Lost in Colorado

 

“Alright, that’s it. I can’t stand waiting around here any longer not doing anything. I’m going to get out of here myself,” said Eric harshly.

“Wait, where are you planning on going? What do you think you’re going to accomplish by yourself?” I yelled back at him in disbelief that he was actually going to run off alone.

“I’m out of here, I’ll find my way back on my own,” screamed Eric, with that final statement, Eric strode off deeper into the forest in the completely opposite direction that he should have been going.

“Great, now with Eric gone with all our breakfast food, what are we supposed to eat for breakfast for the next week?” Ryan snickered. I shot him an angry look to let him know that I was not in the mood to joke around.

Our group had finally crumbled and fallen apart. As a result of our serious lack of teamwork, not only were we lost, but we were divided and wondering if we would ever see Eric again.

            It all began about two weeks into my thirty-day Outward Bound mountaineering course in Colorado last summer when my Super Alpine group came together for the first time. It was a hot, arid day and no one was in the best of moods after we learned of the long trek planned for us that afternoon.  My group consisted of five people, three from my previous group, including me, and two from the other group of kids my age. With me from my previous group were Eric, the tall, hotheaded, and cocky jock, and Wally, who was always on his own schedule and not particularly the most compliant of people. From the other group came Ryan and Brian, both of whom I knew liked to lead and did not put up well with people who disagreed with them. As soon as the five of us came together for the first time that day, I realized that my group was not going to get along too well. Eric’s cocky attitude and Wally’s slow-moving pace constantly clashed with Ryan’s, Brian’s, and my sense of leadership and desire to accomplish as much as possible each day. As I suspected, the arguing started momentarily as we all started fighting over who would take the heavy gear such as the stove and pots, and then a little later on, who devoured all the processed turkey and ham for lunch.

            The arguing continued on through the middle of the week as we continued our trek up into the mountains. That Wednesday was a particularly hot and dry day and since the beginning of the day we had been having trouble navigating through the marshy forest and boulder fields. We constantly argued over what direction we were traveling in, what our pace should be, and what the best route to take was. Fifteen minutes before breaking for lunch, our leader, who was trailing us and not helping to navigate, approached us and said we were very close to our campsite. After eating lunch, we consulted the map and once again, we all had our own opinions about which way to head out. After a heated debate that got us nowhere, we set off down the ridge we were currently on top of in hopes of reaching out campsite soon. After about an hour of traveling down over loose rocks and boulders in the blazing sun, Wally suggested that we might have been traveling the wrong direction. Confident in my navigational skills and not bothering to pay attention to him, I put his claim off and we continued downward. After traveling for a while longer, we finally realized that we were in fact lost. Our leader had told us that we were camping above treeline on a large fairly open field. As we stood, we were in the middle of a forest, far below treeline and there were no large fields in sight. At first we tried using our whistles to contact our leader, who we though was still following us. Unable to contact him and to come to a conclusion over what to do next, Eric, in a fit of rage, decided to take off on his own. The rest of us, who were equally enraged at that point decided to let him go.

After about twenty-five minutes of contemplating what to do next, I finally stood up and decided to take charge. Up to this point, we had not worked as a team at all. I realized that in order to get out of our situation, we would have to come together and find our way to our campsite and find Eric. I grouped my remaining companions together and, for the first time we sat down together and discussed what to do next. We realized that finding Eric was our utmost concern, as he would surely not do well alone in the wilderness. After gathering what information we could from our surroundings and by carefully studying the map, we decided our best bet was to start hiking back up to try and locate a stream which would bring us to where we needed to be. Once everyone was well hydrated and ate a good amount of trail mix, I took the lead as we set off in hopes of finding Eric, who we were terrified for and desperate to find.

            Still unsure of our exact location, we continued hiking upwards along a stream we had found that we believed would lead us in the general direction that we wanted to go. Unlike previously, when we had always argued about what pace to go at and what direction to travel in, I set a moderately fast pace that everyone was comfortable with in a direction that we all agreed on. Suddenly, I heard a very faint whistle in the background that caused me to stop in my tracks. I listened more carefully and once again I heard the whistle coming from behind us. After alerting my group, I had them spread out and search for the source of the sound. Working like a well-organized team should, we searched everywhere until finally Wally heard Eric’s screams. Upon reaching Eric, who was in tears, badly beaten up, and covered in cuts and bruises, I think that all of us felt very relived and happy to be back together. For the first time, we actually felt like a team and we were now determined to find our way out. Since Eric could barely walk after his fall while he was alone, we split up his heavy gear to take the load off him. He was very thankful for this and I know that I at least felt good knowing that I could help him out. Before we knew it, the full moon started coming out as the sun receded past the horizon. However, by that point we were above treeline and able to determine our position much more accurately. Upon reaching a field of fallen lumber, we once again worked together and helped each other navigate through the masses of dead trees under the light of the glowing moon. By the time we had crossed the mountain of fallen trees, it was nearly midnight and Wally and Ryan were both ready to give up. Confident that we were near our campsite, I ensured them that we were almost there and to keep on pushing forward.

            Finally, at a quarter to one, Brian spotted what looked like a headlight in the distance against a background dominated by the mountains. Moments later, the rest of us saw it as we ran at full speed towards the light. Upon seeing our leader, who was the bearer of the light, we all started screaming his name, overjoyed to see him and our campsite. As we reached him, we jumped up onto him and that point, we really did all feel like a family for the first time.

The next night, after an exhilarating and challenging climb to the summit of Challenger Point, we sat down and discussed the events of the previous day. During our discussion, we came to see how important teamwork was in getting us out of our situation the previous day. That night, we all put our past problems behind us and pledged to continue to work together as we had the day before. For the remainder of the trip, we constantly worked together and helped each other out and, as a result, the rest of the trip went much more smoothly and we all had a much better time together. Although it took a potentially dangerous situation to set us straight, we all learned the meaning of teamwork and its importance in creating a positive and efficient group dynamic.