Unfortunately, We Were Lost PART 1

This is the story of a small group of teens who set out on an adventure to help those in need when a series of unfortunate and unforeseen events occurred resulting in them with a need for help.

It was the summer of 2017 and I was planning on attending a mission trip to Alamosa, Colorado. I have been on mission trips before and figured this one would not be much different from previous experiences. I guess I was right… kind of.

US

PART I

I arrived at the church located on the outskirts of Alamosa (a total hick town) on a Sunday. Alamosa is in the middle of what the natives call, “the valley.” To those who were from the Midwest (me), this simply meant that mountains completely surrounded you. In any, and every, direction that you looked, there were beautiful mountains out in the distance. It was such a breathtaking sight to look at. They appeared as though you could reach out with your hand and touch the soft billows of rock in the horizon; when in reality, you had to drive at least an hour to actually find yourself in the mountains.

The leaders, who organized the mission trip, broke us up into groups. In my group there were six kids: Bailey, Eisley, Sierra, Bryant, Dylan, and myself. As well as an adult: Randy. For the next five days we worked on a variety of service projects from building fences to serving food at homeless shelters. Since we spent so much time together as a small group, we all started to bond. A few short days passed and we all became friends.

After the work week was over, the leaders had planned a “day away” for us. This day was meant to be a fun relaxing time after a hard work-filled week. We were going hiking in the Rocky Mountains. I love nature�"I always have�"and when I found out we were going hiking, I was as happy as a pig in the mud.

Alarm clocks started going off at 5:30 A.M., everyone boarded the bus at 6:30 A.M., and we arrived at the hiking starting point at 9 A.M. After the winding drive to our destination, Rocky High Adventure Camp, we were ready to get off the bus and stretch our legs. A park ranger greeted us as we filed out of the bus. He briefly went over what we would be doing that day: hiking with our small groups to a variety of checkpoints and the group that reports back with the most correct checkpoints wins. The ranger explained that this adventure takes around four hours and that we needed to be careful as we were hiking in a remote part of a national forest.

Next, Ranger Rick�"yes, that was his actual name�"gave every group an envelope with a map guiding you to five checkpoints. Action plans were made and groups departed in all different directions. My group started after our first checkpoint: a large rock on the river. Eisley and I took the lead (mainly because we figured it would be the easiest point to find). We followed the river upstream for about four hundred yards and sure enough, located on the other side of the river was a large rock. It was roughly the size of my 2005 Chevy Cavalier. It’s a small car that is easily overlooked on the road, but a rock that size is impossible to miss. Dylan initiated “nose goes” which left Bryant shamefully removing his socks and shoes to swim across the river. He read the words on the teensy sign next to the rock that had “CP Boulder” etched into it. Randy jotted the letters down on a paper and the first checkpoint was complete.

After waiting for Bryant to swim back and put his socks and shoes back on, we started hiking up the mountain for our second, third, fourth, and fifth checkpoints. The second and third points were easily completed; however, after checking the time, we realized we were falling behind on the four hour time track. We were going on three hours and twenty-seven minutes. With hopes of winning, we decided to split up to go after the last two checkpoints. Bailey, Randy, Dylan, and Sierra in one group. Bryant, Eisley, and myself in the other.

Side note: I’m not a big fan of horror movies, but I have seen enough to know that splitting up in an unexplored area of the woods isn’t always the greatest idea. Especially when there is only one map, and you are not in possession of it.

In opposite directions we journeyed, completely oblivious to the horrible decision we had just made.

Three hours passed and we still had not found what we were looking for, nor could we find the other four members of our group we so foolishly parted from. We were lost. We were direction disoriented. We were hot. We were thirsty.

“Do you think they are looking for us too?” asked Eisley.

“Who knows...” Bryant said hopelessly.

He checked his phone for the time again, 4:58 P.M. We wandered around for hours hoping we would maybe find another person from the trip. Or maybe some kind of landmark that was familiar.

“They’d have to notice we were missing by now,” I said. “How far could we possibly have gotten?”

“We should have stopped moving hours ago,” Bryant managed to laugh.

“Maybe we should build a fire or find some rocks and spell out S.O.S. or whatever people on that survivor show do,” Eisley said. “I think I remember how to start a fire.” She was a girl scout back in the second grade.

It was now 5:36 P.M., the sun was setting, and Bryant’s phone was at two percent. He tried climbing up a tree in hopes to use the little battery life he had left to get a signal�"but it was hopeless.

The next failure was Eisley’s attempt to make a fire. I’m still not sure why we thought a fire was necessary, but at the time, we were just scared and desperate.

“This looks so much easier on Naked and Afraid,” she said. The sound of her voice had a certain something that I still cannot identify. It almost made me feel sorry for her, but at the same time, I wanted to laugh.

Neither Bryant nor I said a thing.

We had no idea what time it was now. It was getting colder and darker as each moment passed on. At this point we have resorted to the S.O.S. rock idea, and also, screaming. We screamed and yelled at the top of our lungs hoping someone would hear us.

Not much later, we gave that up too.

“So this is it,” Bryant said. He was almost in tears. “Hopefully they at least make a movie about us and our disappearance.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, we’re going to be fine,” Even I could hear the doubt in my voice.

The sun disappeared behind the mountains and the purple-orange-ish color in the horizon was the only light remaining; however, even that was fading quickly.

At this point we were sitting on the ground, our backs leaning on each other’s facing different directions. We had our legs tucked close to our bodies trying to stay warm as nights in the mountains are far from a comfortable temperature. We talked about anything and everything in attempts to take our minds off of the unfortunate situation we were in.

Bryant was just sharing his strong opinion about people who choose to become vegetarians when we heard it.

“It was just the wind,” Eisley said.

“Yea, if the wind makes the same sound as a wolves!” exclaimed Bryant.

“SSSSHHHHH!!!” Eisley and I spat out.

There it was again: the clear, yet muffled, sound of a dog�"or a wolf�"barking in the distance.

At this point we were all on our feet and ready to scurry up the nearest tree to escape whatever beast lies in the great beyond. It was just dark enough that we could not see any further than thirty yards or so in front of us.

“Please don’t hate me for this, but how fast can you guys run? I just need to know so I can prepare myself to run faster,” Bryant voice was shaky and cracked.

I tried to picture what he may have looked like in that moment: Did he wet his pants? Were his knees wobbly? I like to think he looked like Shaggy from the old cartoon when he and Scooby saw a ghost.

“Really, Bryant?” Eisley said it, I was thinking it.

The barking was getting closer. We peered through the trees with laser focus. It’s true what they say: adrenaline sharpens your senses like no drug�"I imagine�"can.

“Is that a light?” I asked very confused and slightly hopeful.

“Yea! I think it is!” Eisley jumped with excitement.

“Over here!” “Right here!” “We’re over here!” We were all shouting.

My mind went back to the whole horror movie ordeal: What if we just invited a killer to our little shindig? We just blew our shot at life.

The barking seems closer than ever and the light was getting brighter through the trees. It is people. It is not a killer. We think.

The dogs we have been hearing trotted through the tree line. They were ugly dogs but I have never been so excited to see such ugly dogs. They were nice dogs too. They galloped over to us with their tongues out. They smelt around at our feet and up to our knees. Some stopped and sniffed around long enough for Eisley and me to bend down and pet them. There were three dogs surrounding us.

We heard a whistle, not a dog whistle, but a real whistle like the ones used at my kid sister’s seventh grade basketball games. The dogs all froze in their tracks and turned their heads to where the sound was coming from. They sucked their tongues back into their mouth, their tails were pointed, and their ears were alert.

Another sequence of whistles were blown and the dogs dashed back into the trees where we presume their owner was.

“Hey, wait!” Bryant was the first to yell.

“Come back!” “Please, help us!” Now all three of us we screaming.

We heard the barking again, followed by a long whistle. The noises were close, but the thick brush still seemed to muffle the sound.

We decided to follow the dogs. They were more than likely with the person blowing the whistle and that could be the person who was going to help us. We hoped it was a someone anyways.

Was it fishy that someone was walking a bunch of dogs deep in the woods this late at night? Maybe. But did we want to stay where we were and turn into the Donner party? No. Therefore, this was our chance.

Author's Note

This is a very rough cut. Please give your gentlest form of honest feedback!