edwin

My friend Nate came into town from San Francisco last week. This is the 2nd year in a row he has done this. It's not only great to see my oldest friend for 1 week a year but its also great because it eventually gets everyone together. Some of the nights he was here we'd get 5 people over, other nights 7 or 8. It's a far cry from when we struggle to get 2 people to come over to watch a movie, a game, or to simply hang out. Old friends reconvene and after many hours of doing nothing, we finally settle on doing something.

What we did last Saturday was go out to Hunter's Creek in Wales about 30 minutes out of Buffalo for some hiking. It's free and it's a pretty large natural area full of trails and many places to camp out for a night or two if desired. However were just going for the duration of the afternoon and early evening as it was nearly 5pm when we got there. We immediately made our way out of the pseudo parking lot onto the trail that led down to the creek. The creek goes a pretty long way and is surrounded on both sides by walls of rock that go from a few feet above in some spots to well over a hundred in others. When we made it down to the creek, this is where the confusion occurred. As it turns out I was the only one really confused though.

The other 4 people wanted to walk down the creek, which is pretty shallow, to get to the usual camp spot where we have rock furniture and a nice little clearing right off the creek. It's about a one hour walk, but it's only that long because you can't walk fast since you are walking along the creek and many of your steps happen to be on wet rocks under an inch or two of water. I misinterpreted this part. When we talked about going for a day hike, I thought we would be hiking around on the trails not taking a simple walk up the creek to the site just to hang out there for a while. So after attempting to walk down the creek for only a few minutes the sound of the trails calling to me was too much. I told them I was going to take the trails to get to the site. They pretty much said, okay whatever. The red trail goes right along the creek for about 2/3 of the way to campsite. The trails are marked by small colored squares on trees every 15 to 20 yards. The red trail pretty much does the trick, but once you get to that 2/3 mark you have to go a bit inland to go around a very high cliff area and then you have to come back around and descent a somewhat steep area down to the campsite which takes about 30 minutes after the 2/3 point.

Sounds easy right? But at that 2/3 point where you have to go inland away from the creek, the red trail kinda ends. At this point you hop on a grey trail, but only for a little while because you have to remember when to break off the grey trail and head for five minutes in the right direction so your descent down the steep hill will lead you to the site. I've made the trek with others a few times last summer and I thought I had a pretty good grasp on where to go. So after 30 minutes, I had no idea where I was. I thought I was on the right track, but after a little while on the grey trail I think I left it prematurely, as in before the drop down the hill to the site. All of a sudden I was on a yellow trail. I didn't remember a yellow trail before, but hey it was a nice day, it was a grueling workout walking up and down these trails. I figured I'd continue on for a bit and then head back out the way I came and I'd be fine.

The woods are beautiful in the afternoon. You can see the sunlight covering the tops of the trees like frosting on a cake. The trails while confusing are up and down, challenging and fun to march all over. The air is nice and clean, the sound of the creek in the distance is pleasing. The only other sounds I could hear was a guy on a mountain bike zipping through periodically and the sounds of four or five 4-wheelers in the distance being driven by guys shooting up my side of the creek over small grassy paths that you run into every 20 minutes or so that seem to go on forever.

I decided that after frolicking for well over a half hour more than I should have that I needed to retrace my steps and find the campsite. Then I heard rumbling in the distance. At first I thought it was the 4-wheeler guys tearing through a path nearby but after hearing it again I realized that it was thunder and it was getting closer and louder. I looked up to those same treetops that were frosted by sunlight minutes earlier only to find them beginning to sway uncontrollably under the increasing breeze that was turning into more of a very strong wind.

At this point I decided it was best to put my camera away, get serious, and get to the campsite fast. I was probably 20-30 minutes away and the approaching storm seemed closer than that. I began to go in the direction that I came but when you are rushing and going in the opposite direction things look different. The familiar things, trees and marks looked very different coming from the other direction... so different that I began to feel lost. It was getting darker above and inside all these trees where I was scrambling it was darker than that. The rain began to fall. It wasn't too bad, but I just knew it was going to get worse. I was mildly disoriented. Things began to look the same. It felt like I was briskly walking in large circles.

At times like these you can one of three things: 1-You can continue running around like your ass is on fire. 2-You can elevate yourself into full panic mode and lose it. or 3- You can enhance your calm and do what is necessary to get out of the mess you are in. Thankfully I slowed down, I took a few deep breaths and I went with option three. It was me, this yellow trail and this plastic Scooby Doo balloon that was resting in a tree at about head level where the tree split into two long branches.

I began to walk thoughtfully in the direction of the creek. I say thoughtfully as in I was thinking hard, taking things in. I was trying to stay calm despite having reason to worry. Every minute or so I would remind myself to take a deep breath. After heading in the general direction I originally came in for about 20 minutes I stopped and took a deep breath. The rain had stopped. I was thankful for that although it never really got going too hard. I still heard thunder in the distance so I didn't think I was out of the woods yet so to speak. Upon inhaling the pure woodland air I detected something else. I smelled fire! Someone nearby had a fire going. I must have been close. As I began to drift in the direction of the smell suddenly things began to look familiar. Yes, this was the way. This was the way I came to and from the campsite last year with other people. Within a minute I found the slope on the side of the hill I needed to descend to get to the site. I could even almost see the site. I was very close.

I made my way down the hill. It takes about 3 or 4 minutes because of how steep it is. You have to take it a little at a time, make certain you have your balance and then descend a little more. I reached the bottom and proceeded to walk the 50 yards to the source of the smoke, the fire pit at the site. Strangely no one was around. There was smoke coming from the fire pit where a good amount of time had been taken to build up some wood to light a fire. It looks like it was going very recently but was not any longer. Now there was just smoke drifting into the rain thickened air. I sat down for a few minutes to rest and wait to see if perhaps the crew had left the site to find more firewood, or just to check something out nearby which was certainly possible.

After about 5 minutes of standing there waiting for them to return or for some kind of sign, something occurred to me. If they were nearby or collecting wood, they probably would have left something behind. There was nothing there. There wasn't even any garbage left behind. It started to become clear to me that they headed back to the car because of the thunder and rain. Considering that the fire was still smoking a bit, maybe they were not too far ahead of me. I thought if I hustled down the creek I might catch them. So I began to make my way up the creek as fast as I could, constantly slipping on the wet rocks but moving quickly nonetheless.

After about 10 minutes of moving up the creek the thunder returned strong. It brought a few friends with it to the party. The thunder was accompanied by lightning and then within a minute of that, the rain started to come down in buckets. In only 5 minutes I was completely soaked trying to get up the creek back to the parking lot. Things became pretty dark. I could still see, but I had to slow my pace as I could hardly take two steps without losing my balance. I don't think I was even halfway back to the parking lot and I felt so broken. I screamed out in anger to the canyon walls around me. The rain may have cooled the air, the water and the ground surrounding me, but inside I was boiling. I felt betrayed. I felt like my friends left me there. I felt they abandoned me in this place where I don't really know how to get around too well. They didnt even leave a note to let me know where they went. Then something else that was a little more important began to dawn on me. I'm walking along a creek during all this thunder and lightning. It probably wasn't a good idea. I didn't know when and where to exit the creek anyway. I've only entered the creek twice to go to the campsite and I can't remember at which spot the point of entry was. So even if I chanced it and braved the creek I wouldn't know where to come out to ascend up to the parking lot which was uphill through about 10-15 minutes of trees anyway.

I did have some experience with a few of the trails from last year. I explored some of them with friends, and even when we made a wrong turn or two or took the wrong trail, we still ended up coming out on Centerline Road where the parking lot was. We would come out on the road and then have to walk about a half mile or so up to the parking lot. If I could find my way up to one of those trails and find a similar result this time that would be far better than to continue up the creek during this storm and not knowing where to come out of it at.

I hopped out of the creek and onto a trail right near the water. It was the red trail I believe. Things had gotten so dark; I could no longer even see the small colored trail marks on the trees. It was so wet and dark. I tried to climb up a steep part of what I thought was the trail when I lost my balance and fell to my side sliding down this hill. I kept trying to grab the ground and stop my fall, but the ground was all mud at this point and it was slithering through my fingers. It reminds me now of Star Wars episode 4 when Princess Leia says to Grand Moff Tarkin, "The more you tighten your grip, the more planets will slip through your fingers." I slid down this hill about 15 feet on my side until I reached out and clamped my left hand on a thick tree root sticking out of the mud. Now wet, scared, and dirty I began to scream things out. I don't even remember what those things were only a few days later. I just remember screaming things out in every direction. I'm sure there were some vulgarities mixed in there. I'm sure I said regrettable things about the people who were probably waiting in the car for me somewhere around this place. I was sure I was losing it. Strangely, I then thought about war. Was this a taste of what it was like for soldiers in a foreign land? Were they scurrying around a forest not knowing which way is which, being drenched by rain and feeling completely on edge and bordering on losing it? At least I had no one hunting me down with AK-47s. In kind of a crazy way I started making jokes with myself. I thought about how I could tell everyone how I earned my stripes in the brush. How I could have sudden flashbacks to that time I was in "the sh*t". I know that's wrong to think or even to say and it completely falls into the insensitive category of thought, but at the time, that helped me through it. I was sitting on the wet ground laughing out loud at ridiculous things for a few moments until my mind returned to my body. I rose to my feet very carefully and muttered something that sounded like an affirmation of some sort. With a few steps back up the hill I continued to speak. F this I thought. This place isn't gonna beat me. So I began to walk again in a direction, hoping to find some sign of life.

I walked and I walked. I think it had been almost an hour since I fell down that hill. The rain had stopped and I could swear I could almost see the sun again through the trees. My steps were taken with a hint of desperation but also with a strong will. I was going to find a way out. After all, in another hour or two it would be dark and without any kind of flashlight I would be screwed in there. I spent most of the time walking on trails, but I didn't know which trail was which anymore. Was I going in the right direction? I'd find out sooner of later, though I confess I was hoping for sooner. Suddenly a hint of color caught my eye. It wasn't anything particularly riveting, just some color splashed into these greens and browns. As I approached it my curiosity turned into frustration as it was none other than the same Scooby Doo balloon I had seen when I got lost a few hours before. Not only was I back near the campsite once again and nowhere near the exit, I was slowly but surely running out of daylight.

I had to think of something to get out of there. Time was running out. Once it became dark, the only thing I think I could do was go to the campsite and hope someone would look for me there. But I had to flashlight, no lighter and I was never a boy scout. I wouldn't be able to start a fire to keep things away. I'd be at the mercy of the forest and as a control freak of sorts I couldn't deal with that. I still had time to get out of there. I started back once again in the direction of the parking lot despite being a long ways away. Scooby set me straight and gave me an idea of where I actually was. I was far away from the parking lot, maybe an hour away... and that's if I could find the right path.

As I was trying to make my way back along some colored trail, I happened along the small strip of grass that the 4-wheelers were racing up and down earlier. It was about 10 yards wide with really tall grass and weeds but also with a small trail in the middle of it where the vehicles came through many times. It cut right through the forest and I think it led all the way down to the creek, BUT if I went up it, would it lead to a road? I mean, the 4-wheelers came in from somewhere. So I began to wander up this thing carefully following the tire tracks so that I didn't have to walk through 4 foot grass with who knows what waiting to bite my ass in there.

I felt a lot better in that I was in a somewhat open space. The sun was shining on me as I headed up this thing. At that point I probably had maybe 90 more minutes of daylight and the thought of being in pitch dark in the forest freaked me out to no end. Who knows what kinds of vermin and creatures would come out to play? With no fire or even light of any kind, I would feel defenseless and paranoid like I've never been. I think a night like that in the brush would cost me my mind. As it stands right now, it's barely intact.

After walking up this unconventional trail and saying hello to a few deer along with a few little baby deer, I was closing in on the top of the hill. I couldn't quite see what was up there, but hey it was a clearing of some sort and that seemed significantly better than these confined trails I was wandering on. Getting back to the deer, you often hear the phrase "deer in the headlights" in daily life and I had an up close and personal experience with this. As I was approaching a deer and it's little one they just stood on the trail staring at me. It was surreal. They were motionless like I had turned on the lights and they thought if they didn't move I wouldn't see them. For about 30 seconds as I approached they were statues. I'd slowly blink my eyes hoping that when they were completely open the deer would be in another position if not gone altogether. When I got to within 20 yards of them I started speaking to them. I said, "Hey, could you please move out of the way" and when that didn't work I went all Yoda on them. I said; (in Yoda voice) "Away put your weapon, I mean you no harm." Suddenly the deer ran like hell back into the forest. I guess if you've never seen Star Wars, that Yoda voice might be kinda creepy.

After the deer episode I continued my trek to the top of the hill. When I got up there I was fully expecting to find a street of some kind, but that would have been too easy. I reached the top and walked into a large clearing. There were power lines everywhere all leading to some substation one story building that was surrounded by heavy duty fence. There were two paths I could now choose from. The closest one looked like it went along flat ground and was highlighted by what seemed to be a never-ending trail of power lines and the appropriate structures. That way didn't look too promising. The other path was a paved road that led to the building. I figured that a paved road like that must lead to a street of some kind. My choice was pretty easy. I started towards the paved road on the other end of the clearing.

Once I reached it my feet were thanking me. Walking on all that uneven terrain, wet rocks, mud, lumpy dirt and other uncomfy things had made my feet very tired. Walking on this paved road was so pleasant. I didn't actually have to pay attention to where I was stepping anymore which was a great relief to my already troubled mind as well.

After about 15 minutes of carefree marching up the road I could finally see a real street. I wasn't sure where I was or what street it could be but I was damn happy to see it. All that was left was to climb over the fenced door to the street and I was walking on the road. I arrived at the fence ready to just leap 10 feet into the air over it, but in the really real world my legs were so tired lifting them to climb was an adventure. It took me about 2 minutes but I scaled that sucker and landed on my feet in some grass in someone's yard right off the road.

Here I was, in a place I don't know, on a street I've never been on. The sun had about 30 minutes left before its' time would run out. The road went in what appeared to be North and South. I felt that I went off course in such a way that to get near where I needed to go I had to go southeast so south it was. Being that these were rural roads, there were no sidewalks. I just walked on the side of the road. Every quarter mile there would be a house or two.

After walking about a mile I came up on a corner! The connecting street was heading due west, so it wasnt one I wanted to take, but I was absolutely dying to see the street signs hoping that one of the 2 roads sounded familiar. I dont even remember the name of the street that went west since I had never been on it and it was in what I perceived to be the wrong direction making it inconsequential. I did find out that the street I was on was called Latham. Of course, Id never heard of Latham either but I was going south and that was all I had. I was wishing that Latham would connect to Hunters Creek road or better yet even Centerline where the parking lot was. Somehow I felt pushing on this current road would do the trick. As the sun set, I did feel a bit of relief which was probably strange considering I was walking down a road in the boonies at night with no phone, soaking wet, tired, thirsty and with no clue what the night would hold. But, it was certainly a lot better than those woods.

I was heading up Latham road and I tried to flag down any car that would pass. I think there were 8 in all over that hour I walked up the roads. I would wave at them and say things like please help, I just need directions, but those cars just zipped past. Only one started to slow down but then sped up again like I spit blood into the air and had a hard time concealing my axe. I really appreciate those people in the world who still trust others. I know its hard these days with so many misguided souls and selfish people in the world. I dunno if I would have stopped either, but after this episode has occurred, perhaps I would now. Many of the cars had their windows down and Im sure a few of them could hear me say help loudly. I wasnt looking for a ride home or even to the Yellow Goose store, I just wanted directions. Ive always been the type of person who has a hard time asking for help. Im stubborn and I often think that other people will mess things up for me and that Im the only one who can get it done correctly. So to even gesture at cars and ask for help was a big step for me. Of course no one stopped, so was I proven right about not wanting help normally? I guess its an issue with trust in general. I feel like its very hard for me to trust other people, and when I do they let me down which reinforces my beliefs about not trusting.

Now it was pitch black out. There are no streetlights in the country. I was in the most unlikely of places, walking down this dark road, feeling tired, soggy and a little apprehensive. I began to think about where or how I would be able to sleep if it came down to that. I didnt think I could walk all night. I had already been marching all over this area for over 4 hours. I thought about that old dirty joke about the farmers daughter. You know, the one where a stranger knocks on someones door and then the farmer generously offers him shelter with one condition: stay away from my daughter. But I didnt think I could go up to someones house and ask for anything other than directions. I thought about walking up to someones door knocking on it and then promptly being chased away by a crazy farmer with a shotgun yelling, Get off my property! My mind was wandering in every direction. Cars would pass occasionally and I would wave and try to get them to stop but theyd zoom by. If they werent going to stop and address me in the daytime, I highly doubt theyd have a change of heart in the darkness.

The one calming influence on me were the stars. They shined so bright and beautifully. Thats one of the best things about camping. You could lay back and watch the show away from all those city lights. You could play little games, like which one is the brightest, or can I see any planets tonight? I walked up this dark road with my eyes upward looking into the night sky. I was getting cold and I was so thirsty but I was pretty calm. Things could have been worse. In the distance I saw a car coming onto Latham road from another street! It was another intersection. As a matter of fact, it was the end of this street. It led to another road going west and east. I knew I was going to go east before I could see the sign. I thought, maybe Im getting closer. When I finally reached the end of Latham road, I saw a beautiful sign. It was a division. If I went west, Id be in another town on another street, but if I went east Id be on Centerline Road in Wales, where everything I wanted to find was. It took me so long to find Centerline but finally I found it. I didnt know how far up Centerline I needed to go. I figured I probably had at least 2 or 3 miles to get to the parking lot.

I began up Centerline feeling a little calmer. Even if no one was in the parking lot waiting for me after all these hours, I could still continue up the road and eventually find my way back to the yellow goose store where there was a phone, although I was probably a few hours away from there by foot, but at least I knew the way now. For the first time in many tense hours, I actually had an idea of where I was going. It was a wonderful feeling to upgrade from lost to stranded. I was thinking that hopefully my friends were still around looking for me, and stranded would be a short term designation.

The fatigue in my feet was becoming difficult to fight but fight I would. If I stopped even for 10 minutes to take a break, I just knew it would be hard to start again. I wouldnt succumb to the fatigue or the darkness. I was determined to get somewhere. Speaking of the darkness, a car was so easy to spot now because of it. You could see the lights coming a mile away, even from behind. The grass and road would brighten a smidge and then Id know a car was going to pass in 30 to 60 seconds, but at this point I had given up signaling cars and asking strangers for help so when this compact red vehicle came up from behind and slowed I just gave it an ambivalent look. Of course since I cared less about this car than any of the others, it was fitting it was my friends driving around looking for me. I was never more thrilled to see my friends big bald head than I was when I was looking at it behind the wheel 10 feet away from me on this chilly road.

Getting into the car and sitting in the suddenly amazingly comfortable backseat was heavenly. We drove the few miles down the road to the little parking lot for the creek. 2 of my friends were in the car driving the roads looking for me, one stayed back at the parking lot in case I had arrived there and the last one actually went down the creek looking for me. It was a pretty cool rescue operation setup as all 3 parties had cell phones and could communicate with each other.

At this point the only one missing was my friend Chris who was down the creek. When we arrived at the parking lot, the others phoned him to let him know they found me on the road. He replied that he was on creek over an hour away. So now we had to wait for him to get back to us. He would be walking up a dark slippery creek and that would be a monumentally hard task for me, but hed been at the creek more than anyone. And if anyone I knew could do it pretty easily, it would be him.

About 10 minutes passes and Im relaying the tale of my journey to everyone who keeps shaking their heads. That rain came out of nowhere and caught us all by surprise. Who knew that I would get lost then finally find an empty campsite only to get lost again in the heavy rain and darkness? Everybody was hanging out in the parking lot feeling loose, more relaxed and none more than I. It seemed as though it was a formality that wed be leaving very soon and laughing about all of this the whole way home.

Then someones phone rang. It was Chris. Why was he calling? Did he get lost too? He couldnt have, he knows this creek better than anyone. It turned out I was right, he wasnt lost but he twisted his knee and was unsure about making the rest of the way back without aid. Holy Crap! Could this trip get any worse? I saw visions of myself carrying him piggyback up the slippery creek. Of the other 2 guys that were standing next to me, one has a very bad back problem and the other probably wasnt strong enough to carry an injured person. So if someone would have to carry him, it would be me. I dont remember the next few minutes after that call very well, what was said, what the plans were, etc. I do remember him calling back a few minutes later saying that he could make it back, but it would be slow and it would be great if someone or all of us met him out there with a light to make things a lot easier.

We jumped into the car and drove quickly to the Yellow Goose 10 minutes away. We bought batteries for the one flashlight we had and candles as well. I bought three Gatorade type drinks to help quench my insatiable thirst. I probably drank two of them on the 10 minutes back to the parking lot. When we got back it was about 20-25 minutes later than we spoke to him last and that much more time for him to get up the creek. He didnt call while we were at the store with any urgent developments so we hopefully assumed he was making his way back okay.

We arrived back at the lot and it was so dark. This wasnt a parking lot where there were lights or lines, or anything like that. It was just a small paved area with a map that showed the many colored trails and where they lead. It was something I maybe shouldve taken a look at prior to descending down to the creek and trails. But lets not dwell on the past well okay maybe only my recollection of these events last Saturday.

As the time drifted past 10pm it dawned on us that the park was closed. You dont want to leave your car in that lot after hours with no one to stop the town law from perhaps moving your vehicle for you. So Jen and I stayed with the car and my other 2 friends went down to the creek with the flashlight. I gave them a white plastic bag somewhat filled with ice to leave at the spot where they entered the creek so they have no trouble finding their way out.

Fifteen minutes later all 3 emerged from the woods and for the first time in about 6 hours we were all together again. All that was left was to get into the car and drive home. As we drove, jokes of relief and the sounds of exhaustion filled the car. What a day hike it turned out to be. I looked out the window at the night sky. I was so elated to see the stars at 65 miles per hour on the freeway instead of at 3 miles per hour on the road walking on tired feet.

When I got home, I sat up at my computer for almost 90 minutes. It was a weird place to be. I wanted to start writing about all of it, but all I could do was stare at the monitor. I was still too wound up from the adventure to go to bed, but so incredibly exhausted to do anything productive such as writing about it. So here I am many days later finishing this epic story right before bed. Tonight Im not lost, not wandering the streets, but at the same time in my life, I still dont feel like Ive come out of the woods yet.