Date: 2003-07-19
To: a true story
Miles today: 0.0

i emailed a friend today and told her that in the month that i¢ve been in the state of new mexico i have literally seen a total of four minutes of rain. after that, i decided that it was time to A) do a little hiking, and, B) do some cowboy camping. (you know the kind- no tent, no tarp, just you and the stars, your saddle as your pillow- okay, so maybe i wouldn¢t use my saddle as my pillow, but that is the way that the real cowboys do it).as i was driving up toward the santa fe ski basin and the trailhead i noticed some nice, dark clouds above my destination. this is supposed to be the ¢monsoon season¢ in new mexico- meaning that it apparently rains every afternoon. like i said, though, i have seen four minutes of rain since i arrived in this town a month ago today.as i parked my truck at the santa fe ski basin, beneath a dark gray sky, i could hear the rumble of thunder just on the other side of the ridge. i figured that if i were caught in a rain shower, then that would be fine by me. at this point i would welcome the rain with open arms. it would probably pass anyway. so, i set off- hiking up the ski slope toward the ridge a little over a thousand feet above me, where i would pick up the skyline trail, which would eventually take me to my destination- santa fe baldy (elevation: 12,622 feet- a great place to do a little cowboy camping). i passed a few people heading back to the safety of their cars for fear of getting caught in the approaching storm. i passed the lift ticket office and main ski lodge and soon started climbing the slopes. about halfway up the main slope is a little hut-totemoff¢s bar and grill- that serves as a waypoint for those who either can¢t seem to find their way to the top of the mountain or to the bottom of the run- a pretty happening place when ski season is in full swing. i noticed that the place was completely shut down and locked up for the summer as i reached the deck, just as the first drops of rain started to fall.i figured this would be a good place to wait out this little rain shower. it was a lot better than if i¢d already reached the top of the ridge. i took a seat on a bench, beneath an overhang, and watched the rain. then, i watched the hail that started falling with the rain. it was pretty small at first- about the size of a bb. but, after a couple of minutes the hail started to get bigger and started to fall harder. i now watched the marble sized hail from the safety of my bench. i stuck my hand out into the rain and immediately pulled it back with the sting of being pelted by hail.the thunder and lightning started to make their presence known. they surely didn¢t want to be left out of what was turning into a pretty fierce storm. looking out into the rain was almost like looking out into a blizzard. all i could see was white. the hail started to accumulate and pretty soon there were two or three inches of the stuff piled up on the deck. i sat for a little over an hour watching the storm unfold before me.i stood up and walked around the outside of totemoff¢s, always keeping close to the walls of the building, beneath the safety of the overhanging roof. i noticed three people (a man and woman with their teenage son) standing beneath the shelter of a ski lift station nearby. i was about to wave them over to join me when i saw them make a break for it- running around the back of the building where i was standing. i figured that they¢d had enough and were making a mad dash for the parking lot. although, it would have made a little more sense to wait for a pause in the storm. of course, i could tell that this storm wasn¢t letting up anytime soon.thirty more minutes ticked away as the rain and the hail continued to fall. the thunder roared and the lightning flashed not two seconds after. what is that formula for figuring how far away the storm is? first thing you do- subtract thirty-two. no. that is the formula for converting fahrenheit to celsius or something. the temperature had been steadily dropping since the storm began and was now sitting at about fifty degrees.another huge roar of thunder so loud that it shook the entire building for a good ten seconds was followed immediately by its good friend, the lightning. this storm was directly above me. i was still gawking at the thunder-lightning showcase that i¢d just witnessed when a man (for lack of ever catching his name and for confusion¢s sake, we¢ll call him pete. pete from poland- that really is where he was from) came running around the side of the building. he was completely drenched. soaked to the bone. he asked me if any of the doors were open and i told him that they were all locked up for the summer. he said something to the effect of- damn it, i have a baby with me. i said to myself- that can¢t be good.i followed pete back around the bar and grill to a smaller building that was off to the side. i saw the other man from earlier (with the wife and teenage son) standing outside this smaller building. when i walked up he introduced himself as phoenix. i followed both men into a small tool shed that was on the side of this building. once inside, i found quite a site- the woman and boy that went with phoenix, along with a woman holding a baby that couldn¢t have been more than six months old. all were completely drenched. soaked to the bone. i could tell right away that the baby was in the early stages of hypothermia. this is not good. this is serious. if we don¢t get this baby warmed up right away, then it might not come out of this storm alive. i would venture to guess that babies have a much lower tolerance for this kind of thing than adults do.two minutes ago i was thoroughly enjoying the awesomeness of God¢s great storm. now, i was quite scared of it. scared for all of these people that were huddled in this tiny tool shed. scared for this woman and her baby. i ran back around to the bench where i¢d left my backpack and brought it back to the shed. i pulled out my fleece shirt and hat and handed them to the woman (we¢ll call her sarah since i never did catch her name either). sarah wrapped the baby up and started to rub him to try to get the blood pumping and get his body temperature back up. next, i pulled out my sleeping bag and also handed it to sarah. she wrapped herself and the baby up in it so they could both get warmpete asked me if he could borrow my rain jacket to go and look for sarah¢s sister, who was still somewhere out in the storm. are you serious? it has now been almost two hours and she is still out in this thing? this really can¢t be good. pete ran off into the storm while phoenix and i stood beneath the overhang of the roof outside of the shed. we looked in a window behind us and realized that we were standing outside of a ski patrol hut. we could see through the building to the other side and noticed that there was a window that wasn¢t shut all the way. sitting just inside the window was a two-way radio. as phoenix and i were about to go around to try and climb in the window we saw a woman approaching through the rain. she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and was a not so healthy shade of blue. (the temperature had dropped into the forties by this time). she was completely drenched. soaked to the bone. she was shaking uncontrollably and couldn¢t get a word out because her teeth were chattering so badly. phoenix and i got this woman (who turned out to be sarah¢s sister) inside the shed and into the sleeping bag.pete showed up as we were coming back outside and we told him that his sister-in-law was inside getting warm. he went inside to check on her while phoenix and i went around to try and get into the ski patrol. once around back, we tried to pry the screen out of the window. the screen wasn¢t cooperating so i pulled out my knife and cut it out. i reached in and grabbed the radio. i turned it on and nothing happened. it was dead. what good is a radio that doesn¢t work? it is no good at all.there was a second window on the backside of the hut. we decided that it would be the easier of the two windows to climb through and since i was the skinnier person i would be climbing through it. phoenix punched the screen out of this window and i climbed inside.once inside, i found quite a site- first of all, the place was warm. very warm. seventy degrees warm. second of all, there were insulated, waterproof jackets everywhere. i opened locker after locker and found nothing but insulated, waterproof jackets, along with fleece pullovers. lots of fleece pullovers. i handed a bunch of these out the window to phoenix and he took them around to the shed to pass out to everyone. i found a light switch and turned it on- and there was light. there was a small kitchen area with a two-burner stove, a sink, a refrigerator, and a table and chairs. there was also a phone on the wall which, of course, didn¢t work.i was looking through some cabinets when, through the front window, i saw a man, woman, and their dog walk up to the shed. phoenix told them to come around back and climb into the window so that they could get warm. they came around to the window and the woman climbed in. the man decided that he wouldn¢t be able to fit, so i handed him a jacket so that he could get warm. the woman, camjy (pronounced cam-gee, i have no idea how to spell it), was covered in welts from the hail. she and her boyfriend, isaac, had been up on the ridge when the storm hit. they were completely exposed. they¢d tried taking shelter beneath a small roof overhang at a building on the summit, but there wasn¢t much shelter to be taken. they¢d parked down the road from the ski basin at a place called aspen vista, which was four or five miles away by trail. instead of trying to make it back to their car, they decided that they needed to get off the ridge the quickest way possible. that meant coming down the ski slopes towards the parking lot. they¢d seen phoenix standing outside of the shed and he waved them over. both were completely drenched when they showed up. both were soaked to the bone. both were in the early stages of hypothermia. their dog looked like a wet rat. it was shaking convulsively. ((i will interject at this point that i¢ve made up my mind. the decision has been made. there is no turning back now. i am going to marry a british girl. camjy is from london and her accent is beautiful. the kind of thing that i could listen to all day and never get tired of hearing. so, it is final. i am going to marry a british girl. i have made up my mind.))anyway, camjy put on a warm, insulated, waterproof jacket and took a seat at the table. i searched through some more lockers to see what else the ski patrol had for us to use. in a corner of the room, behind a pile of ski poles and jackets, i noticed what looked like a door. at least, there was a latch on the wall, which, where i come from means that there is a door. i unlocked the latch and pushed on the door. nothing happened. this wall/door wouldn¢t budge. i put my shoulder into it and still nothing happened. if it was, in fact, a door, then maybe it was also locked from the other side (which, by my calculations, happened to be inside the tool shed). i climbed back out the window and into the rain and walked around to the shed. i opened the door to find everyone somewhat warmer and a little dryer. i asked phoenix¢s wife if there was a door beside where she was standing. she said that it looked like there was a door, but there was no handle. i told her to stand back from the door because i was going to try to get it open.i went back around to the side of the building, climbed through the window, walked up to the door, and gave it a kick. it budged slightly. so, i gave it another kick and it flew open. everyone in the tool shed let out a little cheer as i invited them into the warmth of the ski patrol hut.phoenix decided to hike back down the slopes to the parking lot and see if there was any way that he could get his jeep up to where we were so that we could start getting people out of here. i passed out more jackets and made sure everyone was warm enough. by this time, the baby looked quite warm and cozy wrapped in a red fleece pullover. the color of sarah¢s sister¢s skin had returned to normal and she also looked warm. isaac said that he was having a little trouble feeling is arm because it felt frozen, but other than that he was fine. he stuck it under some warm water and soon had feeling return to it. camjy was also feeling much warmer. the threat of hypothermia had passed. everyone was going to be okay. thank you God.we all sat around, waiting for the storm to let up. phoenix finally showed back up and said that he couldn¢t get his jeep up to the ski patrol. so, we would have to wait it out.and, just over three hours after this little rain shower started, it finally stopped. we all decided that it was time to get off this mountain. everyone decided to wear their jackets with them down the mountain and phoenix would return them to the state park visitors center that sits on the road up to the ski basin. we figured that they would be able to figure out what to do with them.after everyone had gathered their stuff together and walked back through the tool shed and outside; i shut the door and locked it, turned off the light, and climbed back out the window- closing it behind me.we all walked down to the parking lot together and shook hands all around before parting ways. when we left i felt a certain sense of camaraderie between us. we¢d all just endured what could very well be considered the storm of the century. (i know that i will consider it the storm of the century). we now all shared a certain bond.i drove isaac, camjy, and their dog back down to aspen vista. and, then i decided that it was time to head back to the house. i didn¢t really get to do any hiking today. i didn¢t get to do any cowboy camping either. but, i think i had enough adventure for one day.i am glad that i was on that mountain today. i am glad that i was prepared for that kind of situation. i am glad that i was able to help those people. i know that i was there when i was there because i was supposed to be there. i know that the good Lord put me there for a reason. i¢m not saying that i saved any lives or anything like that. i¢m no hero by any means. but, who knows what could have happened under different circumstances.for some odd reason, having been through this makes me kind of excited about my upcoming winter thru-hike. i know that i will be prepared for it and i know that i will be able to handle whatever might come my way.i know that it is going to be a great adventure.and, i have now seen more than four minutes of rain since i arrived in this town a month ago today.