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Pompous Ass
03-14-07, 12:26 PM

Fear...fear for one's safety and life I haven't experienced since riding a motorcycle with a flat front tire buckling underneath when exiting the high way leaving me to skid across the pavement.

Last night, we became lost on a seven mile, forested trail called, "Soldiers Run", which was brutal with it's elevation gain, loose rocks and thick forest. With only xerox copy of a map which someone scribbled a few lines to guide us, the trail markings somehow vanished after I decided to take the less traveled trail at the fork. The one path clearly lead back to origin whereas, according to the map, the trail curled back up the moutain then back to the parking lot after a four mile jaunt.

With the sun setting, the rocks became indecernible upon the dirt trail, causing Karen to twist both ankles. Paranoia crept into my psyche as thoughts of a mountain lion crouching behind a tree or lay hidden in the shadows next to the trail waiting for an elk or a neon colored jogger. The dropping temperature immediately became noticeable as I only wore shorts and t-shirt.

"They say, if lost, stay in one place and you'll be rescued. Yea...but it is cold. Remember, your survival training from when you were ten years old. You could build shelter. That guy in California didn't make it when snowbound. Well, it isn't snowing but the temperature will be in the twenties. I never was able to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together," were some of the thoughts running through my head.

Hobbling and jogging at a slow pace, the sun set and the stars didn't provide much light, although our eyes adjusted somewhat such I was barely able to make-out the trail. A brief moment before it was completely dark, we crossed an old logging road and I spotted a cabin some two hundred feet away, so I knew there was a fall back shelter to break into as a last resort. But, could I find it again in this darkness?

Having continued on the trail, I finally announced my fright to Karen and called myself a "pompous ass" because I thought my previous mountain living experience would serve me well enough to survive. I regretted not bringing my GPS, my cell phone and knew better to that I should have scouted the trail durin daylight hours rather than rely upon a hand-drawn map with no points of reference. I decided to turn-around to find the cabin or the logging road.

Finding logging road, I decided heading "down" the road seems logical and I "felt" as if we were heading east due to the last time I saw the sun. Absolutely nothing looks familiar in a dark forest. I realized how easy it was for those to become disoriented, lost and die. I was an "ass". "If I didn't arrive for work, would a search team come? Imagine my embarrassment having to admit I was lost! A guy...lost! Would I be on national television like those trapped on the mountain?"

Soon we passed a port-a-potty but was it for the loggers? An embarrassing thought, "I imagine we could return to it for shelter if it does become too cold." I urged Karen to pick-up her gimpy pace as I hoped the road lead back to civilization. Soon, I spotted a light through the forest but lost it among the trees and a hill. Yet, I saw another, then a brief flash of light. There was hope!

The flash of light became continous but bounced around us. Someone called out, "Hey! Help us! We're lost!" Scuttling down the hillside, they joined us.

The pompous ass said, "See those lights through the woods, I think that is the trailhead. Follow us." I didn't admit we were lost, too.

Yesterday - Tomorrow

Here we go again... - 10-06-10
fuck you. - 07-02-08
A new blog - 04-13-08
New site: The Running Bob - 03-16-08
Tax Man Encourages Hobbies? - 03-11-08
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