Lost and Found

The Mission

It so happens that on the neighboring property to Lone Tree Farm, there is a spring or two (or three, maybe) to which Wendy and Peter have water rights and from which they garner the large majority of the farm's water supply. At some point in the last couple of weeks it was noted that the level in the water tank was very low, and since we WWOOFers hold the very purpose of learning and fixing such things, Peter took Michael, Jeff, and me on a walk last Sunday all the way up the water line to the contributing spring. After unclogging the pipe's entrance and exploring the hillside a bit, we gathered back together to start on the walk back down, hoping our small effort had mayhaps fixed the problem. It was at this time Peter informed us there were several ways to get back down to the house, one being to go up a bit more over a steep hill and down the other side to the "main" road. As I happened to be in the mood to walk by myself, and additionally was curious to see how I might in the future reach our current spot from the "main" road (yes, I do have a purpose for using quotations, as you will see if you graciously bear with me), I decided to go this route, leaving the others to take their own paths back.

And thus my adventure began.

Getting Lost

After going over the directions once again with Peter (Peter: Just go this way up these hills, cross over and on the other side if you go on a bit you'll hit the main road. Me: The MAIN road? Peter: Yeah yeah, the main road.), I set off on my appointed path. After climbing up a steep hill and crossing a fence, I saw just below me a dirt path. Now, I should mention two things that were going through my mind at this point: firstly, I expected to have quite a longer trek than I had just taken to get to the road, maybe because it was such a long way up in the first place. Secondly, I have walked and/or driven the ENTIRE length of Peachland Road, which is the one and only public road that could be considered the "main" one for miles around, and had never encountered this dirt path. Just for everyone's further edification, by the way, my Mac's Dictionary app defines main as "chief in size or importance; denoting the center of a network, FROM WHICH other parts branch out," meaning said branches are not considered "main," connected or no. I did not have a dictionary handy upon encountering the dirt path, but I was armed with a bit of education, which brought me to the same conclusion a dictionary would have: this was not the main road. For these reasons, and also since I had twice gotten pointed confirmation that I was to hit the MAIN road, I felt very unsure about taking the path in front of me. Still, it was the only road I saw. In the end, I figured I would continue down the hill a bit and, if I didn't see anything else, return to the little dirt road to see what I could find.

So there I went: down the hill, over a fence, across a meadow, into the woods. I didn't feel yet that I had gone very far (later I was to realize that I was mistaken, but going downhill makes the way seem shorter than it really is) and decided to walk just a little further along a fence to see if I could find anything. After a bit I could see a clearing a small distance away and made up my mind for sure to turn back if I couldn't see a road from there. And so, leaving the fence, I climbed down a couple of steep embankments and came to the clearing where, as I am sure you have guessed, I saw absolutely nothing helpful. I turned back and started climbing up to the area in the woods where I thought I would find my fence. I didn't. I went a bit further over and up and criss-crossed back and forth, looking for my fence. Still nothing. As confusing as this was for me, I "knew" if I just walked in the direction of 'up' I would find my path again. And so I walked. Then came the thickets. The damned spindly, grabby, poky, impossible thickets (now I know why they do not call them "thinets") that spread out and pop up magically in EXACTLY the place you want to walk. And of course, I definitely had not seen them on my way down and was doubly confused by them- not only by their mere presence but also by the way they forced me to go this direction and that, so that I was so turned around I lost all sense of direction other than the direction the hill was going. And so I walked up as best I could until finally, finally I cleared the woods and came to a meadow. Now, whether or not this was the same meadow I had walked through on my way down, I still have no idea. I only know that I could no longer tell which way was ultimately 'up'- this side went down and then back up, this side up and then down, this side went through woods thicker than I dared to venture, etc.

I suppose it was around this time I figured I was lost. Still, I didn't panic- there was still about an hour or so left before sunset and I felt sure I would find my way before then. After all, I couldn't be TOO far off course...

...Except it turns out I could. Or at least, I could definitely wander around for long enough to get myself WAY off course. I still didn't know if I had totally missed the main road or simply had a major miscommunication with Peter, but I did eventually realize I was NOT going to find my way back to where I was before. I made up my mind instead to walk in the general direction of Wendy's house, occasionally coming upon a path through pasture or wood that I followed in hopes of finding a road or some other sign of humanity. Every time, I was wrong, and every time, I got myself more turned around and off-track. By the time it turned dark, I had somehow (I would find out later) gotten myself way down into a valley, crossed a river at the bottom, and walked or scrambled on all fours a good distance up the opposite side from where I had started. By this time I knew it was no good to try and go further and that I would most likely be spending the night outside, so I found a grove of trees in a large clearing and curled up inside a fallen tree. I figured I'd be fine, it was cold but it wasn't Siberia, but I also knew Michael and the folks at the farm would be worried and I felt terrible for it, and for getting myself in such a ridiculous situation.

Search and Rescue

The thing about stopping to rest under a tree after dark in February is it gets cold. All the moving around and adrenaline had kept me warm as I was getting myself lost, and now all that was gone and my sweater wasn't going to cut it. Besides, after resting for a while I got pretty antsy and didn't like the feeling of giving up, even though "giving up" a few hours earlier would have gotten me found a hell of a lot sooner than I was. But still, I was restless and as I sat under my tree I kept hearing cars in the distance and who am I anyway to turn aside from a streak of bad luck without following it to the bitter end? And so I persisted up the accursed hill towards the distant and too-infrequent sound of car engines.

I hadn't gone far before I found yet another path, but this one seemed more promising and more used than the dead ends I had come across in the woods. I followed it up to the top and was near to going around the bend when I heard what sounded like a whistle or some strange animal noise. Hoping it was the former and from a human, I stopped to listen and sure enough, "Kaaaaassseeeeeeeeey!!" The voice was VERY faint and very far away but I could tell it was coming from somewhere across the valley and I yelled back at the very tippy-top of my lungs. There was much shouting back and forth and I knew the voice was Michael's and also that I still had a long wait ahead of me because he sounded so terribly far away but I was so happy to be FOUND (sort of)!

Ok, I know I haven't exactly been short-and-sweet with this tale, but listen, I've been reading Tolkien and he's no Charles Dickens but still you know how he is with details, so hopefully you'll forgive me getting into particulars a little. Anyway I'll try and make the rest a bit shorter.

So once I was sure my rescuers knew I was ok and perhaps had a general idea of my locale, I sat tight in my little clearing and waited. I didn't do nothing, though. There was lots of shouting for what seemed like hours (well, it was actually, at least two) and I watched little lights going up and down and across the hill opposite me. This was frustrating and it is difficult to get an exact location on sound in those hills because of echoing, so I kept trying to tell them how to reach me ("DOWN DOWN DOWN, CROSS RIVER, UP UP UP!!", "GO DOWN, CROSS RIVER, UP HILL!!!" and other variations) and other than that just kept putting out my sound beacon. I finally saw flashlights on my side of the valley but I could tell they didn't have a clue where to go from there (every time they hit the woods below me they couldn't hear a thing any more), so after a very long time of sitting and waiting and thinking about mountain lions, I set off with two walking sticks towards the place I had last seen the flash of lights. I was yelling the whole way and finally I heard a response and we kept calling back and forth and back and forth and the voice got nearer and nearer and then I saw LIGHTS again and the two voices were so close and then I was FOUND (really truly found) by Michael and some other guy I'd never seen before. Turns out they had called the fire department, which is probably what anyone in their situation would have done but still somehow I was surprised. I guess I figured the Lone Tree Farm and co. could've braved the search all by themselves, and I am still certain they could have, but maybe it would have taken a good bit longer and so I am VERY thankful to the Anderson Valley volunteer firefighters.

The three of us crossed the river (I guess it's more of a wide creek, really, but we still got pretty wet) and hiked back up the huge hill to where Jeff and the crew were waiting and it was nearly 2 a.m. by the time we reached the top and I swear, Gatorade has never tasted so delicious. Nectar of the gods it is, at least after 8 hours of being lost in the wilderness of Anderson Valley. And then we journeyed back to Wendy and Peter's place and there was much rejoicing and eating of lentil soup. And that is the story of how I was lost and found in the woods.

Epilogue

So here I am a week later, none the worse for the wear other than a few minor scratches and bruises which are fading, and a few spots of poison oak which I hope will fade very soon. I do have some advice for you all, if you can stand to read just a little further....

1) Never wander lands you do not know without a guide, a compass, a map, snacks and drinking water, a working cell phone, and/or camping gear.
2) If you do not follow rule #1, the moment you realize you may be lost, STAY WHERE YOU ARE!
3) No really, just stay put. It's much better that way.
4) Stay calm. If it is dark and starry look for O'Rion's belt.. for some reason it just makes you feel better.
5) Be loud. Bear and/or coyote and/or mountain lion encounters are much less likely that way.
6) If you are indeed lost and then found, nothing says "thank you" to your rescuers like a GIANT basket of homemade cookies and a self-made thank-you card.

Thanks for reading! God bless!