"okay guys so colby and i decided it would be fun to go for a hike today. it's currently like 3pm so we're just about to start the trail." i told my vlog camera.
colby and i were hiking on a trail we'd never been on before. we had driven a few hours to go on it. colby wasn't all that into hiking but today he had brought up the idea so i sprang on it. we decided on a trail that we'd never been on before.
"ready?" he asked me, grabbing my hand.
"yep." i smiled, beginning our walk down the trail.
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"i don't think this is the right way." i told colby.
"but the other way is so muddy. they all just lead to other trails anyways." he said.
"okay." i sighed, following him. we had been on our hike for about an hour. it had been a pretty nice hike considering we were unfamiliar with it.
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"this hike is only supposed to be two miles. it shouldn't take over an hour. we've been walking for two. it's about to get dark out." i said to my boyfriend.
"well maybe the trail we switched over to was a couple more miles." he suggested. i know he was so over hiking at this point. hikes had never really been his thing but he knows i love them.
"look on the bright side... you got to spend the whole day with your very beautiful girlfriend." i joked.
"i guess i did." he laughed, stopping on the trail to kiss me. he grabbed my hand and we continued walking.
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"colby, it's 7pm. i haven't seen a tree marking in miles. there is no way were on a real path." i said, letting out a huff at the fact that we'd been walking for four hours.
"i don't know what to do though!" he exclaimed.
"maybe we should just turn around." i suggested.
"we wouldnt get back to the car until at least 11. let's just keep walking." he said. "it's almost dark out."
"okay." i huffed, not wanting to argue with him. it would just make things worse. i was just scared of it getting too dark to see since we hadn't brought flashlights or anything... and i was starting to get hungry. i decided to get out my vlog camera to update the situation.
"so guys, i think we're lost in the woods." i laughed.
"we are definitely not on the trail we started with... but we'll be fine." he said. it came out more as a question though which made me laugh. i wasn't too worried but i was also tired of walking.
"colby... look. i swear we already saw this tree." i said, pointing to the tree.
"ayla, i don't think that's possible." colby laughed.
"look! it says A + C in a heart. remember we laughed at it since it's our initials? i literally showed the vlog that when we went through the first time." i said.
"oh my gosh... how did we make a circle?" he groaned.
"what should we do now?" i asked him, deciding to sit down on a rock. i still had the vlog camera rolling.
"i don't know, babe." he said, letting out a breath as he sat next to me.
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we decided to just keep walking until we found a path that veered off of the one we were on. never go on the devils ice box trail.
but then we ended up hitting two dead ends so we had no clue what to do other than walk.
"colby, it's pitch black out. we should probably call for help." i told him. it was now 11pm and we had made no progress in finding our way back to the car. we had walked for a long time in one direction and then we got to a spot that had a sign that was pointing back the way we came. so we were for sure lost. we had been walking for 8 hours at this point and i was so over it. i had suggested calling for help about an hour ago but we had no service.
it had gotten pretty cold at this point as well so colby gave me his hoodie. we were out of water now and i was starving.
"do you have service?" he asked me. his phone had died about a mile back since we were using it as a flashlight. my phone was now the designated flashlight and it was on 21%. we had little hope at this point.
"a little bit. probably enough to get a call through." i said. we decided it'd be best to call colbys mom considering we were staying with them right now. we had flown in from california to kansas. we had decided to drive to Missouri for this hike. little did we know that our day would turn out this horribly. i pressed on her contact and she picked up almost immediately.
"hey, ayla! i've been trying to call you guys. are you coming back here tonight?" she asked me.
"hey, mom. we're kinda lost in the woods. we've been hiking for 8 hours... in literal circles. we don't know what to do." he told her.
"oh my gosh! are you guys okay?" she asked.
"we're fine! we're just tired, cold and hungry." i told her.
"i guess you guys should probably just call 911. what trail did you take?" she asked us.
"devils icebox." i told her. she followed up my response with a gasp.
"so many people get lost on that trail! why would you go there?" she asked.
"i didn't know!" i said. "we'll text you with updates, mom." colby said.
"alright. stay safe. i love you two, bye." she said.
"love you too." we both said before colby pressed the end button.
i called 911 and the operator told us to walk back to the sign that we had seen probably 10 times now. it was only about a mile back from where we were. she said they were sending firefighters to come search for us and that we had to remain at the sign. i had been vlogging most of this 'adventure' as it is because i knew we'd eventually get out. we made it to the sign within 15 minutes so we just sat on a cold rock.
"you okay, babe?" colby asked me, pulling my body closer to his on the rock. in all honesty, i was tired, cold, hungry and thirsty.
"yeah. i'm cold." i said, not wanting to complain about everything.
"i'm sorry this happened." he told me, rubbing his hands up and down my arms to create friction to try to keep me warm.
"it's not your fault. i'm the one who picked this trail." i said, turning slightly to kiss his cheek. we sat and talked for the next 25 or so minutes when finally i saw a flashlight heading our way.
"hello?" the firefighter called out.
"hey!" i responded, getting up from the rock.
"are you colby and ayla?" he asked us.
"we are. thank you so much for coming to find us." i said
"no problem! we're only about 25 minutes from the parking lot so you guys can just follow me." the other firefighter said. they handed each of us a flashlight and we started back up the hill they had just come down. i recorded a little bit of it, not talking though because i didn't want to make it awkward.
we finally made it back to the parking lot. there were around 15 people waiting in the parking lot in case they needed to send a search party. colby and i thanked all of the people who had come... even though that was slightly embarrassing. they told us that 12 people had gotten lost on the same trail that same night so it was not as embarrassing. but now we were covered in mud and around two to three hours away from colbys house in kansas. great.
"what do you say we go get food at a diner and then stay at a hotel for the night?" colby asked, putting his hand in mine.
"that sounds like exactly what i need. we should go to walmart too. i can not sit in these muddy clothes any longer." i laughed.
it's safe to say colby will probably never bring up hiking again... and i'm okay with that.
i wasn't gonna post this cause it's kinda boring but it took me a while to write so i decided to upload it anyways :)
