More than a quarter of a century ago 20-year-old Christopher Knight decided to escape the real world to live an isolated life of solitude in the wilderness.
Knight, now 53, told nobody of his whereabouts when he retreated to remote woodland – claiming he had no friends and had zero interest in being part of society.
Adventurous Knight, nicknamed the North Pole hermit, started his nomad life in 1986 – turning his back on everything he had known in life.
Initially heading down the East Coast of America, Knight steered North towards the state of Maine.
He recalls listening to the radio remembering Ronald Reagan was President at the time and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster had recently shocked the world – this was the last contact he would have with outside world.
After reaching Maine, his car slowly began to run out of fuel, so he drove until he couldn’t get any further.
Knight then casually tossed his car keys into the centre console, having no idea of what to expect as he literally waked into the unknown – the North Pond area of Maine's Belgrade Lakes.
While some may choose the hermit lifestyle for religious reasons, in the name of science or for a deeper self-understanding – Knight's only goal was to get lost in the woods forever.
Food was sparse, with Knight's first meal reportedly being a road-killed partridge which he ate raw.
But when the struggle to find meals became tougher, Knight began to camp in unoccupied cabins and steal food from gardens.
He committed a thousand break-ins before getting caught.
During his time in the wild, Knight lived in a make-shift camp created from a piece of tarpaulin stretched between trees.
Despite being just a few minutes walk from one of the hundreds of summer cabins in the area, Knight remained completely hidden for decades.
Knight believed that being isolated was more of a communion and was happy to be free from the world.
After 27 years, Knight was arrested and charged with burglary and theft.
Author Mike Finkel- who wrote a book on Knight called The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit – visited Knight in prison to discuss his extraordinary time living in the wild.
Mr Finkel said: "Chris Knight said he felt very uncomfortable being around other people.
"Now I had thought at first that there might have been a specific triggering action. 'Did you commit a crime? Was there something you were embarrassed about? Was there a specific action?'
Source: Read Full Article