Why a Booktrail?
2023: A story of survival and transformation
Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship
What you need to know before your trail
Catherine Raven has lived alone since the age of 15. After finishing her PhD in biology, she built herself a tiny cottage on an isolated plot of land in Montana, in a place as far away from other people as possible. She viewed the house as a way station, a temporary rest stop where she could gather her nerves and fill out applications for what she hoped would be a real job that would help her fit into society.
Then one day she realises she has company: a mangy-looking fox who starts showing up at her house every afternoon at 4.15pm. She has never had a visitor before. How do you even talk to a fox? She brings out her camping chair, sits as close to him as she dares, and begins reading to him from The Little Prince. Her scientific training has taught her not to anthropomorphise animals, yet as she grows to know him, his personality reveals itself and the two form a powerful bond – shaken only when natural disaster threatens to destroy their woodland refuge.
Locations
Reset- America/ USA - Washington State - Mount Rainier National Park
- A: Laughing Wood Creek
- B: Indian Bar Shelter and Meadows
- C: Shriner Lookout.
- D: Eastside Trail
- E: Summerland Trail
- F: Pacific Crest Trail
Travel Guide
Mt Rainier National Park
1.Three Lakes Cabin, Mt Rainier National Park.
Catherine Raven’s duty station when she was a backcountry ranger.
2. Laughing Water Creek trail
Indian Bar Shelter and Meadows. Another one of Raven’s duty stations. This is where she built the wallowa made famous by the Washington Trails Association. This is also the site where she and her German visitors hiked cross-county through Krumholtz meadows and found the elephant head (Pedicularis groenlandica ) flowers.
3. Shriner Lookout.
Another duty station described in the book where she visited with her imaginary friend Ishmael.
4. Eastside Trail between Ohanapecosh Campground and Cayuse Pass.
Panther Creek is visible from here.
This is where Raven found the injured fawn and where the trees stretch their roots across the trail like the toes of mischievous Ents.
5. Summerland Trail between Indian Bar and White River
This is the trail Raven and her visitors take when they cross the Ohanapecosh River.
6. Pacific Crest Trail from Tipsoo Lake to Three Lakes
7. Packwood, Washington
The hamlet a few miles outside Mount Rainier National Park where you can still buy used books at Blanton’s grocery. Packwood is nearest Raven frontcountry apartment.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship
Destination: Washington State Author/guide: Catherine Raven Departure Time: 2023
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