This particular article is not a rant but, rather, a real life experience of mine which took place on October 8th. - 9th. of 2011. It is placed here for no other reason than not knowing where else it should be categorized.

I went camping at Minister Creek, PA over the weekend. I ended up assisting two members of the Marienville Fire Department in locating and escorting out a Boy Scout troop leader form Ohio at the request of the PA State Police. His wife was critically injured in an automobile accident and hospitalized in Cleveland Clinic in a coma. The ordeal ended up being a night time hike of the entire North Loop at the fastest pace possible for the terrain - after a full day of hiking. A little over 6 miles of hiking in under 4.5 hours through mountainous terrain which is usually at least an all day hike... But it was for a good cause. I have no idea whether his wife survived until we found him and he was able to get far enough out of the wilderness to acquire cell phone signal. His teenage son remained at the camp to hike out with the rest of the troop the next day.

The Hike

Our camp site was located where Route 666 meets the trail, below #6... The scouts were camped all the way in, at #3 on the map, at the extreme North end... We headed up the West leg and returned down the East leg... The biggest problem was that we never knew where they were until we ran across a group of four young night hikers who had passed the scout camp... One of them went part way back in with us, without being asked, to insure that we located the right camp...

I wonder if the two firemen, both out of shape, at 23 and 32, are as sore as I still am today... But a soreness that I would gladly endure again if the situation arose...

Last Updated:  2012-04-23 @ 4:02 AM