It all started out normal enough when we decided we wanted to escape Provo for a weekend and go stay with Erika's aunt and uncle down in Vegas. Elizabeth wasn't home from Texas yet and was wanting to surprise us with her return so we had to wait for her to come back before we could go. Luckily, she came home last Monday night (which was seriously a huge surprise and the greatest night EVER since we missed her so dang much!) so we knew we'd be able to go the following weekend just like we'd planned.
That Friday, Erika and Elizabeth picked me up from work in my fully packed car and we made our way to grab Sarah and finally hit the road.
The trip down to Vegas was perfectly uneventful. When we hit Vegas we stopped at a sushi place called Sushi Ko for dinner and then hit the strip. All but Elizabeth had never been to Vegas so we showed her the obligatory sites like the Bellagio and the water show and then hit up the Flamingo and Ceasar's Palace. None of us really cared to explore much more than that, though I did want to do some penny slots I was just too cheap to invest ten dollars in penny slots!
We had a super exciting dessert at In-N-Out. I know. You really should be jealous. Finally we showed up at Erika's aunt and uncle's house and hung out until bed time. I think it's clear that we're pretty big partiers.
The next morning we awoke to glorious homemade pancakes for breakfast. We were planning on going hiking that day and possibly swimming or shopping later in the evening so we made our game plan, got ready, and hit the road.
Our absolute favorite place in Vegas is Red Rock Canyon. I mean look how beautiful it is!
We've gone hiking there twice before and always made our way over to this little spot we call "The Recliner" because the rocks form a perfect bench. Our plan was to go back to this spot since it had become a tradition but we couldn't remember exactly what trailhead it was near. There was one called Ice Box and that sounded familiar so we decided to go with it.
We tried hiking to where we thought "The Recliner" was but it was impossible to get over to where we were sure it should be. We kept following what was supposed to be the trail, passing by other people every so often. After an hour or so of hiking through desert and really rough trail, almost all of my water was gone and I started getting pretty nauseous. A bit later I decided I was going to be sick so I tried going away from everyone to throw up where they wouldn't hear. Only problem is that's not possible in situations like this but luckily my friends were nice enough to me that they started singing to drown out the sounds, although this was probably more for their own sakes.
Well, this happened a couple more times and I started getting pretty weak. After my last episode of throwing up in the great outdoors, I decided to follow a path down to where I knew my friends would end up rather than hike back up and then down anyways. I slid down on this rock to get to where I thought was a trail. Only problem was it wasn't really a trail but rather three humongous boulders that had a space to drop down to where the trail was. Well for those that don't know me, I am horribly afraid of heights. Like seriously terrified of heights. So while the drop down was ten feet max, to me it felt like fifty feet. There was no way for me to turn back because of how hard it was just to get down to that point. I tried lowering myself by creating pressure between the boulders with my feet and hands but I would just get too scared and have to stop.
Between my intense fear and recent episodes of being sick, I just sorta broke down and had a little bit of a panic attack. Pretty embarrassing but oh well! Finally I was able to calm down enough to slowly maneuver down using my arms and feet against facing boulders and get to my friends. I was so happy to be down and so very ready for the hike to be over.
We kept going but I was just so tired that it was taking me a bit longer than everyone. All my water was gone and I was starting to get pretty weak. Erika and Elizabeth were hopeful we were close to the trailhead and decided to go ahead to get the car started and air running for when Sarah and I caught up with them.
After they left, things got bad pretty fast. I realized we hadn't seen or heard anyone in a really long time and the trail was starting to not look like a trail anymore. I was in panic mode. Sarah kept trying to calm me down and motivate me to keep going but I was feeling sicker and weaker. She decided to explore our two alternatives (because that's how the trail was the whole time! Impossible to tell what the actual path was.) and neither looked very promising. I knew I couldn't go farther and I felt so hopeless.
We found a tree with some good rocks under it so Sarah sat down and I lied on one that was flat and a bit slanted. I noticed I had stopped sweating and from going to girls' camp in Florida, I know that is a really bad sign.
I told Sarah that there was no way I could keep going. I didn't have any service on my phone but I knew I was able to still make emergency calls and I just wanted to try to get a ranger to come out to guide us back to the trailhead so I tried calling.
And it didn't work.
I tried several times and every time the call would drop before it would even start dialing. I was so upset and scared at that point. Sarah said she'd try to hike down a bit to try to get service and then she'd come back and get me.
I don't know what time she left and I have no idea how long she was gone. I prayed and prayed that someone would come by just so I could at least get some water. I also prayed that it would just start raining. Then I half-heartedly prayed that I'd just get mauled by a mountain lion. I kept thinking maybe I should just try to hike a little at a time and slowly find my way back. Every time I thought about it though I got the strongest feeling to just stay where I was.
At one point while lying in the shade I either passed out or fell asleep. I woke up to what sounded like sirens coming behind the mountain, which I later realized was an echo. I never made the connection that it might be for me and thought that someone at a different trailhead must have gotten hurt. The sirens stopped and a while later I heard a helicopter. Again I thought it must be for someone at the other trailhead that must have been really hurt. Then the sound went away.
Then, the sound of the helicopter seemed to be incredibly close. It finally clicked that it was coming for me. I shakily moved out from under the tree and found a rock that I could lean on for support. I started crying because I was just so overwhelmed and relieved that I'd be leaving. I waved to the helicopter, but it kept going. Then I was crying because it wasn't looking for me and I was still stuck there.
I heard the helicopter coming back, and again I waved to it. This time, a person hanging out the side pointed to me. I was so happy that they were coming for me! But then it kept going again and I felt lost again. Finally, I heard it coming a third time but instead of going over me, it stopped a ways away from me where I couldn't really see it and left again.
A few minutes later, someone came climbing down the rocks and through the trees and walked right up to me, stuck out his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Jason!"
Nothing had ever sounded so wonderful.
He had me sit down in the shade and gave me water and checked my vitals. The whole time he was so nice and kept me talking and distracted me from the situation.
After I realized this was really happening, I asked him if Erika, Elizabeth, and Sarah were together and all safe. He said they had made it back to the car and had called for help. Later I found out that Sarah had set out with the search and rescue officers to try to find me.
Jason told me it was a good thing I didn't try to go farther because we were a thirty to forty-five minute hike from the trailhead and we were definitely off the trail. He explained that we were going to hike up just a little so that the helicopter could take me back to safety.
We slowly hiked up to this little clearing, which was one of the trails Sarah and I had considered taking. After getting to the top I realized it was a cliff and would have ended in major disappointment.
Jason got me strapped in a harness and put a helmet on me. He said we'd have to kneel down since the helicopter was going to create a lot of wind and rocks and sand would be flying around. He was so nice, he even moved little rocks on the ground out of the way to make kneeling more comfortable for me.
The way he explained getting on the helicopter, I thought it was going to hover at the edge of the cliff and I would have to jump in. Luckily, that was not at all the case. The helicopter landed and he handed my harness strap to his partner in the helicopter and helped me climb in. The inside was so tiny that only the other officer and I could fit sitting criss-cross on the floor with our backs against the pit.
Flying in the helicopter was pretty cool, but I wish it were under different circumstances so I could have appreciated it more. When we got close enough to see my friends again, I started crying yet again. I was so grateful to them for getting help for me.
When we landed, I was escorted into the ambulance to be checked out. The search and rescue officer had already checked me and said my vitals were fine. The EMTs said my pulse was a bit high and wanted me to go to the hospital. I told them I was just rescued by helicopter so of course my pulse was a little high. It was only 140, by the way. I was already feeling better after drinking water so I insisted that I'd be ok after getting some liquid and that I'd go to the ER if I wasn't doing ok later on. I mostly didn't want to pay $750 just to be told I had a heat stroke and needed to drink lots of water.
So my friends finally got to take me home where I did as I was instructed and drank all the water the EMTs had told me I needed to.
After that the rest of our trip was extremely relaxed. We hung out at the house, made s'mores, went to church and rested until driving back yesterday evening.
Today we're all sore but we're so thankful we made it back ok and are home. It almost doesn't feel like it actually happened but then I feel the soreness of my muscles and see the scratches on my arms and legs and I know that it really did happen.
But don't worry everyone, I promise we're all ok and have no horrible residual issues!
