I Once Was Lost

So, I got back from Kentucky (WorkFest 2009!) this weekend. I had another wonderful week with the people of Christian Appalachian Project. Tuesday night, we got to hear Mitch Barrett live, which was the awesomest! Wednesday night, however, was free night. That is where our story begins.

Paul, Dana, Allen, Jessica, and I were sitting on the porch, and Dana says, "Let's go on a hike!" Well, that sounded exciting, so we all went to bundle up (it was getting a bit chilly) and head out on the trail.

We took No Fat Gap up to Treeline, which was gorgeous! Every so often, we would stop to look at the view, although I think that had more to do with the fact that I am really bad at physical activity.

At one point, Paul says, "Jessica, is this the point where we were supposed to turn onto the trail last time?" This made the rest of us a little worried, but it turned out it was the correct trail. Eventually, though, the trail sort of disappeared, and we were walking along what looked like it could have been a path. We got to a ridge, and Dana was in front of our line. Paul said, "Dana, just follow this ridge." Dana walked up to the ridge to follow it, and Paul and I followed him to a cliff (Allen and Jessica were a bit further behind). Dana said, "Paul, I thought you said to follow the ridge," to which Paul replied, "Well, I didn't mean literally." Paul had meant to follow the path around the ridge.

So, Paul went back to properly direct Allen and Jessica, but Dana turns to me and says, "I think we can meet them at the bottom, I can climb down and catch you." So, Dana handed me the flashlight and climbed down the ten-foot cliff. He then had me jump down, and he caught me.

We met up with the other three and kept walking. We soon made it to another ridge, which was the one we were supposed to follow and climb. At a very steep point, Dana pointed his flashlight up and said, "This is where we ascend." Paul immediately began to climb the ridge, and Dana said, "Paul, I didn't mean literally." So, we kept walking around the ridge to get to the point where we needed to climb. At one point, Dana said, "Don't grab that rock!" We asked why, and he replied, "Because it's a thornbush!"

We made it around the ridge, and Paul went to see if that was where we needed to climb, and Dana and I followed a semblance of a trail. Allen and Jessica were behind us (I think this was when Jess hurt her hand, and Allen was helping her). Dana and I were gazing at the stars, and Paul came to join us. He put his arm around my shoulder, looked at the stars, and said, "I may be crazy, but I think there are people up there." Dana and I thought he meant in outer space, but he meant up on the ridge. He had seen a ladder and what looked like two men crouched down (in Kentucky, this is not a good thing). Paul wanted to go back and investigate. Dana told me to wait on the "trail" and they would go see what was happening. I refused to stay alone. Dana asked if I would rather investigate with them, but I said no to that, too. He said, "Okay, Betsy, there are only two ways to this." We walked toward the ridge, and met Allen and Jessica. They stayed with me, and we walked on while Paul and Dana went up the ridge.

After five minutes or so, we decide we need to go back and get Paul and Dana. Based on their direction, however, we would need to leave the trail and "bush-whack." After about another five minutes of this, I heard a sound behind us, and I told Allen to turn off the flashlight. We stood still, and I heard either Paul or Dana say, "I don't see them anymore, where'd they go?" After a few seconds, they shined their flashlight on us and said, "Gotcha."

Paul and Dana had been teasing us a bit, but they came to join us so we could continue walking in our intended direction. That was when a miracle occurred.

We were about to walk on when I felt my contact lens move up on top of my eye. I told them to wait while I moved it back. It fell out in my hand, so I tried to put it back in. It fell onto the forest floor. They told me not to move my feet, and we crouched down to look for my contact lens.

WE FOUND IT!!!!!!

That's right, we found my contact lens on the forest floor. We are the epitome of amazing.

So, we kept walking (we wanted to go to a volunteer house that was near camp). We were still off the trail at this point, trying to find a trail that would take us where we wanted. Finally, we became a little worried as we considered the fact that we might be lost in the woods until daylight. We start to think about where the last trail was that we remember being on. Allen says that we were last on a trail when we left it to find Paul and Dana. Dana then said, "You were on a trail, and we were close to it, but we didn't go back to it? Why?!" Allen replied, "Because we wanted to go to the Jackson House." Dana was a little frustrated, but we kept going, because, really, what other choice did we have.

After what felt like an eternity, we found the trail. We followed it to a dry creek bed, which led to a gravel path. While we were walking, Dana said, "Well, those are pretty rare."

"What?"

"Natural streetlights."

We continued along the path to the Jackson House where we promptly told the tale of our survival to the volunteers therein.

So, that was my adventure for the week. Maybe for the month.