ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH
Apparently, “Lost on a Mountain in Maine” is required reading of every Maine fourth-grader. Not having grown up in the Pine Tree State, I was unfamiliar with the book and the story on which it’s based.
And that is my misfortune, because the saga of Donn Fendler being lost in the Katahdin wilderness, at the foot of Maine’s tallest mountain, is almost too unbelievable to be true.
The story takes place in 1939. In the depths of the Great Depression, the Fendler family’s finances are rocky, so dad Donald has to take jobs that keep him away for long periods of time. When he does come home, it’s clear at the outset that he’s a taskmaster and disciplinarian, especially toward his oldest twin boys. It isn’t for nothing they address him as “sir.”
A two-week fishing trip the boys had been looking forward to has to be scrapped, due to Dad’s job. So, he offers instead a two-day hike on Mt. Katahdin with an assist from a local guide.
Donn feels betrayed by the change in plans, but reluctantly agrees to the trip, as does his brother.
Dad packs the twins and their younger brother into his massive Chevrolet and they set out for adventures unknown, despite a less-than-rosy weather forecast and without proper hiking gear.
As they sit around a campfire, their guide warns them of the possible dangers ahead, of the rain and freezing temperatures that can materialize without warning and that can make an ascent a life-or-death experience.
On the way up, as fog and rain turn the day hike into a treacherous slog, Donald decides to call it quits, but the twins, led by Donn, tell their father they are going on anyway, with the help of their guide. It is then the two boys fight and Donn leaves in a huff and soon finds himself alone and disoriented.
Luke David Blumm is extraordinary in the role of Donn. Often soaked to the bone, his character finds himself at first exhilarated at the prospect of conquering his fears, fending for himself by eating raw fish and berries and proving to his dad he is mature enough to cope with the separation. With Blumm, you feel every icy plunge into a forbidding river, every painful step once he’s lost his sneakers.
Meanwhile at home, Donald and wife Ruth try their best not to think of a worst-case scenario. And it doesn’t help that local rangers tell them there’s little reason to hope Donn will survive his ordeal in 100,000 acres of Katahdin wilderness.
Director Andrew Kightlinger chose to intersperse his survival story with archival interviews with family members and local Mainers who aided in the search for the boy.
This documentary approach sometimes can slow the movie’s momentum, but I found the snippets offer necessary context that you don’t get from watching the boy in his endless suffering.
With dad out assisting volunteers, Ruth decides it’s time to recruit help, not just across New England but across the country. No easy task at a time when a crude landline is your only friend. But with the heft of national newspapers like The New York Times, she succeeds in spreading the word about Donn’s plight.
And in a moment of quiet reflection, in one of the film’s best scenes, she tells her husband she is secretly glad it’s Donn who got lost because, of the two boys, he’s the most stubborn and that trait, also true of his father, is what ultimately will save him.
What is left unsaid is that a mother’s love is even stronger.