An Alberta woman lost in northern bush for two weeks faced off with a bear, ate berries and sipped water from streams before she found a remote hunting cabin she believes saved her life.
Rhonda Cardinal recalled Thursday how she broke a small window to get into the cabin.
Inside, she found more water, canned food and socks for her blistered and infected feet.
"I figured it was a matter of life and death," said the 42-year-old woman, now resting at home with her parents in Calling Lake, a small community 200 kilometres north of Edmonton.
Cardinal said she spent a couple of nights at the cabin before she felt strong enough to trek again and look for help.
On Wednesday, after a short walk, she came across a road and within minutes waved down an oilfield worker driving by in his truck. He helped her climb inside and, through tears, she told him her story.
Cardinal said positive thoughts and prayers helped her get through the ordeal. But now that she's safe and sound at home, the owner of the cabin has phoned her, demanding she pay for damages.
"He was worried about the window," she said. "I was starving and I was thirsty. ... I had no choice."
RCMP Sgt. Brian Scott in Athabasca said he's not aware of the complaint but the woman can't be blamed for the break-in.
"I think I would have done the same thing," he said.
Scott said a relative reported Cardinal missing after she walked away from another hunting cabin about 20 kilometres north of Calling Lake on July 31.
Mounties searched on quads then brought in a helicopter.
Wildlife officers and civilian volunteers joined the search and, with as many as 58 people one day, continued looking for about a week.
Scott said the group covered a huge area of land but found no sign of the woman. The search was called off last Friday.
Cardinal said she can't explain why she left the first cabin. She "blacked out," woke up lost and started wandering through the bush.
One day, a black bear startled her, she said. It aggressively stood up on its back legs.
"We were just looking at each other. I thought he was going to attack me," Cardinal said. "I didn't panic or anything. He went down. I walked away slowly the other way and he just walked the other way."
