True Story - A Short Walk to the Edge of Life

 It all started when Scott Hubbartt went for a walk in the high Peruvian puna (plateau) in the high desert region of the Andes Mountains.  Only the hardiest of living things can survive in its barren, dry, windswept, and rocky terrain.  Scott’s sister-in-law and brother-in-law were not excited about the walk he planned and would start the next day.  “But they had come to expect some impulsive, even crazy ideas” from Scott, so they only advised him to use a guide.  Tia Clara, his wife’s aunt, warned Scott to take a guide.   And Scott’s wife Carito cautioned him, “. . . please be careful, and please use a guide.”  Even the locals warned him that no one goes that way because it is too dangerous

 Scott admitted that sometimes he was a poor listener and that these were some of those times.  He was completely confident in his ability to walk in the mountains and even camp overnight if need be.  He was an Air Force combat veteran and had training in survival skills.  It would be just a walk in the park.  But it wasn’t!

Supposedly, this trek was to be only a five to eight hour walk, but Scott soon found himself hopelessly lost.  It turned into a five-day nightmare bringing Scott to a desperate and near-death experience.

I was astounded by the number of things that Scott experienced:  loss of his glasses, compasses that no longer worked properly, thirst, hunger, his skin, clothes, and shoes being torn up from the cactus needles and rocky terrain, exhaustion, attempting to eat an ant in the hope of finding a small food source but instead his tongue felt like it had been set on fire, it swelled and protruded from his mouth, a very close encounter with a snake, realizing that he was totally alone and totally lost, and so much more.  It was only when Scott finally came to the realization that he was not able to do anything to save himself and to completely place his faith and fate in God’s hands, even if it meant his death, that his circumstances began to change.

This true story of a man’s courageous struggle -- physically, mentally, and spiritually – really touched me and I believe it will touch you also.  Scott believes that he was spared only by the direct intervention of God and that it made a forever change in his life.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.