A Test of Will

Book excerpt: The gripping tale of one man’s survival in the wilderness. On the night of April 9, 1997, Warren Macdonald took his final step as a "complete" human being. A fit and experienced hiker, Macdonald had set out with a new Dutch companion to make the grueling climb to the top of Australia’s spectacular Mount Bowen. They lost their way after a full day on the trail and pitched camp beside a narrow creek. Shortly after dusk, as he scrambled up an embankment away from the creek in the darkness, Macdonald was horrified to hear a loud crack. A second later he was lying in the creek bed, both his legs pinned by a giant boulder. What had begun as a two-day adventure had suddenly turned into a nightmare. Try as they might, the two men could not budge the massive piece of granite. There was nothing for it: Macdonald’s companion would have to hike out at dawn and make a solitary, perilous descent—a journey of at least eight hours—to get help. A gifted storyteller, Macdonald captures the terror and high drama of his hours alone in the wilderness, but he also writes eloquently about his life both before and after the accident.