OCTOBER 24, 2021

My family and I have always liked to go on adventures, to visit places usually hiking outdoors. I planned a day adventure to a place near us, very close to my husband’s families hunting cabin but neither of us had actually been. It’s called The Lost 40, and it’s an area of land that was incorrectly surveyed by loggers long ago. As a result there was just under 40 acres of old growth forest left untouched. It’s a little over a mile hike to the mid point of the loop. It’s a nice hike for a family with a 4 year old and a husband who has to be convinced to go in the first place. The place had a special feeling to me in general, almost dreamlike. We had a great time taking side trails and seeing where they take us before eventually making our way to the midway point. On our way back we got to a place that felt special. We had past one group earlier but there was no one around us. The sun was shining through the giant trees. I took out my phone to take a video, to capture the weirdness in the moment. I felt very deja vu like and was focusing the camera on my daughter skipping ahead. All the sudden my phone died and wouldn’t turn back on. I had charged it the whole way to be able to capture photos so it should have been fine. At the same time it almost seemed like there was a light distortion or I snapped out of the deja vu state. I took the message as put the phone down and pay attention to this moment. I did exactly that and we enjoyed our time exploring as we hiked the trail out. When we were done and on our way back I tried to turn on my phone. The battery had drained and wouldn’t turn on until it had a little charge. The whole place had a Shangri-la feeling and felt as though it was a thin place. The feeling is hard to explain but it felt like the forest reached out and connected.

Submitted by Hannah .