07/08/2022
We came off the trail late yesterday afternoon.. Originally, we would have spent the night but thunderstorms were in the forecast with the possibility of some of them being severe. So, we sat with the kids and had the discussion of whether or not to combine 2 days mileage together and spend the night back at the cabin. This was a big decision because this would require the kids travel the farthest they've traveled in a single day, up the biggest climb in Georgia and down 2 miles of boulder and rock. It also meant a shower, a home cooked meal, and a comfy bed.
Since Mark made it into town, he agreed to hike in toward us from the other end and meet us at the top of Blood Mountain. He was a very welcome sight!
With just over a 1/2 a mile to the bottom, we came around the last little hairpin turn on the big rocks and saw a terrible sight below us. An elderly woman had fallen face first on the very last rock smashing her head wide open.. There was blood on the rock and she was laying there with her husband laid across her keeping her shivering body warm. Her eyes were barely open and you could tell she was an extreme pain.
The kids fell silent. The tears sprang to my eyes as I could see the panic in his eyes. We started asking questions and he informed us that they had been laying like that for an hour waiting for search and rescue to climb up. In addition to the gaping smashed forehead, she had a broken wrist and broken ankle. My mom hiked on so that she could let certain rescue know how far up they were and we stayed and talked to the man. We encouraged him that bodies were strong and that the shivering was a sign that her body was doing what it needed. We offered everything we had in our packs but he wanted none of it. We asked if we could carry her gear to the bottom so that when they headed down he would not have so much to carry.
It was the only help we could give. The 1st two paramedics came in to sight and we gathered her Poles to start walking down. As we began to walk away, I could barely pull myself from the man. His eyes were so sad and the worry was written all over his face. I turned back and asked him if I could pray with him. Please please, he said.. Yes.
I'm not sure if anything in my life has ever touched me so much as that one. I don't know if it was the man or if it was the way he was clearly uncomfortable but refused to move as he lay there protecting her. I don't know if it was how her breathing changed or the fact that she tried her hardest to offer her own words into my prayer. Maybe it was the way my own children were completely wide eyed and silent witnessing this. Whatever it was, I was weeping as I stood to leave them.
There is still a lot of good in the world.. I think it is easy to believe that everything has gone to s**t. That is a lie. There are men who love their women with all their hearts and there are women who are strong and brave and courageous. There are men and women of search and rescue that are climbing mountains to get humans they have never met and pull them to safety. There are hikers that would stop for someone they don't know and give them everything on their backs. If you believe that there is no good left in the world, you need to shut off your TV and your phone and go out and find it because it is definitely still there.❤
