I slipped my arms through the straps of my pack, locked up the truck, and made my way through the parking lot to the trailhead. I had a bit of a hike ahead of me and the temperature was in the mid-90s with high humidity. Hopefully the shaded trail would be cooler than this asphalt parking lot, I thought to myself as I weaved my way around the parked cars.
"More research today, Doc?" came a voice from behind me.
"Jim!" I said, shaking hands with my former college friend. "I thought they had you working the northern range this summer."
"They do," he replied. "I'm just down here for a week covering for one of the guys who had a death in his family. What about you? Still working on that paper about chestnut trees?"
"Well, the paper turned into a book. I'm going in today to get some photographs just below the rockslide on the Craig Cliff Trail. There was a good patch of saplings there last year and hopefully they haven't fallen to the blight yet. I'll be in there overnight and most likely be out by 4 o'clock tomorrow."
"Good luck and keep an eye out. We might be getting some serious weather through here later today," he warned. "Check in at the ranger shack before you leave. I'll be there 'til five."
"Will do," I said, giving a friendly salute while starting into the woods.
Jim was a great guy and a close friend in college. He wanted to be a state trooper but somewhere along the line, the lure of the mountains took over and he traded in his ideas of patrolling the pavement for a life on the trails. A good move on his part, considering I knew his love for the wilderness. It was the same bug that bit me a few years back when I started out in marine biology and ended up teaching ecology at the state college. I got my PhD last year and I always chuckle to myself when I look back. Coming out of high school I thought washing dishes at Denny's would be the highlight of my life, but my father was right all along. You can do a lot if you just apply yourself.
The trail followed the Bear River, which seemed a bit low for this time of year. The forest kept the temperature down somewhat but the humidity was unbearable. I soaked a cloth in the river and tied it around my neck several times to try and stay cool. If Jim was right, hopefully a front would come through later. For me, it couldn't come soon enough. On the other hand, I hate setting up camp in the rain.
I passed several people on the way in. There was a guy with only one shoe. He said he lost the other in the river while soaking his feet. Then there were two guys sitting alongside the trail nursing a pint of Jim Beam. They asked me if I saw their friend along the trail, to tell her they'd meet her at the parking lot. "Sure," I said as I moved along. I sometimes wonder............ Well, that's a thought for another time. There was a family of four where Dad was demonstrating his knowledge of the woods. He didn't quite have all his facts right, but that was okay. At least he was trying and letting his kids know there was more to life than video games.
I had been hiking for almost two and a half hours when I came to the Austin Loop Trail. A sign pointed to the left, directing the hiker. The Craig Cliff Trail went straight, however it had been closed off 15 years ago when a storm caused a landslide. A large portion of Craig Cliff let go, covering the trail up the mountain with huge boulders, making it impassable. The loop took you around the slide but added another half hour to one's hiking time.
I was staying with the Craig Cliff Trail and continued straight on the now overgrown path for about a quarter mile. I passed the area of chestnut trees, which was the object of my trip. I then cut off the trail and set up camp in a small pine grove where my father and I always camped when I was a kid. I gathered as much down dry wood as I could before setting up my tent. The sky was darkening to the west and it looked like Jim was right. It was good to have dry wood for when the rain set in.
It was at this point when I heard a voice. I thought I was hearing things at first, and went back to staking my tent. Then I heard it again. I walked out to the trail and looked in the direction I had come from. Nobody. I heard the voice again and now knew it was coming from behind me. I walked the 100 yards to the bend in the trail where the rock slide began. I looked up to see someone on the rock pile trying to make the descent on their butt.
"Are you alright?" I yelled up.
"What the fuck! Get me down from here," the person replied.
I climbed as high as I could until I reached a huge boulder that prevented me from going any further. The voice was that of a woman. She continued swearing and cussing until reaching the top of the boulder I was standing under.
"Eddy, you bastard, I'm going to kill you when I get down from here."
I poked my head around the side of the huge rock to see the face of a young, very attractive girl looking down at me. Her eyes were framed by her shoulder length auburn hair and her tanned skin was smooth as silk without a blemish to be seen. She wasn't beautiful like a model or having that Barbie doll look. It was more of a friendly, natural, healthy aura that she projected. I will admit that I was quite taken by her.
"I'm not Eddy." I smiled.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought you were one of my friends," she started to cry.
I felt a drop or two of rain on my cheek. "Come on. I'll help you down."
"I don't know if I can," she sniffled. "I sprained my ankle earlier and I can't put much weight on it."
"Which ankle?" I questioned.
"My right one."
I took a moment to formulate a plan of attack. "Okay, slide over between these two rocks. Hold on to them while you lower yourself down and get your feet onto my shoulders. I should be able to get you to the rock I'm on from there."
She followed my instructions and started sliding her feet toward me, treating me to a clear view up the leg of her hiking shorts. There was no time to get excited about her white panties with pink hearts, though in any other circumstance I would have had a hard-on ripping through my pants. Her feet made it to my shoulders. I started to squat down but realized this wasn't going to work so I recommended she bend her knees and lower herself until I could get my arms around her waist. That worked and I soon had her standing next to me. The rain drops got a little heavier, followed by a rumble of thunder.
"Come on, We've got to get off this rock pile. Can you walk at all?"