Hike

I remember seeing a volunteer sign-up sheet in the school cafeteria.  It read, “Chaperon needed for Alpine hike, enjoy the fall foliage with young Botanist from Mr. Wilson’s science class”.  I jumped on the chance to see the fall foliage and to work with children who wanted to learn about deciduous trees. What a great way to spend the last weekend of October.

Now, looking back I didn’t take into account the difficulty of the terrain and the inexperience of the new science teacher. He had read about this experience in a book and had never been to “Lost Lake”.  Lost Lake is wedged between the Saw Tooth Mountains in an elevation of 3100 ft. Not an extreme mountain for our area. But enough that we both should have thought that weather could play a part. Now I am stuck in a fog bank with six well-read students who have zero mountaineer skills and the foliage alone the ridge is scattered with wet slippery debris and it’s our only way out. To my right is a rock wall as far as I can see up. We stand on the narrow path and the left is straight down to a once dry creek that is now spilling over with fresh rainwater and mist.