06SepDaytripToWales

While the guys continued on up the mountain, I sat on a huge rock they found for me and waited. It was an enjoyable time of listening to the sheep, the wind, the water, and singing praises to the Lord.

Click here to see the panoramic view from my rock.

Not having a watch, I had no idea of the time. As I watched them get smaller and smaller and finally disappear from my view (after they had gone past their goal)...I began to get worried. Their goal was to touch the fog on the mountain...but the fog lifted while they were climbing. I kept praying that God would tell them when it was time to return to me. They kept climbing. The boys disappeared from my view long before Robert did...I could only tell him from the sheep because I could see his khaki pants moving when I zoomed in on my camera! I was getting cold...and could no longer hear the sheep. I started to wonder about wolves, thinking the sheep might know something I didn't. Yikes! Then, of course, I wondered about potential hypothermia if I didn't keep moving..so I walked in place for a bit, trying valiantly to stay upright because the moss on the rock was slippery. Then I heard them yelling...I could tell Robert's voice and Josh's voice...I could hear the urgency in Robert's yelling...but I couldn't make out at all what the words were. Oh Man! Oh Man! What to do?! I was going to call Robert on my cell phone...but realized I'd forgotten it in the truck. It started to sprinkle, making me even more cold and worried that someone was going to slip and fall off this mountain. I started to go up the trail but stopped when I realized that they had disappeared from view and then reappeared a while later (before disappearing from simply being too far away for my eyes to see) and thought there must be some sort of ridge there...what if I disappear from their view? Do they need me to stay on that rock so they can see me better? After a full blown panic attack and screams that went out to them but went unanswered, I was able to go back to my rock and sat there crying out repeatedly, "I can't see you!" Then I turn around and marvel at the beautiful clouds...and then panic once more when I realize the changing colors meant it would be dark soon. AAAGH!

When I heard Josh's voice again and could make out the words "I can see you...wave your arms if you can hear me...we are okay..." I lost it completely. Such utter relief!! Imaginations run wild when they get the chance and I had no idea what was happening...I just knew something was wrong and I didn't know what to do to help them or how long to wait before I go down the mountain myself to call for rescue. Something had, indeed, been wrong...William had gotten separated from them and Robert was desperately trying to find him, enduring his own wild imagination about how he must have fallen since he's not answering back and is no longer in sight. What I didn't know until later was that there were 12ft deep crevasses between the rocks they were climbing on and around up there. Robert was looking for a body and had sat the younger two down where they could see me (the red dot surrounded by white...my red raincoat and the white was the sheep who had made a circle all around me...I just couldn't see them from where I was sitting), gave them his watch and told them to make their way down to me if he didn't return in 15mins. Josh had been yelling to tell me they were okay...Robert was callilng out for William. Finally, they were all together again (William was the stick figure I saw at the top of a massive rock, silhouetted against the sky during one of my panic attacks) and making there way down to me. I was so relieved...and so angry...and so RELIEVED...and so not wanting to rob their joy at having accomplished so much...so the prayers started again that God would not let me steal their joy if this adventure was something good for them. When they got to me (had to keep flashing my camera so they could find my rock..it was getting darker by the minute), all I could say was, "we need to get down NOW." When we made it to the truck, and discovered the time to be nearly 10pm, we were all appalled at how much time had passed. We figured out that they must have been apart from me for three hours! The entire hike took 4 and they never made it all the way to the top. Funny how that mountain didn't seem that big when we started! : )

It was a good learning experience...on so many levels. And yes, we want to go back to do more hiking...only this time, with all the appropriate gear! : )