If this is illegal where you live, you are under age or you are offended by gay love then I suggest you leave now. Since you are still here, enjoy. Drop me a line, I would like to hear from you. I am getting reports that someone is posting my stories on other sights. If this is you, I would suggest you stop and to remove the ones all stolen. I have given no one permission to do so. joecollins7420@yahoo.com
Chapter 3 We spent several days taking short hikes, fishing and just laying around camp taking it easy. Our bond was growing even stronger and we were really enjoying having the other around. So far nothing sexual had developed. I think we are both afraid to let ourselves be free and really get involved with the other.
After a week, we decided to take a three day hike and explore the back county. Then we could head back home. We broke camp and put every thing that we weren't taking with us into the SUV. We loaded our back packs and took off into the wilds and would continue in a northwestern direction.
At the end of day one, we found a small stream with a very good camp spot. Tony was busy cleaning an area and building a fire ring. I was gathering wood for a campfire. Now it was time to set up our camp which didn't take long. We had a big plastic tarp so we could sleep under it to protect us from any heavy dew that might fall. The sleeping bags were laid out and zipped together.
Now all we had to do was get something to eat. We had some dehydrated lunches and all we had to do was add water. I made a pot of boiled campfire coffee. Tony was amazed that the food tasted so good. It took him a little longer to get use to the thick, dark stuff that I called coffee. After the first cup, I show him how to add a little cold water to make the grounds settle to the bottom of the pot. He decided it wasn't bad at all. So this was the carried on for two more days. My hand held GPS showed that we were about six miles from base camp and where we had left the SUV. We were just about to stop for the evening and were crossing a small stream when I slipped and fell. I wasn't hurt but I hit a rock and broke the GPS into about a hundred pieces. Talking about pushing the panic button, I sure did. To make matter even worse, we were in a dead area and our cell phones would not work.
Tony just about came unglued. I had to sit him down on a log and calm him. "Tony listen to me. Are you with me?" He shook his head yes. "The first thing we have to do is get off the panic button." When we start back out of here, the main and most important thing is remain calm. We have to use our heads and think our way out. If we panic on the way out, most likely we will start going in circles. If that should happen, then all will probably be lost and we could even get severely hurt or perish ." Are you still with me, Tony?"
"Yes, but you are scaring the wits out of me."
"Good, then you will be more apt to pay attention and do exactly as I say" I want you to promise me right now that If by chance, I get badly hurt or for some reason, I can't go on, you will leave me and go on without me. I will do the same for you. Promise?"
"Dave, I will never leave you. I am staying with you regardless!"
"Tony, you are not listening with your head-only you heart. Now, what did I just tell you and repeat it back to me and listen and believe what you say."
Tony repeated it almost word for word. I made him do it two more times. Finally, I felt like I had gotten through to him. "Tony, do I have your promise? Before you answer, look me in the eyes and then tell me." He did but was sobbing all the time. I just took him in my arms and held him close.
"Tony, I am going to lay out our exit plan. I will write it down completely in this little note book. We are to follow it exactly. Are you still ok with all of this? We are going to make it out of here and in good shape!"
"How are we going to tell what direction we are going, if the GPS is broken beyond repair?" asked Tony.
"How did the pioneers and mountain men find their way around? They sure didn't have a GPS to use.?"
"They used the sun, moon and stars and their ingenuity."
"Then, we shall also, and there are other things along with several other clues. We will go over the plans now and I will show you as we go along."
"Remember looking at the map before we left. There are many roads in this area. Rule number one. Don't cross any roads. Turn left and start walking and DON'T LEAVE IT. You should now be going East. Eventually, the road will come out on the main highway. With any kind of luck, someone will come along in a car. If they do, stand in the middle of the road and flag the down the car. If they don`t stop, yell I am Lost! Call the police! Nine out ten will stop!"
"That is a simple rule, I can remember it with ease. How am I going to tell where north and south are?"
"Good question! See that large tree over there, let's go over and look at it. "Ok, which is the north side and which is the south side."
Tony replied, "I have always heard that the moss grows on the north side. I always thought this was just an old wives tale."
"Very good. Moss will grow thicker on the north side. The south side gets more sunlight and moss likes less so it will grow on the north side which gets a whole lot less sun. The same holds true for the mountain sides. The north side of a mountain is a lot cooler and less dry. Find the north side of the tree. Good! Now face the tree on the north side and hold you arms straight out from the shoulders. East will be on you left and West on the right."
"Now go on the south side of the tree and put your back against it. Pick out a spot as far out as you can see. Now let's walk straight to the spot. Let's do that much now."
"Good job, Tony! Now that was not to hard to do, was it?"
"I was surprised that I did it so easily."
"Just pay attention to where you are and pick spots ahead of you that have no obstruction and be sure to walk in a straight line. Just remember that when we came in we had the sun mostly on our back. Going out we want to reverse it so we are walking into the sun."
"On the way out, use this hand hatchet and put an X on the south side of the tree. Do this every 100 yards or so. You can lead the search party back to me. Don't chop all the way through the bark. You don't want to scar the tree."
"Lesson number TWO! When we were hiking in here where we going up or down hill?"
"Both, there were ups and down."
"True, but we were climbing most of the time and we traveled along the ridge backs.. In fact we went over 4 high ridges. Now which way does water run?
"Downhill of course."
"I think we will go back to the little creek where I slipped and fell. We can follow it out as long as it is running in a southerly direction. It may flow into a large one. All of them may flow into Loon Lake eventually. However, some will turn west and we surely don't want to follow one of those. Actually, I think we may hit a road before we reach Loon Lake. If we do it will probably go around the end of the lake and you will find yourself on the south side of the lake. You should have phone service around Loon Lake. Call 911 and tell the where you are. Be sure to look for road signs and be sure to write the information down. Don`t depend on you memory."
"Dave, It is starting to get rather late in the day, Do you think we should find a place and spend the night. Then we could get an early start?" "Good idea, Let's go back to the little creek and start down until we find a good camping spot.
We walked for about an hour when we came to a little mountain meadow. We set up camp and boiled some water and filled all our canteens. We had two each which should last for awhile. "Tony, whatever, you do, don't drink from any stream even it is running. Always boil your water before you drink it. You don't know what kind of bugs you could pickup! Be sure to drink lots of water. You don`t want to risk getting dehydrated. If you do, it can mess your thinking up something terrible."
"Dave, I want your arms around me all night. The more you talk the worse I feel. I am so scared that I may have an heart attach before we even get started."
"Tony, put it out of you mind. Think happy thoughts. We have each other and Martha is waiting for us at home. Shall we call it night? I think that I could use a little cuddling myself. I am just as scared as you are. Maybe we should build a campfire tomorrow and put a lot of green branches on it. It would probably bring some firefighters right away. I think we should start out right away. Maybe go as far as we can before lighting a signal fire.
"Let's go to bed. I need some cuddle time NOW!" Said Dave. "Just remember, It took us three days to get in. It will take that long or longer to get out. I think that we should try to conserve some of our food. I will take the gun and see if I can find a bird, rabbit or something to eat."
"Dave, can you hit something that small with the pistol?"
"Sure thing, I learned to shoot from my dad."
"Where did you learn all that survival stuff."
"As a kid and as far back as I can remember, I was in the Boy Scotts. I then became a junior leader and then as an adult I was a troop leader. The rest I learned from my dad. My family loved the out-of-doors and we spent a lot of time hunting, fishing and camping. I grew in in a logging camp and all the kids spent all of their free time in the woods."
"I envoy you. I was never in Scotts and my dad was never around."
"It is never to late to learn! I think we should try to get some sleep. We have a long and trying day ahead of us tomorrow."
"Night, Dave."
"Night, Tony."