Page 3 of Rescued By the Lumberjack
I also know I can't keep up this pace.
This body isn't made for running. That's what you get when you make a living baking muffins in a coffee shop that makes the best huckleberry chai lattes you never knew you needed in your life.
As much as I love exploring the hiking trails around my new home town, I gave up any notions of losing my curves a long time ago.
The adrenaline is wearing off and my all-out run has slowed to a determined jog. It feels safer out here on the ridge line trail where the sun is shining and I can see for miles around me.
I don't hear anything behind me.
In fact, I don't hear anything but the wind in the canyon below and the sound of my own heart beating hard enough that I'm worried it might explode.
My feet slow, and I finally dare a look back.
I'm breathing hard, and my muscles are burning from the run, but I made good distance.
Turning around on the narrow trail that runs high above the river below, I keep pulling deep breaths into my aching lungs and scan the edge of the forest I just ran from.
Nothing.
Thank God.
Still, there's a creepy feeling that has me reluctant to turn my back on the woods just yet.
So I walk backwards, keeping my eyes glued on the wall of trees where the forest springs up suddenly near the main trail, while my feet make slow progress in the opposite direction, and my brain scrambles to explain what I saw.
What IthinkI saw.
The woods have always felt peaceful to me. I've never even seen a bear in there. Let alone a... Nah. it's just me thinking too much about folklore and the recent claims of wolf sightings out here.
One trick of the shadows in the dense forest and my imagination took the opportunity to get carried away.
My breathing is almost back to normal, my heart rate is down to a quick pitter-pat, and I'm feeling silly for panicking.
Relaxing muscles that were still poised to run, I start to spin on my heel mid-backwards-step, ready to finish the hike back to the car in the forward direction.
My foot slips to one side and before I can catch myself, the ground under me goes with it, taking me off the trail and down the cliff beside the trail.
When I open my eyes, the sun is just touching the top of Benson Peak. Shadows have engulfed the river canyon below me, and are creeping up the side of the cliff to the narrow ledge that stopped me from sliding all the way down to the river that's still several hundred feet below me.
On further inspection, it's not a ledge, exactly, but rather, a large boulder jutting out of the cliff wall.
Disoriented, I look around. I look up and see that I'm not really that far from the top where the trail runs. Maybe eight or ten feet.
The cliff is steep, but not vertical. I should be able to climb back up-- as long as nothing's broken.
I stop worrying about my escape plan for a minute to do a quick self-diagnostic. Feet work, knees bend, I can move all my fingers.
My hands are scraped up badly, as well as the exposed skin on my arms and elbows. There's a long tear along one side of my pants and my right knee is oozing blood around small bits of sand and gravel embedded in the wound.
My right shoulder hurts, but I can move my arm fine. My head hurts and there's a buzzing in my ears. When I touch the spot that's most sore, my fingers come away covered in blood.
But I'm not equipped to survive a night outdoors in the mountains. Cell signal is iffy in town, it's non-existent up here.
The sun wasn't so low when I slipped. I must have been unconscious for a little bit.
Finagling myself around on the rock, I turn toward the cliff above me and start trying to climb up the loose dirt, but after only making it a few feet before sliding back each time, I've all but given up hope.
I just need to rest for a few minutes and then I'll try again, I think, as I fold myself into a near fetal position on top of my granite cradle and give in to feeling sorry for myself. About now,I wish I'd sprung the money for one of the GPS locator beacons that Ash suggested when I was buying my hiking gear, but I didn't think I'd need it for just day hiking on established trails.
