Page 23 - Oasis in the Sky

Finally, we made our way back to the road and my pickup location. I had
planned for my trek to take five hours, and it had taken five hours and twenty
minutes. My dad was nowhere to be seen, but I knew he would be back in ap-
proximately forty minutes. All I had to do was stay warm and wait; however, I
had a problem. I was soaked with sweat from my five hours of extreme exer-
tion. I had to get dry or I would freeze. The only solution was to change into the
spare clothes in my pack, including socks and underwear. I knew that, consid-
ering the windchill factor, the temperature was many degrees below freezing. I
also knew that if I wanted to survive, I had to get dry.
So there, in the middle of a blizzard, I dug my dry clothes out of my pack
and stripped down to bare skin, upper body first, then lower body. With my butt
cheeks exposed to the brutal wind, I do not think I have ever been so cold. I
changed very quickly and was soon back in my ski pants and ski jacket, shiv-
ering uncontrollably as my body began to reheat.
I decided to start walking back to the cabin, just in case something had hap-
pened to delay my dad. When he dropped me off, he had gone into town for
gasoline, and if the blizzard had delayed him, I would be better off to get home
instead of waiting around in a blizzard.
I did not push hard; I did not want to get soaked with perspiration again. I
had used my only change of clothes. After about twenty minutes, to my aston-
ishment, an SUV came down the road. It was rare to see anyone else on this
road, and even more surprising to see someone in a blizzard. To my further sur-
prise, the SUV stopped. I’m sure they were even more surprised to see me—a
backpacker out walking in a blizzard.
Of course, they asked if I was okay, and they wanted to know what in the
world I was doing out in the blizzard. I briefly recounted my adventure, and to
their credit, they insisted on driving me back to the cabin. I asked if their offer
included my dogs, and they graciously said, “Of course.” Feeling deeply grate-
ful, I hefted the dogs into the SUV, then my pack, and finally myself. They
turned around, and I directed them to the cabin.
As we pulled into the drive, my father was pulling out in the open air jeep
to go pick me up. Imagine his surprise as I and my dogs climbed out of the SUV.
My dad offered them money for delivering me safely home, but they would
have none of it. What they really wanted was to see our small cabin. Once they
saw it, they wanted one like it for themselves. My dad explained that it was a
custom job, but he said he would be glad to help them build their own.
After they left, dad had me tell him all about my hair-brained trek through
a blizzard. He couldn’t believe I had survived my ordeal to the peak and back.
He had been listening to the news on the radio, and he was sure he had lost his
eldest son, and that they wouldn’t find me until spring.
The weather forecast continued to be so bad that he decided we should get

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Oasis in the Sky
Oasis in the Sky