Oops! Surprise at Big Slide - When Weather Goes Wild!

I went hiking with two of my friends, it was a beautiful sunny day, we were relaxed. When we arrived at the parking lot, it was already full, but we had a second option, we were able to leave our car in another parking lot, almost 3 miles away, and then we would take a shuttle back.

We started our hike, the mountain is magnificent. We were able to relax and enjoy every moment and every view. We met people and chatted with them.

Somehow, when the trail we took was going down too much, we saw a sign indicating that the summit was in the direction we came from.

Oops!!! We had continued straight ahead.

The day was getting on, it was almost 4 PM and we had to go back to find our way. While climbing up, I thought it would be wise to find a signal and alert my friends, so they would be ready to help us, just in case.

After 30 minutes, I had a signal and called my friend. I gave him some emergency numbers and asked him to call them in case I didn't call back by 10 PM.

My companions and I were relieved after that call, and we got back on the trail enjoying the spectacle of all kinds of beauty surrounding us.

The sun was about to set and on a nearby mountain there were some clouds, we took some photos and appreciated these moments we were living. We walked on a rocky ridge with a clear view.

WOW!!

Clouds were approaching, and it looked like it might rain, in fact it did.

The sun continued to descend, and suddenly a cloud surprised us from the other side of the mountain, and it started to get dark.

A few minutes later, it was pouring rain, we just had time to put on our jackets and cover our bags.

The trail turned into a waterfall, and a few inches of water were on the ground. One of my companions had a sore knee, and I had to hold him firmly.

As darkness fell, we realized we only had one headlamp.

Cool! Now it's flooding.

We walked through the waterfalls, and we could barely see anything and we only had one lamp...eee... I was hoping this dear thing wouldn't let me down, especially since we all know that lamps and water aren't the best of friends.

So I took some precautions, I put the headlamp on top of my hood and protected it.

The way back was long, even endless! and I lost my bearings.

When we arrived at the station, it was 10:30 PM and of course we had no signal, even more, there was no shuttle available at this late hour.

We had no choice but to keep walking to reach the car.

10 minutes later, in the distance, I saw the roof of a house in the woods, I hadn't seen it when we arrived.

I had the idea to go see if we could find help. I approached the house speaking loudly to check if anyone was there.

Someone answered me and asked me to hold on and not move.

I stopped but continued talking, I told him we needed help, that we had been stuck in the mountain for a while and needed to reach our friends so they wouldn't call for help.

After a few minutes, someone opened the door and came out.

I have to admit she was a bit scared of us, a group of people rushing with flashlights in the woods, on a stormy night, it felt like a horror movie.

She was polite inviting us in, she even accompanied us to my car and finally we called my friend just before he sought help, as he was worried. Since that day, I prepare for the worst! :p

A few years later, I returned to that mountain, with my blonde-haired mother-in-law, the parking lot was full, but this time we didn't miss the summit. While relaxing at the top of the mountain, we talked to other people who told us there was another way down, it was

longer but with an incredible waterfall.

We followed the people, and when we went down, we realized we might miss the shuttle.

So I asked my mother-in-law to continue at the same pace and I could run with someone else to catch the shuttle, but eventually, all the group members ran that whole distance.

WTF!! my mother-in-law, that 60-year-old lady, she ran down a mountain of over 4000 feet!!LoooL

And guess what, we didn't miss our shuttle after all!!!!! hahahahha