People who know Cliff know that he dreams and plans big. He comes up with a "foolproof" plan and talks people into it and they either love him or hate him for it. His motto is "What's the worst thing that could happen?"
This hike was no exception. This time, the proposition was to our new friends. Isn't that always how it starts? Let's reminisce, shall we?
There was the time we had just met our new friends from Southwest and he convinced them (some of whom were carrying babies in backpacks) to go on an Oregon Coast hike which ended with multiple swarming ground bee stings and a trip to the urgent care.
Then there was the time that he convinced his friend Mike who was a leader of the high school group at church to bring the kids on a little "hike" up South Sister. His plan was to meet them on the trail in the middle of the night (so they could be at the top by sunrise) by jumping out and scaring them all... Luckily he had told Mike of his plan and Mike warned the group as one of them had brought a gun! Probably 5 out of the 12 actually made it to the summit.
Another time he convinced a friend of his to hike from the Columbia Gorge to Mount Hood's Timberline Lodge... a 50 mile hike to be done in two days. There was only a 30% chance of rain. It poured on them the whole time. Cliff enjoyed it, slept soundly and enjoyed the rain. His friend (Matt)? Not so much. In fact it's pretty amazing they are still friends as it infuriates him that Cliff can start sleeping (and snoring) the second his head hits the pillow no matter how cold or wet he is. They ended up veering 3 miles off the trail near Lost Lake in order to get some warm, dry clothes to wear. All they had available at the gift shop were old Christmas sweaters. Haha! They got a ride up to the top.
The plan this time was to fly to Kauai on their first flight, get a rental car. drive to the North Coast. Hike 22 miles round trip, get back to the airport, turn in the car and be on the last plane back to Oahu the same day. What's the worst thing that could happen? He didn't think it was necessary to leave the return ticket open-ended or to bring any camping equipment in case they got stuck on the trail. He did however bring a LOT of food... which ended up being really good as the other guys were pretty unprepared for the amount of caloric intake they would need. I still can't believe he was able to convince 3 others to do this with him!
They had a pretty good time until one of the guys injured his knee. He limped the last 4 or 5 miles or so... leaning on his more sympathetic comrades (not Cliff :). They saw a few homeless camps, some people hunting and killing goats, beautiful views, super sharp, muddy dropoffs, the forbidden island of Ni'ihau and finally a secluded beach. They knew time was short, so they sort of snapped pics as they were walking, only stopping to fill up the water filter whenever they ran into streams, and pushed on through. They made it back to trail head at dusk, sped to the airport, and returned the car at the exact moment a shuttle was leaving.
Oh good! Now Cliff has taken an interest in describing the rest of the adventure: "The shuttle materialized out of nowhere just when we needed it most. The driver's face shone like that of an angel, and he got us to the airport as fast as can be. As we checked with the security at the airport, the TSA agent's voice shook like thunder saying, "You're already late!" We scurried through the security line and galloped to the gate. We could see the pilot, eyes eager with anticipation, ready to disembark. As we whisked ourselves down to the plane, and gently floated into our seats, we noticed that the other passengers were either impressed with our scent or the fact we made it just in time. Three minutes later we looked out the window and smiled, satisfied with our accomplishments (and very sore) as the plane ascended into the dark night sky."
LOL. Thanks for the commentary!
Here they are the next day at church... except one guy who decided to recover at home.
A little chafing, a little knee injury, some sore muscles for a few days, and a lot of memory making happened. But the best part is... they are all still friends!
No comments:
Post a Comment