a squirrel. That seemed funny to me, but I went on just the same, because a fellow forgets easily, and I figured going down was different, anyway.

Nobody can really understand how rough the going is, up there, until he has tried that Hunt Trail in a mist. I suppose Henry would laugh at me for saying so. He’s been over the trail so often. However, I wasn’t worried—not just then. I kept looking ahead, expecting to see Dad and the boys break through the cloud at any moment.

Everything looks different in the clouds. You think you see a man and he turns out to be only a rock. It kind of scares a fellow, especially when you are alone and awfully cold.

When I had gone quite a distance over the rocks—far enough, I thought, to be down on the plateau—I stopped and looked around. I couldn’t see anything that looked like a trail. I couldn’t find a single spot of white paint.³ I thought I must

Reviews for Lost on a Mountain in Maine

[egrant5329 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a great book to read with any young hiker. It will lead to many discussion points of what they should carry when they hike and what they should do if lost. Donn, the kid in this true story, was extremely lucky to survive.

[emscape · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In 1939, at the age of 12, Donn Fendler went on a hike with his dad and brothers to the top of Mt Katahdin, the highest point in Maine, and the second highest on the East Coast. He gets separated from his party (he admits to his own stupidity in wandering off) and spends the next 9 days surviving alone in the wilderness, covering a staggering amount of territory and beating almost impossible odds. My boyfriend picked up this book after we'd had our own unfortunate incident summiting this peak after an act of similar stupidity (he was using carbide-tipped hiking sticks to brace himself, ended up falling over 20 feet and dislocating three fingers). It was interesting to read about Donn's experiences in the same vicinity, before the trails were half as well-marked as they are now. Donn's frightening adventure was suspenseful, and he and his ghostwriter did a good job of narrating from a 12-year-old's perspective. Donn seems to have made quite the career of telling this story over and over to young people, hopefully preventing some foolhardy youngster from disengaging from his or her party on some future trek. My only complaint (and this is just me) is that Donn is very religious and credits his survival to the Christian god, with quite a lot of this brief tale devoted to the semi-lucid experience and praise thereof.

[terribooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When I checked this audiobook out of the library as a download, I didn't realize it was so small, and actually a kid's book. But I enjoyed it, the rather naive story of a young boy's survival when separated from his family on a mountain hike. It would have been nice to know more about what was going on among the people looking for him, and something about the process of his recovery. Good for kids.

[homeschoolbookreview · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In this true story, Donn Fendler is a twelve-year-old boy in 1939. He is on an expedition to climb Mt. Katahdin, at 5268 feet the highest peak in the state of Maine, with his father, brothers Tom and Ryan, and guide Henry Condon. Henry and Donn run ahead and meet another climber, Charles Austin, minister with the Church of All Nations in New York City, NY. Donn gets cold and decides to find his own way back to camp rather than wait for the rest. Henry cautions him against doing so and remains with Mr. Austin, but Donn leaves anyway. Unfortunately, a thick, fast-moving fog obscures the path. Donn falls down an embankment that hides him from sight. Then he takes a wrong turn that leaves him alone to wander aimlessly for nine days in the empty mountain wilderness. Will he make it to his camp or be found by the others? This book is Donn's own description of his struggles to survive after being separated from his companions, as told to Joseph B. Egan. For years I saw it advertised in the Christian Book Distributors catalogue and finally decided to purchase it to read as a family read aloud. With no food and no shelter, Donn survives by remembering his Boy Scout skills and by drawing on his faith in himself, his family, and God. His shoes and then his feet were cut to shreds on the rough stone outcroppings. He was tormented by insects, encountered a bear, and tumbled in an icy river. His "dungarees" were impossible to walk in, once wet, and he lost them. He suffered from cold, hunger, loneliness, and hallucinations. Toward the end of his ordeal Donn followed telephone wires and a stream, hoping that both would eventually lead him to what civilization there was in the great woods of Maine. Donn's harrowing story, as told to Joseph Burke Egan, who was an author and I think a journalist, apparently was first published later in 1939 and has been a beloved family and school classic in Maine since that time. Through the years, Fendler himself visited schools and libraries to share his experiences, and generations of Maine children have learned lessons about courage, faith, and will from Lost on a Mountain in Maine. I especially like the way in which Donn emphasizes the fact that he put his trust in God and said his prayers daily for God's protection and deliverance. In 2008, Donn's story wes retold with illustrations by Ben Bishop for a graphic novel entitled Lost Trail: Nine Days Alone in the Wilderness, published by Down East Books. I guess that this all right for a generation that doesn't want to read words, except for a few in a cartoon bubble every now and then, bur prefers just to look at pictures. However, we really enjoyed the original and thought it quite exciting.

[youthgpl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kearsten says: I listened to this with my 6 1/2-year-old daughter, and we loved it. The book begins and ends with Fendler himself reading, then fades into a young male reader, which is perfect since the majority of the story is told in first-person, from Fendler's point-of-view (as his 12-year-old self).His initial worry over finding himself off the trail morphs into fear, and the listener goes right along with him. We worried that he wouldn't find shelter, cheered when he found wild strawberries, and waited tensely to discover if he would be rescued.We talked about the book when we weren't listening - wondering what would happen next, how would we have reacted, what did he do wrong - and I enjoyed those discussions as much as the book! The only "beef" I have with the book? What happened after?!? In the afterword, Fendler talks about the rescuers, and how teachers and students in Maine have been reading the books for years and keeping his story alive, but I'm more interested in the injuries he sustained during his ordeal - how long was his recovery? Did he have any lasting physical effects? Oh, well...This would be a great book for boys - especially for those between 8 and 11 - but would be appropriate for listening with the whole family.Recommended.

[kayceel_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I listened to this with my 6 1/2-year-old daughter, and we loved it. The book begins and ends with Fendler himself reading, then fades into a young male reader, which is perfect since the majority of the story is told in first-person, from Fendler's point-of-view (as his 12-year-old self).His initial worry over finding himself off the trail morphs into fear, and the listener goes right along with him. We worried that he wouldn't find shelter, cheered when he found wild strawberries, and waited tensely to discover if he would be rescued.We talked about the book when we weren't listening - wondering what would happen next, how would we have reacted, what did he do wrong - and I enjoyed those discussions as much as the book! The only "beef" I have with the book? What happened after?!? In the afterword, Fendler talks about the rescuers, and how teachers and students in Maine have been reading the books for years and keeping his story alive, but I'm more interested in the injuries he sustained during his ordeal - how long was his recovery? Did he have any lasting physical effects? Oh, well...This would be a great book for boys - especially for those between 8 and 11 - but would be appropraite for listening with the whole family.Recommended.