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Want to Download the Story to your Computer? Click Here! Trouble I wanted to return to the little city that I had started out from that morning as soon as I could. I had my GPS with me so even though I was off the main path, I was still able to tell where I needed to go to get back down to Trigales. I had taken a lot of GPS readings and markings along the way so I wasn’t lost. In addition, my hosts had told me earlier in the day that I would find a path on top that led straight back to Trigales. I didn’t see the path from where I was but I thought that perhaps it was on another part of the mountain. I came down from the top and then began climbing again on another “hill” in the direction of Trigales. I knew that darkness was my worst enemy. I had a little flashlight with me but you just really shouldn’t walk alone on the side of a mountain when it is dark. Any misstep could send you plummeting into a ravine or worse yet off the side of a cliff. Spraining your ankle or breaking a wrist was even more likely. As soon as dusk began to fall over the mountain, it started to hail. Fortunately, the size of the hail wasn’t big but I still scurried to find shelter under a big rock. I decided to call it a day. I lit a candle and enjoyed a small meal. After that I tried to sleep but it would be one of the most miserable nights I had ever spent. Even with my sweater and rain jacket I was quite cold, and the hail, which later turned into light rain had dampened my BDU pants. My GPS showed me that I was still up quite high; about 3800 meters (12,460 feet). Because of the thin air, any activity required a lot of energy. I was breathing much harder because my lungs were not getting as much oxygen with one breath as they usually did. Even tying my shoes seemed to be a great chore. I spent the whole night awake praying and watching for sunrise. I was so tired from walking but I couldn’t sleep. Throughout the night, I warmed my hands using a small lighter that I had carried with me. After what seemed to be a night that would never end, the sun began to mercifully appear over the trees. As soon as I thought there was enough light to safely begin walking, I was on my feet and on my way up the rest of the hill to the top where I descended again. Throughout the early morning, I found myself running up and down parts of the mountain looking for a path that I could follow. Sometimes I would climb for 15 minutes and then descend for 10 minutes. I was using my GPS which helped to direct me in the general direction that I needed to go. It wasn’t until about 9:00, however, that I finally found a path that was easy to follow. As I walked along, the quiet nature that surrounded me lifted my spirits and I was certain that I would reach Trigales and maybe even my home later in the day. At about 9:00 AM, I suddenly realized that my GPS was missing. I had been using it to mark my trail throughout the morning and suddenly I couldn’t find it. I realized it must have dropped out of my pocket. What I did next might be considered idiotic by some but my backpack was quite heavy so I set it down on the path and backtracked for thirty seconds to see if I could locate my GPS. My GPS was no where to be seen so I returned to where I had set my back pack down and was horrified to discover that it was no longer there. Maybe it wasn’t wise to set my backpack down but it must be understood that I was still thousands of feet up on a remote mountain path and I had not come into contact with another human being for at least 15 hours. Even though I knew deep inside that my backpack had been stolen, I spent the next six hours searching for it with the irrational hope that perhaps it had fallen or that somehow I had switched paths. However, as I looked up, down, and all around, I realized that there was really no where for the backpack to fall and since I was walking on the side of a mountain, there was only one path. After just three hours of searching, I was very thirsty. I was still high up on the mountain, but the clear, blue skies overhead allowed the hot Mexican sun to beat down unmercifully on me and I felt my energy levels decreasing drastically every hour. After about six hours, I knew that the situation was becoming serious. I really had no idea where I was because I had been relying on my GPS to guide me back to the way that I had come up a few days earlier. I did have a compass that had happened to be in my pocket when my backpack had disappeared. However, when you are trying to navigate on a mountain, a compass is about as useful as a clown at a funeral and I knew that finding my way was completely up to me now. I decided that I had to give up on my backpack and just focus on reaching Trigales by nightfall. First, however, I needed to find water. From my experience with ALERT, I knew that dehydration was very dangerous as I had seen a few guys succumb to its ugly effects. Already my lips were parched, my throat was dry and raspy, and I didn’t seem to be sweating very much even though it was such a hot day. I felt quite tired as well and I had to resist the urge to lie down under a tree and take a nap. Instead, I left the path that I was on and began searching and listening for any sign of water. I had always thought that the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala were filled with bubbling springs, small fast moving streams, and tall waterfalls but apparently, the part of the mountain that I was on was about as dry as a bone in the desert. I was really starting to despair when I came upon a rather odd and unexpected sight. A little ways below me, in a small valley, I could see cows milling about in a small pasture. My heart began to beat excitedly with the hope that perhaps there was someone down there tending the herd. When I reached the bottom, I was disappointed to see that the cows were alone but I was convinced that there had to be some water nearby. After about 10 minutes of searching, I finally found what I was looking for but it wasn’t at all what I had expected or desired. There were about half a dozen stagnant puddles of water in the valley. The water was murky and the floating debris on top reminded me of what a little kiddie pool looks like after a few weeks if the water hasn’t been changed. When I first saw the water， my terrible thirst seemed to diminish for a while. I didn’t want to drink the water. I even left the pasture for a few minutes just to make sure that there were no little brooks or streams nearby. Within ten minutes, however, my thirst had returned with an insatiable vengeance and I found myself kneeling in front of one of the puddles with a broken half of a bottle that I had located while descending to the valley. I tried to find the clearest part of the puddle and I even used a branch to try to move some of the “floaties” away. Close by, some cows looked at me suspiciously but didn’t bother me. As the water touched my lips I knew that I was making the right decision. It had a funny taste but it was cold and refreshing and I immediately felt stronger and more hopeful about getting off the volcano. I had just filled up on cow water when from up above me I saw a man and a little boy descending into the cow pasture. Naturally I wondered a little if perhaps these were the thieves but despite that thought, they were the first human beings that I had seen in hours, and I eagerly went to meet them. I explained to the man what had happened and then I asked him if there was any clean water nearby. No, he said, but he suggested that I drink out of the cow pasture. I informed him that I had already done that and I asked him what terrible effects the dirty water might have on my body. He shook his head and smiled telling me that the water was fine but it was just a little old. I wasn’t convinced but I nodded my head and smiled. I had told the man about my backpack and pointed out to him exactly where I had lost it. I asked him to look for it after I had left and promised him that I would give him a nice reward if he found it. His face lit up when I said the word “reward” and he told me that he and his son would keep an eye out for it. Then I asked him what the best way was to return to Triagles. Even though I wasn’t feeling so great, I had two bottles of cow water, and I was pretty sure I could make it to Trigales if I could just find out how to get there. The man was nice enough to show me a path that would go directly to Trigales. In fact, I was happy to discover that it ran right by the cow pasture in which I was standing. He told me to keep walking down the path until I saw a house and that I could ask the people there how to continue to Trigales. He then walked with me down the path a little ways, gave me a pat on the back, wished me luck, and once again I was on my own. www.nathanryan.com on the world wide web |
