The Importance of Memory

One morning in the summer of 1998 I received a phone call from my friend, Lynn.

"Let's climb Casey Peak today," she invited.

"Isn't that kind of a long, steep hike?"  I asked uneasily.

"It's not bad.  I've done it before."

"But I thought the map showed it at ten miles."

"Oh no. It's not that long. We can do it."

So I gave my 12 year old son permission to play at a friend's house until 3:00 pm when I would pick him up.  Then I set off on the hike with Lynn.  The three mile hike into Casey Meadows was uneventful and went as expected. When we saw the sign stating: Casey Peak 1, it seemed like Lynn's recollection about the length of the hike was on target.

Then reality set in.  The sign proclaiming  "Casey Peak 1"  meant that the trailhead to Casey Peak began in 1 mile, NOT that the top of Casey Peak was 1 mile.  We ran out of water and refilled at a spring.  You never know about the water quality of springs.  An isolated storm cloud hovered over us and hailed on us while all around was blue sky.

As we wound our way up a boulder laden trail with a healthy incline, I blessed my high top hiking boots.  And at 3:00 pm, instead of picking my boy up at a friends', I was arriving at the top of Casey Peak, watching an elk scamper down a mountain to the side of me.

At the top of the mountain I checked my watch and realized that unless the transporter beam from Star Trek was perfected within the next five minutes, I would not be able to pick up my son at the appointed hour. Having no cell phone to make other arrangements, I started hoofing it down the trail.  Then, Lynn suddenly recollected that when she last climbed Casey Peak, they had camped overnight at the meadows.   THAT was why she had remembered the hike as not being that long - they had chopped six miles off of it by camping at the meadows.

 After 5:00 pm I arrived home hoping to find that my son had NOT been dropped of at child protective services as an abandoned child.  Fortunately, the parents had called up my teenage daughters to pick up my boy.  Luckily, my son seemed to survive with mental health intact.   I gathered that from his perspective, I was welcome to stay out on that mountain for the next week and he'd be fine with the arrangement.  I apologized profusely to the friend's parents who, although gracious, gave me the impression that I had the manners of an iguana.  No Mother of the Year Award for me.

So the moral of the story for me was:  1) If the map indicates the hike is ten miles long, it is probably at least that long,  no matter what anyone says.  2) Also, unless you have a topographical map and maybe even if you do, you have no idea how rugged that ten miles is and how long it might take to hike it.  3) In view of 1 and 2, make arrangements for someone else to pick up your children when you go hiking.

Climbing Casey Peak

The spring where we refilled our water

View near the top of the peak.  The area burned in 1988.