The Stranger in the Woods

The stereotype of the hermit is a sage who lives in seclusion and offers worldly truths to people who seek him. The Stranger in the Woods expands this definition to include anyone who abandons social boundaries to focus on personal enrichment. It can be a form of protest, religious study, or intellectual pursuit. A man who heads for the woods and a teenager who stays in his bedroom are both hermits. Visionaries like Albert Einstein and criminals like the Unabomber both fall into this umbrella. Finkel’s research shows that this lifestyle exists within cultures throughout the world, though Western societies tend to demonize it. Knight does not care for the term but accepts and sometimes plays to it.

North Pond lies on the eastern portion of Maine in Kennebec County, which includes Knight’s hometown of Albion, the site of his campsite near the township of Rome, and the state capital of Augusta. The population of Rome barely breaks one thousand people. Residences surround the lake with the Pine Tree Camp and adjacent Little North Pond at the southern end. Knight’s camp lies on the southeast within The Jarsey, a patch of rugged terrain with thorny bushes and boulders that repel even experienced hikers.