High Adventure - Day 3

On Thursday morning, June 13, we checked out of the campground and headed up the mountain. Our destination for this first day was Barlow Flats. It was about seven miles, and the first four miles were quite a challenge.

The boys (and leaders) had a wide range of ability, so we had planned to break into two groups, a fast group and a slow group. It ended up that some of the fast group was lagging behind and some of the slow group were moving up, so there ended up being a middle group. I was in the fast group so I didn’t witness exactly what happened, but Kyle, Truman and Peter were hiking in a row when Kyle and Truman heard a “ughh, ooh, uggh” sound from behind them. Truman remembers thinking that it sounded like someone bouncing down a cliff. They turned around and couldn’t see Peter and were suddenly shocked to realize that maybe someone had fallen off a cliff.

The trail at that point had a sheer cliff up on their right and a sheer cliff down on their left. I’m not sure if this is the exact cliff here but it was one much like it.

Peter was taking a picture and dropped his hiking pole. He bent over to pick it up but his backpack shifted his center of gravity and toppled him head first off the edge of this cliff. He says that he bounced at least three times and each time he bounced he was certain that he was going to die. Everyone tells a different story but he fell at least fifty feet and maybe as much as a hundred feet straight down and then what probably saved his life was that the bottom was very sloped so once he hit bottom he rolled for another sixty feet.

Kyle and Truman were looking down the cliff to see if they could find Peter when suddenly he sat up in the midst of the brush at the bottom. Kyle and Truman both felt a huge sense of gratitude to know that at least he was alive. It was impossible to navigate down the cliff, so they had to hike back a ways before they could get down to Peter and Kyle (who is a fire fighter/paramedic) got to him first. Kyle quickly assessed his condition and when he found nothing that needed immediate attention, him and Peter said a prayer of gratitude.

By this time the slow group had arrived and the second person to get to Peter was Doug who happens to be a doctor. Peter had lost his phone and his glasses so Ronnie and Truman looked for them for about a half hour, but the brush was just too thick. It was hopeless.

They managed to get Peter back to the trail and then they immediately gave him a priesthood blessing.

Peters son, Connor was with us in the fast group so Kyle left his pack and ran up to meet us. It was a couple of miles, climbing up a mountain on a hot day before he found us. It must have been exhausting. He explained to Connor (and to the rest of us) what had happened and assured Connor that his dad was fine. He then asked if Connor wanted to stay on the hike or go home with his dad. Connor decided that if his dad was OK then he wanted to stay. We were all glad he did.

By this time we had witnessed many miracles. Let me just review those that come to mind.

1) Peter was protected by angels as he plunged down that cliff. He could have easily been killed but he walked down the mountain.

2) Connor got sick the morning we left so he slept for a couple of hours and then came up in their own car. If Peter didn’t have his own car, there wouldn’t have been a car for them to drive home. Some leaders and boys would have had to leave early.

3) Dave Bennion had been really struggling to get up the mountain. While he obviously wanted to stay, it would have had a serious negative impact on the event. Dave was the obvious choice to go home with Peter.

4) Dave’s grandson Kyle (a nephew of Doug’s) was young, rude and had a serious negative impact on the event. He was sent home with his grandpa. It probably saved Kyles life because if he had stayed someone would have strangled him.

5) In addition to Peters accident, this hike had been plagued with several other problems. Connor got sick in the parking lot, Gavin Jack threw up at Pinnacles, Jack Keddington had shingles on one arm, Ronnie was sick before we left and was struggling, several boys had fallen and scrapped themselves up and then Doug caught whatever Ronnie had and was getting sick.

We asked the boys to pray for each of these people individually, and as they did every single person completed this hike with no serious problems. Even though Peter and Dave had to leave, the fact that they were able to, was a miracle in and of itself.

Me and Kyle Knaphus enjoying Barlow Creek.  

The fast group made it to the campsite and after enjoying the beautiful surroundings several of the boys went back along the trail to help the slow group. They carried the packs for the weaker boys, and we were soon all enjoying the beautiful Barlow Flats. I hung up my hammock and relaxed for a bit. It was amazing.

There were beautiful Red Woods and ferns all around us and right next to my hammock was this gorgeous little fern that I was sorely tempted to dig up and bring home to plant in my back yard.

Alas, I decided to leave him alone and buy a fern for my yard. It would probably do better anyway.

Do you see me at the base of that tree in the middle?

--------------------trivia--------------------

Redwood branches are so large that they support their own ecosystems, with decomposing foliage creating soil that's home to worms, beetles, spiders, amphibians, and crickets.

----------------------------------------------