1This is my first try at biography. This did happen to me last August of 2014. Let me know if there are any errors, or if I could at all make it better. I guess you could say this is more like an essay format, but this is exactly how it happened.
Some people say I almost died. Some people say I was overreacting. I just know I was tired, lightheaded, dizzy, and cold- very cold.
This was my first long backpacking trip I'd ever done. I'd been once before, but it was a four mile hike into camp, and it was pretty level, hardly any elevation. This trip was nine miles up to camp, and about six miles of it was uphill.
I made sure to listen carefully to everyone that had gone before me- drink lots of water, take good hiking shoes, bring salty items to eat to replace the salt you lose when you sweat, take things with a lot of electrolytes for hydration, pack lightly, etc. I bought a new pair of shoes before I left because I didn't have a pair of tennis shoes. I bought foods such as chips, granola bars, and dried fruits to eat on the way up so I wouldn't lose my salt intake. I packed as little as possible, taking the bare necessities, even when it came to clothing. It was the middle of summer, for goodness sake, and I didn't need a coat. My sleeping bag was probably a 20 degrees Fahrenheit bag, and I thought that would be more than warm enough.
The group I was traveling with was the last group to travel up that week. We all worked, and didn't have the time or money to spare to leave when everyone else did. None of us had ever gone on this specific backpacking trip, and we had little to no backpacking experience under our belts. Fortunately the day before the main group left, they had pity on us and found us a guide who knew the trail well that would hike up with us on Friday.
I had to work until 11:00pm the night before we left, and my brother worked until 1:00am. My roommate who was also going, arrived home at 10:00 that night, and my other brother came up that afternoon with his things already packed. The rest of us were not packed yet. Fortunately we'd already gone shopping and bought what we thought we needed, but we didn't have enough time to get it all packed yet.
I'd been fighting a cold all week, and was starting to get better, but the night before we left, my cold started getting a little worse. I ignored it, telling myself I would be fine, that the fresh air up in the mountains would do me good.
We stayed up until 2:00am packing. We were to leave at 4:00am. I hopped in the shower, knowing this would probably be the last time I could be clean for the rest of the weekend, and didn't get into bed until 3:30am. I got about twenty minutes of sleep that night.
We woke up on time the next morning and packed our things in the car. We were also told to bring things to put over our packs that were waterproof so they wouldn't get wet, and we all agreed we would take plastic garbage bags up with us and throw them over our packs at night to keep them dry. We didn't realize we'd forgotten them until we were halfway to our destination.
I wasn't feeling great that morning when we drove away from the house. I was nervous- never had much experience backpacking- and wondered if I was up to this. I didn't drink much water because my stomach didn't feel great, and didn't eat much that morning. But I told myself I would be fine, that once we got started, I would start feeling better. I also hoped to get some sleep on the road to our destination, but that didn't pan out either.
We finally arrived where we were to meet our guide, and we packed up everything and got ready to head out. The only water we had was in our 24oz water bottles. We had camelbacks, but we figured we'd keep everything as light as possible, so we left those empty to use on later hikes.
The first three miles were perfect. The temperature was mildly cold, and the hike was pretty level, and I thought we were going to make great time up the mountain. After the first three miles, the trail started to head uphill. It was ok at first. We would stop every so often, probably more than our official guide was used to, and ate our salty things, remembering what the others had said about losing too much salt. I guess you could say I'd been so worried about that part of it, I didn't remember how important hydration is as well.
Within the first four miles, my roommate couldn't go any farther. She had back problems, and figured she might be able to get away with a really light pack and go backpacking, (she'd never gone before), but her back was killing her, and she was close to tears when she told us she couldn't bear the weight anymore.
I was already worried about her. She warned me beforehand that she got heatstroke fairly easily, and I was worried she would pass out on me. Since that was the case, I started making sure she got enough water. When she ran out of her water, I naturally gave her my water. I stopped drinking a lot by this point.
After a lot of finagling, we found that my brother would carry her pack as well as his, since we had another five or more miles to go up the mountain. He added to my list of worries. I started making sure he had enough water, again, losing out on my own. I figured I could make it, that I didn't have it nearly as hard of a time as them, that I could deny myself my need for water.
We stopped a lot more after that, making sure that people were rested and fed and hydrated, of course skipping over my needs to make sure the others were ok.
Mile six brought us to a meadow with a stream. I was hungry by then, so we stopped and we ate. However, I wasn't thirsty. I had maybe 24oz by that point total, but I wasn't thirsty. I didn't know the signs of dehydration, and neither did the others. I don't think the guide really thought about it, or else he didn't say anything.
So we were stopped in the meadow, and we began to notice a temperature change. It started dropping, and we were able to see our breath in the air. I put on my American Eagle jacket to warm up, and we put our things away and continued on. It was then we began to notice the black clouds heading into the valley around us. They didn't look too pretty. We knew we needed to hurry if we were going to make it before the storm let loose.
I hadn't thought to check the weather before we left, thinking that it was the middle of August, that there would be no chance we would be stuck in the rain. And the fact that the others who went before us told us the weather was supposed to be great that weekend, that they had been watching it all week to make sure things would be good on this trip.
My brother who was carrying my roommates pack on his own was starting to slow down, and it worried me. He was exhausted; I could tell. He finally told us to go on without him, to send someone down to help him when we arrived at camp.
Fortunately the teams that had already gone ahead a couple of days before gave us a walkie talkie, and told us to turn it on when we got up the mountain, that they would keep theirs on to keep in contact with us. Unfortunately, the walkie talkies could only be used when we were within the last mile of camp. Since I was currently worried about my brother with two packs, I turned on the walkie talkie, and at random intervals, we would all try to contact base camp.
Our guide was getting anxious by mile 6 1/2 , so he went on ahead of us, saying he was going to find the Ice Lake camping spots and leave his things there, then come back down and help my little brother with the second pack. Then it started to rain.
At first, the rain came in little tiny drops. I'd taken my jacket off again, feeling warm from hiking, even though I could definitely see my breath. The clouds were dark and angry, and the temperature dropped a good twenty degrees. Within twenty minutes, it started to pour. Hikers were frantically trying to get down the mountain, warning us that it was still a couple of miles uphill, and then another mile to base camp. They also said that the weather was just as bad uphill. But we still kept going. I mean, we had made it so far, why turn back now?
By this point, it started to sleet, and it bounced off us, and bounced off the path, and things were looking icy. My jacket was soaked from being on top of my backpack, so it was no use to me. My hair was soaked, and my shoes were soaked, and I knew my pack was also getting soaked inside and out. It was a grave mistake to leave our waterproof garbage bags at home.
By mile seven, I couldn't feel my fingers, and my arms were starting to feel numb. I knew we had to stop and try to make some kind of shelter to try to keep our things dry. The lightning was right over us, and thunder would clap just after the lightning struck. I convinced my little brother and my roommate that we needed to try to keep our things dry, and they reluctantly agreed.
We stopped there on the path and pulled out a tent fly. Big mistake. We didn't know that you have to have something between you and the tent fly to keep dry. We put it over the three of us and sat down as close to the cliff on our right as we dared and leaned up against the pine trees to keep from falling. My legs started cramping. I put my legs out of the fly so I could stretch them out to keep them from cramping.
But since we didn't realize you need space between the fly and ourselves to keep dry, the freezing rain started pouring down our backs and our heads, and we wondered why. It was then that we started propping it up with sticks and whatever else we could and realized what was wrong, but by then it was too late, we were completely soaked.
We all huddled in that little fly, and were all shivering so bad. My teeth chattered and I could hardly talk. We all hugged each other to keep warm, and rubbed our arms and hands on each other, trying to get circulation running through our extremities. The others said my lips were blue. I didn't argue with them. I was tired and knew I was cold. The shivering was making it hard to move, and it was exhausting me.
Some people say they see their life flash before their eyes before they die. I literally could see my family I left behind, and was remembering little snippets of good memories I had with them. I was praying to God to forgive me of all my sins and to save me before I died. I literally thought I was going to die there on the path.
I finally convinced my brother to get out and set up a tent on the path, since there was a cliff going down on the right side, and a cliff going up on the left side. He begrudgingly went, but as soon as it was up we ran into the tent and grabbed all of our bedding- most of it wet- and all huddled together. I was shivering so bad, that when I leaned against my roommate, she said it felt like she was leaning against a massage chair. I had nothing I could really change into that was dry. Our packs were soaked. Our bedding was soaked. Our tents were soaked.
We lay in the tent for a while, shivering, crying, laughing, talking, trying to get warm, trying to figure out what we needed to do. I was so tired that I just wanted to set up camp there on the trail for the night, and then hike up the next day to base camp. I wanted sleep. A few hikers laughed at our tent as they tried to get around us to head down the mountain, but I didn't care. At least I was out of the rain and sleet.
A miracle happened. Our walkie talkies were not supposed to work until we reached mile eight, one mile away from camp. We lay there in the tent, and I thought I would try the walkie talkie. I turned it on, and tried to contact them, and thought it would be a lost cause, but within a few seconds, we heard our leaders voice! I cried. I tried to tell him what happened, but nobody realized what kind of danger we were in, not even us. Mike, our leader, thought that we were just a little wet, and they might come later to see if we needed help if we didn't reach them by nightfall. I also tried to tell him about my brother Ryan who had to carry close to 100 pounds, but he thought we were kidding.
It didn't help our morale that no help was coming. We lay there for a little while longer, and noticed that it stopped raining. I'd stopped shivering. My lips were still blue, but I wasn't shivering anymore. I was extremely tired though, and I complained when the other two started talking about packing up and heading up the rest of the way. I believe they knew something wasn't right. My little brother finally pushed me out of the tent and wrapped me up in a sleeping bag and told me to start moving.
Our guide came back down and met us as we were getting out of the tent. He saw how blue my lips were, and took off his waterproof jacket and wrapped it around me, telling me that the wet sleeping bag was only going to make it worse. I'd started shivering again. He told us to pack up and head up, that there were only a few more switchbacks left, and then we would be at Ice Lake. That would mean one more mile to go after that. However, he told us that he already set up camp at Ice Lake, and we were going to sleep there for the night.
We told Mike and the others of our plans on the walkie talkie, that we were too tired to make it up to base camp. They began to realize something was wrong, and sent a large group of people down to meet us.
When we got up to our guides camp, the others met up with us. Our guide told me to get into the tent right away and shed my clothes and get wrapped in his blankets, but the main group said that we needed to get up to the fire to dry our things, being we had nothing dry left. Reluctantly our guide agreed, and the main group grabbed our things from us and carried it the last mile. I didn't feel great. I'd stopped shivering again, and was lightheaded, and had to sit a few times, feeling sick to my stomach.
We finally reached camp. I wanted to cry. I barely remember much of what happened after this, but I know a few people told me what happened.
I just know that I walked into camp, and I saw a large rock, and it looked so comfortable to lay on, that I walked over to it and just sat. I didn't go to the fire, I didn't acknowledge anyone, just went and sat on the rock. I was going to lay down on it, but someone came up and got in my face and started talking to me. I really didn't understand what they were saying. I remember someone giving me a drink, but I didn't want it. I wasn't thirsty or hungry. Just tired. I wanted to sleep.
I remember worrying about my brother who carried the two packs. He finally reached us on the last leg of the journey, and was acting dehydrated. I kept telling people to make sure he was ok, and to check on my roommate because she'd been so cold out on the trail. I told them to check my other little brother and make sure he was ok. I think I cried.
Someone led me to the fire. Someone asked if I had food. I didn't want any. Maybe just something warm, like water. Someone slipped some hot chocolate in my hands, but I only drank two sips. I wasn't thirsty. Steam was coming off my clothes as I sat close to the fire. I started shivering again.
The dark clouds started coming back around and it started to rain. Someone else got in my face and tried talking to me, but I didn't really comprehend what they were saying. I asked about my siblings and my roommate. Asked if they were ok, if they had enough food and water, asked if they were warm. Someone took my arm and started to lead me away from the fire. I started shivering even more, and tried to go back to the fire. Some other people started talking around me, but I didn't understand them.
Someone gave me salt, but I told them that I had eaten a lot of salty things on the trail, that it wasn't because of loss of salt, I was just cold and wet. They led me even farther away from the fire, and took me to a tent. I was shivering uncontrollably, and my teeth were chattering so loudly. I just knew I wanted to be warm, to be back with the fire. They helped me change out of my clothes and into some clothes of mine that had miraculously stayed dry in my pack, and then put on some extra layers of someone else's. I tried to argue with them and tell them I didn't need the extra clothes, that I was just taking stuff away from them, but they wouldn't hear it, and told me to put them on anyways.
They took me back to the fire, for which I was grateful. I sat as close as I could without burning myself, and they kept offering me different things, such as Gatorade, or water, or hot chocolate. My brothers offered me food, but I wasn't thirsty or hungry.
The older people started barraging me with questions that took a while to answer. How much water had I drank? When was the last time I drank? How much salt had I ingested? Etc. I told them as best as I could, but my roommate ended up answering for me. I hadn't drank very much because I had given it all to the others when they ran out. I stopped drinking a little before mile six. I'd ingested a lot of salt. I just told them I was cold and wanted to be warm.
The others were concerned, and took me away from the fire and back to the same tent I had changed in. They told me they were going to wrap me up and get me warm. I argued that I was taking their space, that I should just go to my own tent and sleep there, but they wouldn't hear of it. They stuffed me into one of their own sleeping bags on the side wall of the tent, and put some more layers on.
My head hurt from shivering so much. I was so tired. I heard people come and go, but I stayed tucked in my sleeping bag. I shivered uncontrollably. They tried to give me water, but every time I tried to sit up, I would feel nauseous, and have to lay back down. And every time I took a little water, it would feel like it was going to come back up.
Eventually someone got into the sleeping bag with me. They put Hot Hands on my feet inside my socks, but I couldn't feel them. They kept giving me salt and trying to force water down, and also gave me things like lemon drops and other hard candies, but it was all I could stomach. I didn't want anything else.
Night came, and they decided to switch me to the middle of the tent. They figured it was too cold on the wall of the tent, and they decided the body heat of two people would warm me up. I was moved, and put into the sleeping bag with the same person, and had another person on the other side of me. It was within that hour that I started reviving.
I stopped shivering an hour after the switch. I became so thirsty, I begged for water. My stomach growled, and someone threw me a bag of pretzels. I started to feel the Hot Hands on my feet, and the only way I can describe how I felt as my body started to warm up is I felt like a frozen chicken thawing out. My insides were warm, but my outside skin and muscles were all cold. It was later I found out that the person who'd been in the sleeping bag with me lay there for 6 hours.
Some people say I almost died- if I wouldn't have made it to camp that night and stayed down at the Ice Lake without a fire and without dry things, I probably wouldn't have made it through the night. I just know the next time I go backpacking, I will make sure to pack warm things, a warmer sleeping bag, waterproof shelters and things to keep my backpack dry, eat enough while on the trail, drink more than enough water, stop when I need to stop, and stop worrying about the others.
To those of you who go camping or backpacking- please remember this, and take enough equipment, even if you are trying to pack lightly. It is always best to be over prepared than to not have enough.