Note: This was written about an hour after I got home from the ordeal.
I want to write this account down while my mind is still fresh, both for you guys and for my own benefit. As of right now (10:32 pm Friday night), I've been up since 8:30 am Thursday morning 10-23-97.
Over the last 36 hours I have had one of the worst experiences of my life. I have a friend who works at my LBS, Kristi, and a friend of ours, Patrick, that decided to go riding in the Pisgah National Forest Thursday. The plan was to leave Thurs. morning and be back about 9 pm. We got off ok, with maps in hand, which the maps later turned out to be incorrect. We arrived at Pisgah...it was about 58 degrees and sunny. Patrick donned a short sleeve jersy, I put on a light wind breaker, a short sleeve jersey and shorts, Kriti put on a vest and tights. We parked near the horse stables. The first part of the trail (called Claw Hammer) was uphill--about 5 miles of uphill. Kristi has been sick with a medical condition. She and I realized that we were lagging way behind Patrick and told him to go ahead. Pat gave us his keys and told us to meet him at the car when we were finished riding (2:30 pm). We walked most of the way up, when we saw another female mtber named Bonnie. We decided to ride together. At the first fork in the trail, we took Buckhead Gap down the mountain. The downhill single track was great! At this point, we would later realize, we should have turned off Buckhead and onto a creek trail. We continued down the mountain until we came to a point where the trail split. We knew at this point we were going the wrong way (4:30 pm), but we saw horse tracks, so we knew that they must lead to the stables. We followed them across several river crossings (one in which I twisted my ankle) and about 5 miles. At this time, (7:30), daylight was out and we found a tree stand to rest for the night. The temperature quickly dropped from the upper 50's to the lower 40's. By the end of the night, the temp would be 35 degrees. We huddled together in the "spoon" position to keep warm, we also threw leaves over the exposed areas of our bodies to keep them warmer. The leaves worked well. About half way through the night, Kristi lost it...she was nervous about not getting out. I think she was going into hypothermia about then (3 am). We tried to keep her as warm as possible. Near dawn, the temp. started to warm up. Someone had to keep a calm head, and by default since the other two were near hysterics, that was me. (not bragging....I'm just good at taking charge in stressful situations) Somehow we got through the night, through the pain of sleeping in awkward positions freezing parts of our body while other parts were warm. About 8 am, we started to walk back the way we came. Bonnie had a great idea for a short cut from a ride that she had done several months previously. Kristi and I insisted that we use the trail that we came in on. Kristi and I won, so we continued the way we came in. (Keep in mind that we didn't know if Pat had gotten back to the car or if he was out somewhere on his bike.) We followed the trail the same way that we came in, including several river crossings, which soaked our bodies and our bikes. My toes were freezing at that moment, and all I could think of was Taco Bell and how good a bean burrito would taste. The first hour back was the worst. It took a while to work out the kinks. We thought a couple of times that we heard people or cars. We shouted out HELP! HELP! but no one answered. We continued up the trail hoping that someone would come for us. The temp rose to about 50 degrees but soon it started to rain, and the temp dropped to about 45. We were freezing! After another 2 hours of walking, we reached the mountain summit. (During this time, we never saw a rescue vehicle. Finally we saw a note posted to a trailhead sign that said they were looking for us.) Kristi and I flew down Clawhammer at about 20 mph right through the camp of the rescue squad, calling "Patrick, Patrick!!!" Pat found us, we threw down the bikes, and melted in one large teary hug. (Bonnie went right on to her campsite after riding down the hill, not bothering to hang around). All we wanted was clean clothes and a toilet. The media was immediately in our faces, even filming Kristi as she was changing, until several sheriff's officers stepped in to let us have some privacy and a moment alone with our friends. What a wonderful moment having hte 3 of us together again!
Pat, as it had turned out, got back to the car about 4:30 pm. About 6:30 he started to worry, and by 9 pm he called the emergency room and the sheriff's office. By 10, they had people out looking for us along the trail that we were supposed to have taken. By morning, there were almost 60 people looking for us all over the Pisgah national forest, including 15 local mountain bikers and several mounted police patrol units. The had searched everywhere for us, and there was a horse patrol on the trail where we had spent the night. Had we stayed there til about 10 am, they would have found us. All I could think about part of the time coming back was what the sight of a Ranger mounted on a horse would look like so that he could walk my bike and I could ride the horse. My legs felt like, and still feel like Jello. After we dried off and changed clothes, we were debriefed on the effort to find us. We have a huge thanks for all the volunteers who helped with the rescue effort.
Poor Pat! He stayed awake all night worrying about us and crying, and at one point the police had him as a suspect in our murder (standard police prodedure). Pat is a true friend!
I can't say enough of how lucky it was that no one was seriously injured. Kristi's doctor put her on a couple of days a bederest, we don't know how Bonnie is, and I have some bruises, a twisted ankle, and some cuts but am otherwise fine.
If you are going to go in an unfamiliar place, BE PREPARED! Take along a survival kit including a thermal blanket, lighter, extra water and food, map, jacket, bike tools, pump, tubes, and compass. It is better to carry an extra pound on you than to have to freeze through the night.
The equipment we had besides the bikes: 5 Powerbars, 2 Powergels, 2 Camalback of Water, one water bottle, various tools and tubes. We ate and drank conservatively in order to make it last longer.
Guys, I'm lucky to be ALIVE right now! The rescurers had already called in the Bloodhounds when we came down the hill. Had we not come down, they would have started the search for our bodies. Now that is a scary thought.
Both Kristi and my bikes were trashed. I left it at the shop tonight and will see what needs to be done with it tomorrow. The bikes went through mud bogs and about 15 river crossings.
I'm off to bed. I haven't slept in nearly 41 hours. Think about all of this guys. Cycling is great, but it isn't worth your life.
(note: this was sent to the mtb mailing list Sat. Oct. 24, 1997) Note: I forgot to send this last night in my fatigue. Emotionally, I'm ok right now, but I am a bit fragile. I spent the better part of the morning crying b/c I had to be strong for Kristi and Bonnie. I guess everything just kind of hit me this morning. (Happy note: I'm in my own apartment after this weekend when I move to Columbia, SC.) Physically, I have numerous cuts and bruises, sore muscles, fatigue, but other than that, I'm fine. Kristi is recouperating for a few days at her grandmother's house and will go back to work on Tuesday. Her doctor said she was fine. We don't know where Bonnie is now.
My bike was trashed. Allen, the mechanic at the shop Kristi works at, worked on it for over *SIX* hours today giving it a total overhaul, rebuilding my fork, and taking everything off. At one point he said he had nothing on the frame. My brakes were trashed, too, but were able to be fixed. We don't know about Kristi's bike next.
I hope to be back on the bike Tuesday and racing next Sat. like I had planned to. I just need a couple of days of rest....
Trish on Clawhammer before we got lost.
Kristi (right) and I (left) before we got lost.
Patrick and Kristi smiling :) in the car after the rescue.