Desert Determination

Desert Determination — page 1
True Tales of Survival You never know when you'll need outdoor survival skills Sometimes you'll be prepared other times you won't Water Wisdom In July of 2012 William LaFever needed to travel from Boulder Utah to Page Arizona Instead of taking public transportation he and his dog began a 90 mile 145 km walk along the Escalante River Along the way he ran out of food and his dog ran off His gear was so heavy that he took it off and abandoned it William has autism While that can make other areas of life more challenging it may have saved his life Interestingly people with autism are often drawn to and calmed by water due to the sensory stimulation it can provide William stayed near the river ate frogs and had a source of hydration and cooling By chance the county sheriff had recently completed a course on finding missing people who have autism He knew that there was a chance William could be attracted to the water A helicopter searched the area and found him William was starving and exhausted after three weeks in the desert But he was alive