My headlamp beam reflected off the shiny, wet leaves of the impossible thicket ahead of us. The sound of the surf had disappeared again, leaving us with no point of reference. Ridges rose above us on both sides.
Left or right? Time was running out. We had to get off the mountain. In the pitch black I tried to get a bearing on our location on the hillside, but the jungle was too thick. I looked back behind me. My dad was laying in the bushes, unable to move his muscles, and he was getting worse by the minute.
We have to get off this mountain.
Sometimes it seems like some situations get out of hand so quickly, its almost unbelievable. Everything that could happen at any moment sometimes seem to happen all at the same time, leaving a very grim situation to face. This was one of these times.
"I think we can make it in 3 hours. That should put us home by sundown, in time for vespers," we reasoned as we loaded into our truck carrying four Nalgene bottles and two headlamps. Truth is, we were pushing it. As we started up the trailhead, I began to realize that our predictions were a little off. We scrambled up the muddy trail, grabbing for roots and ferns for stability. Sporadic rain storms were making the climbing conditions a bit slippery, leaving the steep path a sketchy climb for our shoes. My dad came to visit me here in Kosrae, and timed it perfectly so that he could escape the deep northwest winter. He is fit and loves to hike, so this was a perfect adventure for all of us. Finally, we popped out on the top of the peak. The beauty of Kosrae surrounded us, displaying distant rainstorms over the ocean, rainbows, deep green mountains, the tropical waters, and a beautiful sunset.
A sunset.
I looked at my watch. We had reached the top right as the sun began to reach the western horizon. After a quick picture, we knew we had to make tracks for home before it got too late, because the trail was steep and dangerous in spots, and not always visible. Scrambling down the steep embankments of the ridge, I noticed that my dad was drinking an abnormal amount of water. At this time, I decided it was time to turn on my headlamp. Darkness settled into the jungle when I heard Ryan yell ahead.
"I don't think we are on our trail anymore!" He said.
Classic. It was getting dark, we are far up on a thick jungle mountain, and we lost our trail. The full moon rose up over the distant waters of the pacific as we tried to traverse our way back to where we thought the trail was. Did we cross a ridge accidentally? Are we on the right side of the mountain? Was the moon on the left or right of us when we started? Questions were being exchanged. Pretty soon, we found ourselves climbing along a steep embankment, getting more lost with each step. All of a sudden, we heard the bubbling of water.
"Hey, a little stream! We can follow this down!" I suggested. Water always takes the quickest path down the mountain, so it seemed logical. Dropping into the gully, we followed to stream for a few yards. I noticed my dad getting slower and slower.
"Hey Riv, I don't feel so well. I don't know what it is, but my muscles are cramping and I feel nauseas. Do you mind if we rest for a second?" My dad asked.
A rest was more than welcomed for all of us. Thats when things went south really quick. I looked down at my dad. He was shaking vigorously and breathing really fast. Laying down in the ferns, he started to talk really soft and high. I searched my brain for anything I had learned in nursing school so far as to what is happening to him. Shock? Dehydration?
"How is your pulse? Do you feel like you are going to black out? Can you think straight? What is 5x2?" I frantically asked. It was obvious that he was getting worse by the minute, and something had to happen. But what do you do when you are lost deep in the jungle in the pitch black, in a strange gully, surrounded by thorny brush and tall trees, with my dad laying immobile and physiologically unstable on the ground? It would have been bad enough if we knew how to get home. But we were lost. Good, old-fashioned lost.
We have to get out of this gully. We formed a quick plan. Tyler would stay with my dad, and Ryan and I would bushwack up the ridge to see if there was a way down. Filled with the fear that I might lose my dad to whatever was happening to him, I surged forward, heaving the machete back and forth to clear the vines and brush from my path. Finally on top of the ridge, we found that it was less dense, but any kind of vantage point was hidden by the towering trees.
I stopped. grabbing onto a banyan branch, I prayed like I have never before. "God, we are in a helpless and grim situation. We need you to get us off this mountain and get my dad to safety. Please."With great difficulty and failing muscle function, my dad was able to get up the ridge with Tyler's help. But just as he reached the top, he laid down again and started breathing too fast. He was mumbling a little, and his arms were trembling. This isn't it, is it? This isn't how it is going to end, will it? I thought as I watched my dad lay on the jungle floor in a bad way.
"Dad, we HAVE to keep moving. We need to go home."
Wishing I knew where home was, he was finally able to climb back to his feet and move slowly on. Our water was gone, but Tyler found a coconut tree and climbed it, dropping a fresh coconut to the ground. Hacking it open with the machete, we gave it to my dad to drink. Coconuts are a good source of electrolytes, which hopefully would boost his muscle function. The coconut gave him enough energy to get back up and climb on, step by step. It took sheer willpower to make his muscles work, but we kept climbing down.
"Lights!" Someone exclaims.
Sure enough, down by the coast we could see houselights. One big white light shone out of the jungle below us, promising a house and a road.
We finally had a bearing, and decided just to surge towards the light at all cost. My dad limped along, but luckily was showing signs of improvement. With our headlights growing dimmer, we got hit with a giant rainstorm. Ryan all of a sudden disappears in front of me with a crash. "Cliff!" he warns from below. Vines caught our ankles and the black jungle mountainside played tricks on us and we slid down muddy embankments and hidden drop-offs. Foot by foot we cleared the thickness ahead of us with our machete until we finally reached a flat banana grove. The light was shining just ahead. We had made it.
We stumbled into the backyard of a local shack, where a man and his wife were milling outside.
"Akaywoh! Hello! We just came from the mountain. We aren't sneaking," I assured.
"Weis!! You came from the mountain? Right now?" He was surprised. "Come in, we have curry and rice!"
His wife was scurrying around, bringing out chairs and water and banana turnovers. We were covered head to toe with mud and leaves and scratches. Dad was feeling much better after restoring his fluids and eating some food. Tyler ran to get the truck, and we all collapsed in weariness on the couch when we got home. I whipped up my dad a tall glass of super-strength gatorade powder and we rinsed the jungle off our bodies. The Pastor met us at our house.
"Boys! Tell me what happened."
We told him everything, and he just nodded the whole way through. "I had the church praying for you all since we knew you were lost. We were just about to send a search party up the mountain! But I am so glad you are all safe. I should have not let you go because of the conditions. People have died up there walking off the top off the waterfalls because they couldn't see at night. But I am more happy that you are back. Even though it is dangerous up there, I was ready with my backpack full of jackets and water to cover you with when you were found! I was ready to leave my village to find the lost boys, like how Jesus leaves the 99 to find the 1," he explained. "Well, I will see you boys in the morning. Praise God."
Walking off the top of waterfalls. My mind raced back to the location of a certain 80 ft. waterfall flowing off a sheer cliff, around the side of the mountain we were bush-wacking down. It would have been easy to have misstep or been blinded by undergrowth and found ourselves with the same fate. But here we were, all safely sitting in our house, not knowing exactly how we got down but knowing we were safe and sound.
I believe angels were with us that night. Stuck in that gully, We found ourselves in a grim situation. My dad's body appeared to be shutting down for an unknown reason, it was dark and raining, the clouds had covered the moon so we had no compass, and we were dead lost in thick thorns and vines with no hope of ever finding our trail again. It was one of the few times when I felt totally hopeless, blindly swinging a machete while I recklessly charged up the ridge trying to find us a way home. The jungle was thick as ever, and I just thrust my machete into the mud and sat down. I prayed, but I was preparing for the worst. Don't let me lose my dad up here, God. I don't know what is going on, but just don't let me lose him.
It was one of those moments where you wish you had prayed more in your life and you felt totally undeserving of any divine attention. But we begged anyways, and God saw our need. God sent a coconut with electrolytes, and I truly believe angels carried my dad up that ridge and down the mountain towards the light. And once we reached that beautiful light, I realized that my dad was going to be ok. I sent up a prayer of thanks, not exactly knowing what to say. He had saved my dad's life and somehow got us off that mountain and back into green pastures.
When we had no idea where we were in that jungle, the only thing we could follow as our compass home was that light in front of us. Following the light saved us that night.
Following the light will always save us.Peace from the tropics,
River
p.s. Dad just left Kosrae, and we had a wonderful time afterwards doing all sorts of things as well as being able to visit Pohnpei with him! He felt immensely better that night after some rest, and was perfectly normal the next day and actually preached! Our predictions were that his situation may have resulted from a mixture of things, including mainly dehydration and electrolyte depletion in his muscles, causing a response similar to heatstroke and the symptoms of shakiness, hyperventilation, muscle cramps and dizziness/nausea. We are thankful that he is okay! It was awesome to see him and show him our island. Pray for safe travels as he heads back to the frozen tundra of Spokane tonight.
