the rest of the day.
“Alright, where are we headed?" I asked as
he handed me a map and a compass like I was supposed to know how to
use them. Seriously, outdoorsman I was not. I have only ever been
camping twice in my life. One of those times, we had to go home
early because I sprained my ankle walking across a flat meadow. The
prospect of navigating this uneven and foreign terrain was a bit
daunting. But hey, if I could figure out city maps, maybe I could
handle this.
“I have the different exit strategies mapped
out here. Choose one for today and we will start there. In the next
couple of weeks, we will do all of them. Once I feel you have the
necessary skills to do it, you will do a practice run on each in
which you do them solo. I will be close, but you won’t see me. So
pick one, we will start with that and get you acclimated to reading
the map and figuring out your coordinates. As we go along, I will
try and teach you anything that might be vital to your survival. I
may not always be there to protect you, so I need to know that you
can take care of yourself if necessary.”
Quite frankly, the prospect of hiking out
here on my own scared the bejeezus out of me. I tried to suppress
my shudder, and looked down at the map. I was surprised at how
close the cabin was to several major roadways. Looking at it now, I
realized we could not possibly be as far from where we left the car
as I thought. Slightly annoyed, I took a second to ask Kennan.
“How far are we exactly from where we left
the car the first day?”
“About a forty minute hike. I needed to know
that you would not try and run, so I took you the long way."
He said it so matter-of-factly that I once
again was filled with the urge to punch him right in his stupid
throat. Okay, maybe I probably could not reach high enough to do
it, but the visualization was cathartic. I looked back at the map
and chose what seemed to be the longest of the routes. If he was
determined to act as though I had peed in his cornflakes, then I
was going to make the day harder on him. Take that Kennan
O’stupidhead.
He looked at the route and nodded his head.
“You need to orient yourself in the direction that the path leads.
Show me how you would do that.”
I looked at the map and the compass and
turned myself away from the cabin in the direction I thought I
might need to head. Kennan moved behind me and turned me about
forty-five degrees to the right. I looked back at the map and
compass and figured out how to match the two sets of information. I
had always been a quick learner, and I was determined to learn this
as quickly as possible. It was my escape plan after all. I might as
well learn how to save my own neck if necessary.
I started hiking into the woods, checking
the map every few feet to make sure I was still heading in the
right direction. From the looks of it, the map had me heading
toward the Hoh River. After looking more closely at the map, I
realized I chose the most mountainous of the escape routes. I guess
the joke was on me after all. Whatever! In for a dime… and all
that.
We trudged on in silence for about three
hours with me stopping every few minutes to check my orientation.
The only words that passed between us were those concerning our
trek. We climbed up for what seemed an eternity before heading
downward toward the river itself. The daylight was starting to fade
and I was wondering if we would be heading back in the dark, or if
we would be staying the night out in the wilderness.
My fear of the dark was only second to my
fear of small spaces. I was hoping that somewhere in my pack was
some sort of lantern or something that might keep the dark at bay
for a while. Ready to stop, I broke the silence between us.
“Kennan, can we stop for a while? I am
getting really tired. I know we have not made it out yet, but the
sun is setting and I don’t think there is any way I can do it in
the dark," I sighed looking out at the river. I was stunned by
“Alright, where are we headed?" I asked as
he handed me a map and a compass like I was supposed to know how to
use them. Seriously, outdoorsman I was not. I have only ever been
camping twice in my life. One of those times, we had to go home
early because I sprained my ankle walking across a flat meadow. The
prospect of navigating this uneven and foreign terrain was a bit
daunting. But hey, if I could figure out city maps, maybe I could
handle this.
“I have the different exit strategies mapped
out here. Choose one for today and we will start there. In the next
couple of weeks, we will do all of them. Once I feel you have the
necessary skills to do it, you will do a practice run on each in
which you do them solo. I will be close, but you won’t see me. So
pick one, we will start with that and get you acclimated to reading
the map and figuring out your coordinates. As we go along, I will
try and teach you anything that might be vital to your survival. I
may not always be there to protect you, so I need to know that you
can take care of yourself if necessary.”
Quite frankly, the prospect of hiking out
here on my own scared the bejeezus out of me. I tried to suppress
my shudder, and looked down at the map. I was surprised at how
close the cabin was to several major roadways. Looking at it now, I
realized we could not possibly be as far from where we left the car
as I thought. Slightly annoyed, I took a second to ask Kennan.
“How far are we exactly from where we left
the car the first day?”
“About a forty minute hike. I needed to know
that you would not try and run, so I took you the long way."
He said it so matter-of-factly that I once
again was filled with the urge to punch him right in his stupid
throat. Okay, maybe I probably could not reach high enough to do
it, but the visualization was cathartic. I looked back at the map
and chose what seemed to be the longest of the routes. If he was
determined to act as though I had peed in his cornflakes, then I
was going to make the day harder on him. Take that Kennan
O’stupidhead.
He looked at the route and nodded his head.
“You need to orient yourself in the direction that the path leads.
Show me how you would do that.”
I looked at the map and the compass and
turned myself away from the cabin in the direction I thought I
might need to head. Kennan moved behind me and turned me about
forty-five degrees to the right. I looked back at the map and
compass and figured out how to match the two sets of information. I
had always been a quick learner, and I was determined to learn this
as quickly as possible. It was my escape plan after all. I might as
well learn how to save my own neck if necessary.
I started hiking into the woods, checking
the map every few feet to make sure I was still heading in the
right direction. From the looks of it, the map had me heading
toward the Hoh River. After looking more closely at the map, I
realized I chose the most mountainous of the escape routes. I guess
the joke was on me after all. Whatever! In for a dime… and all
that.
We trudged on in silence for about three
hours with me stopping every few minutes to check my orientation.
The only words that passed between us were those concerning our
trek. We climbed up for what seemed an eternity before heading
downward toward the river itself. The daylight was starting to fade
and I was wondering if we would be heading back in the dark, or if
we would be staying the night out in the wilderness.
My fear of the dark was only second to my
fear of small spaces. I was hoping that somewhere in my pack was
some sort of lantern or something that might keep the dark at bay
for a while. Ready to stop, I broke the silence between us.
“Kennan, can we stop for a while? I am
getting really tired. I know we have not made it out yet, but the
sun is setting and I don’t think there is any way I can do it in
the dark," I sighed looking out at the river. I was stunned by
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