Thoureau’s philosophy of life and spirit of adventure encouraged Sergi Monrabà Net, a Sociology graduate, to propose to his brother Oriol and two friends that they try to survive self-sufficiently for a month in the woods. A kind of experiment that, as Sergi suggests, can be understood as a small act of civil disobedience, of peaceful resistance to demonstrate that, at least for a short period of time, they could leave behind the norms imposed by society. Sergi, 29, has recounted the experiences of his 25 days in an enclave of Montseny in Emboscats (Cossetània).
A few months after Sergi and Oriol returned home, to the town of Mosqueroles, after descending 800 kilometers from the Yukon River, the pandemic was declared due to covid and confinement. Times to reflect, discover what is essential and seek the freedom that nature offers.
Sergi, Oriol, Adrià Reales and Eric Gámiz, all from Montseny, formed the group that settled in the forest, at an altitude of 700 meters, in October 2020. During the previous months they soaked up the necessary knowledge to be able to survive without resorting to to foreign aid. They talked to people with botanical knowledge and read as many plant guides as they could get their hands on. All four of them are expert boletaires, especially Adrià and Eric. It was vital to ensure that everything they collected was edible.
“We knew what the family had transmitted to us and we continued preparing ourselves, going out into the mountains every day, asking neighbors, consulting books… The people of the mountains are very wise. Our grandfather used to prepare the cod esqueixada with purslane (Portulaca oleracea)”, say the Monrabà brothers. They fed purslane and 66 other species of plants, fungi, fruits and tubers during the 25 days that their project lasted.
Sergi cites Thoreau and his Walden, also Chris McCandless, portrayed by Jon Krakauer in Into the Wild, as a source of inspiration. “For me, going to the forest is experiencing a feeling of deep freedom. Leaving society, even temporarily, means leaving the norms behind, ”he says.
The four built a cabin in a corner that they have not revealed, but that is near a stream to be able to stock up on water. Every day they went out to look for chestnuts, Jerusalem artichokes, blackberries, elephant garlic bulbs, strawberry trees, rose hips, pine nuts and a wide variety of mushrooms. “We always had a full pantry, but we lacked protein. On the twelfth day, when after breakfast we went to look for trumpets of death, we realized that we had no strength, but we continued out of romanticism”, recall Sergi and Oriol.
Every morning they followed the same routine. The first to get up lit a small fire to boil the water and prepare infusions with aromatic herbs, and also with chicory as a coffee substitute. They toasted cookies made with chestnut flour that they had ground the night before and spread them with berry jam, even a rosehip jam. They managed to enjoy eating. “Lunch was the most consistent meal, based on hamburgers with chestnut flour, mauve and mushrooms; gnocchi made with Jerusalem artichokes and garnished with a sauce of nuts and black mushrooms; salads with the navel of Venus, wild mint and nettles, all scalded, and for dinner soups, bold or other mushrooms, asparagus…”, they detail, specifying that they were never intoxicated.
In addition to going in search of all this food and firewood, during the day they fixed the cabin to make it more comfortable. At dusk they ground the chestnuts and tubers. “Tensions between the four? Yes, there were, due to silly discussions of whether one works more than another”, admits Sergi.
The adventure, which they have documented in 40 hours of recording, ended a few days ahead of schedule when he ran out of strength due to the diet. “We experienced what it is to live with the essentials and we learned that for longer periods we should be nomads, farmers or hunt,” they conclude.
