Take a Hike!

*** Warning: Extra Long Post *** It was a Sunday morning hike that started like any other. While others had gotten up that morning to run 2 Hoegee's Loops, we were not so ambitious. Rather we decided to take a leisurely hike and have some lunch at the camp ground. All told it is about 5 miles. The last time I did Hoegee's Loop - I was running it, tripped (cause I can be a klutz), and cut up my knee pretty good. Who knew this trip would be so much worse. We arrived at Chantry Flats and were terrifically lucky in finding a parking spot right by the gate. We gathered our belongings, packed up our lunch and water, and the four of us (plus Stuart the dog) headed out. We did not get to far, when Florence, who works for the park service yelled at us to make sure that we did not leave any trash. Florence was being a little pushy and uptight. So Angie tried to make a joke, but Florence just ignored her and stared Angie down. We tried to stop Angie from making a rude comment back, but it just slipped from her mouth. Florence was offended and just turned around mumbling under her breath and marking something down on her clipboard. So here we are at the start of our journey, smiling and having a good time:

Although I was trying to enjoy the peaceful scenery, it was not too long into our hike when Anne and Kary started bickering. They were fighting over water and of all things a silly pickle. Kary claimed Anne at hers in the car, but Anne assured her that she did no such thing. Seems silly to get so upset over a pickle, with the gorgeous views, but that's what they were fighting about.

After a while we came to the camp ground. While Angie and I attempted to eat in peace - Kary and Anne were still arguing over the stupid pickle.

Kary began laughing at Anne. Anne finally got so angry she stormed off by herself:

Little did we know this would be the last we would ever see Anne alive.

I cleaned up after lunch and walked down to the stream. I assumed Kary and Angie would clean up as well - I found out later Angie was still upset about Florence's bad attitude with her. (You remember Florence - the park ranger?) While seemingly totally out of character, Angie apparently had hid a few pieces of trash below the picnic table, apparently just to spite Florence. Little did I know when we started out it was a day of petty fights and silliness.

Angie and Kary eventually caught up to me. We hiked a bit in silence, thinking we would catch up to Anne. We called out a few times, but we did not catch her. As we continued on, I stopped to take this picture.

When I looked up again Angie and Kary were also gone. I kept calling for them and tried to run to catch up - but could not find them anywhere. I think I must have somehow gotten off the trail - because I was walking through a bunch of bushes. I finally found a clearing and was stunned by what I saw:

It was Anne splayed out on a rock - seemingly dead. She looked like she had been hit with a shovel. I shook her, but it was no use. I started to run back the way I came, but had a hard time getting through the bushes. It was then I hit an opening again and found Kary and Angie laughing and looking triumphant:

When I told them about Anne, they did not look surprised at all and just continued to laugh. Kary said it served her right - being a pickle stealer and all that. Angie just said that now she and Stuart would have more space at home. And that was that. I was feeling very uncomfortable, this was so not like them.

As we were walking, Angie and Kary kept whispering to themselves. I was starting to think maybe they had something to do with Anne's death. But that was crazy. How could that be? At some point while we were walking Angie told Kary to stop talking about "it," and that she had to learn to keep her mouth shut. I had no idea what "it" was, but Angie seemed slowly to getting agitated with Kary.

I still could not hear anything more about they were saying, and I just kept thinking about Anne. I must have been completely lost in my thoughts because before you knew it, I was walking by myself again - with no one around me.

My thoughts suddenly were interrupted by Angie, who ran towards me screaming. While her screams echoed loudly in the canyon, because she was out of breath (she says she is a crossfitter - not a runner) I still could not understand what she was saying.

Breathless, she grabbed my arm and just said that something happened to Kary. Kary? What happened? She just kept screaming at me to follow - so I did, running down the cliff from where we were. We got to the bottom and this is what we found:

Angie said she turned around and Kary had disappeared. She looked all around and then finally looked over the edge to see Kary had fallen to her death. She did not see what happened but thought maybe Kary just slipped off the ledge. Slipped off the ledge? What are the chances, and after finding Anne dead? Was Angie trying to silence Kary? But why?

Angie just sat on a rock for a while - seemingly not knowing what to do. She actually was showing signs of remorse. She kept hugging little Stuart and saying that we had to get out of there. I was not sure whether to believe her. Was this just an act? She did not seem to care at all when I told her Anne was dead. I told her we should walk on and get some help. Little did she know that when she stood up, the water cap from the bottle fell off and slid down onto the path.

We somehow must have gotten turned around again because we were under a canopy of trees, with no path, and not sure where to go. All I knew was that the sun was shining down and we had to find a way out.

As Angie still had Stuart with her, I told her to stay put. I climbed up and figured out we were not too far from the parking lot below.

But when I got back, Angie was gone. I called out for Angie. Nothing but silence. I then heard Stuart barking. I could barely hear him, but I could tell what direction it was from. I followed his bark for a few minutes until I found Angie.

How did this happen? Was it just another curious accident? Now I did not know what to do. I had thought Angie and Kary had something to do with Anne's demise, but then Kary was killed. I thought it was Angie but she was dead too. Who was out here and what was going on?

I was looking around when WHAM - something hit me hard in the back of the head. I crumpled to the ground. I must have blacked out. When I woke up, I heard muffled voices. I was barely able to open my eyes and pick up my head. I could not believe my eyes - did I hit my head that hard?

What were Charlie's Angels doing here? After expending all my effort, I fell back to the ground. Next thing I new I was being shaken by a park ranger named Charlie. He was asking me if I was o.k. I said I was fine, but my friends were not so lucky. He said he knew. It was then I realized who the real culprit was. Florence. Turns out she was so angry at Angie for her attitude and all of her littering on the trail, Florence wanted revenge. At first she just saw a green jacket and thought it was Angie. When she realized she missed her target, she then tried to push Angie off the cliff, but Kary saw her. Florence said she had no choice but to knock Kary off before she could warn Angie. It was not until she finally killed off Angie with a planned rock slide did she decide I would have to go to. Lucky for me 3 strangers came along and saved me. And so Stuart and I drove home by ourselves. Disclaimer: No person or animal was hurt in the marking of this blog entry. Nor were there any rude words, littering, or silly fights. It was actually a wonderful day for a great hike and we were just all feeling silly, so decided our pictures should be used for a creative story rather than just be pictures. Call us goofy. That's o.k.!

Further disclaimer: We are not aware of any park ranger named Florence. As far as we know, the Park Ranger depicted here did not kill, maim or murder anyone. Although she did not laugh at Angie's joke and was keeping notes on a clip board.

And for those of you who need proof of life - here we all are (safely) after our hike:

THE END