Damsel in distress. Okay, I’m not generally a damsel in distress. Friends, colleagues have told me that I sometimes frighten others. I think it’s my inherited, angry frown line that belies my feelings… or relays what I’m feeling (beware). Regardless, there are times that we all want to be “saved”. Being saved may mean so much and it doesn’t necessarily indicate weakness, just a moment in time when having someone else help you out makes a huge difference. This was a few days ago.
We are parked in a beautiful area south of Tucson, near a small town called Tombstone (think old west, think famous shoot outs…). Anyway, we are 15 miles outside of town, down a washboard dirt road, parked in a national forest. well, there isn’t much of a forest but amazing “jumbo-rock” like mountains.
I went for a hike, with the intention of heading down… or rather up a trail for about 4 miles. Matt was going to do a mountain bike ride. All was good. Water in hand, satellite communicator ready, mapped out trail on phone, hat and sunscreen applied. The beginning scenery of various cactus species interspersed with oak trees, thorny shrubs, towering rocks, and brilliant blue sky beckoned you onward to even better views. All went well until mile 3 (at least for me, the hiker). At mile 3 the trail became obscured by brush and thorny shrubs while the ascent turned from doable on two feet to scrambling on four feet. Then the rock slides happened while navigating slopes that looked like a 50 -60 degree pitch. It was very sketchy even as a hike/scramble towards the end. There was no real trail and most of the mountain was navigated by using all fours to keep from falling, sliding, or rolling down the mountain. At the top, I looked at my trail map and decided not to ascend the treacherous rock slide hill, but instead take the trails going around the mountain. Being the communicator that I am, I texted Matt letting him know that I would be much later than expected. Instead of taking the route four miles back, I was looking at around nine miles. Matt responded quite quickly, surprisingly. He was also on a challenging trail and decided to finish it, but knew that it would take a while.
Long story short, Matt had taken the same trail I had, but he was riding, hauling, carrying, and finally dragging his bike up the cliff to finish the trail. Here’s a quick clip on his experience.
Why did he not turn around? Beats the hell out of me. In the end, when my calculated nine miles back became eleven and I was just hoping to be saved (ie. hoping that Matt had reached the trailer and would come save me), I was sadly mistaken. Instead of being the one saved, I reached the trailer first and got an SOS call from Matt along the same trail I had taken. It was dark, it was cold, and he had still 10 miles to go. All downhill, but sketchy, 41 degrees and in the shade. Wanting to be saved, instead I became the savior.
So, the moral of the story? Not really sure… you fill in the blanks. Despite the challenges of that one day, we loved, loved this campsite. One of our top five. Pictures from hikes and the campsite for your enjoyment. Oh… and the yellow circle is around a climber.
