Thrice Rebuffed, 3.8

Nic's Story
My good friend Nic is a pleasure to hang out with and doubly a pleasure to hike/climb with. And he is capable of taking care of himself in the mountains...

When we last saw Nic he was on top of the ridge that ultimately led to the summit of Tabeguache Peak; we were about 3/4 of the way up and exchanged plans by yelling to overcome the distance that separated us and the winds. We couldn't really understand what the other was saying but he pointed up, which meant he was going to make a run for the summit (it was not in view for either of us).

borrowed image - Tab on left,
false summit right of cener

He continued on this ridge for a ways until he had to descend several hundred feet to a saddle between the ridge he was on and the western ridge of Tabeguache. He then began his climb up a false summit west of Tabeguache. This false summit is around 13,900 ft in elevation, no small task!

It was about this time that the storms came in. Undeterred, Nic continued up...he said it was fairly intense and there were times when he took shelter under large rocks. When the storm would ease, he would go up.

There was a time on this climb where he thought death was imminent - and not being afraid - sat down, said his prayers, lit a cigarette, drank a beer, and enjoyed the view! He continued his quest and made it to within 100 ft (little bump right of the tallest point on this pic) when he realized that he was walking on the fine line between testing fate and stupidity. I am not certain I would have recognized this being so close to the summit...he decided to hustle down the mountain. He was able to dodge the lightning, avoid slipping on the wet rocks and didn't break any legs - made it back to our car at 5:06pm, a little rattled but committed to tagging the top of Tab one of these days...

Civilization
We drove back to Salida and enjoyed a gyro from Mama D's (very good) and the hot tub at Silver Ridge Lodge (the best hot tub I've ever been in!).

For the record, this is a stock photo - these two girls were not with us but we were with two other pretty girls:

that's me on the right, not a pretty girl...

Thrice Rebuffed, 3.7

Had a great conversation with our "Good Samaritans," we spoke of their home in the Sangre de Cristo range southeast of Salida, we spoke of the economy in Texas, the fickle weather in the mountains, mentoring adolescents, and Unaccompanied Alien Children.

I arrived safely back at the car at 3:00pm thanks to the super-nice Colorado couple in the red pickup filled with large dogs! I found Caleb tucked safely in the car listening to classical music and playing games on his iTouch...none the worse for the wear. If you don't believe the story of my shoe, here is video testimony:



The only remaining mystery was Nic's status...I calculated that the earliest we could expect him was 3:30pm. I established 4:30pm as my drop-dead, official panic time. The time dragged by and my mind was racing with ALL of the worst-case scenarios for Nic - struck by lightning, a rock slide, a slip on a wet rock, him laying up there with a broken leg, etc. The panic time approached with no sign of Nic. I carefully reviewed our route and re-calculated hiking times, and re-adjusted my panic time to 6:00pm (I "kicked the can down the road," maybe I should be a Government Budget Consultant???).

Though we were several miles from civilization and deep in a forest, my cell phone was able to send and receive texts. Here is a message I sent to Brenda (tucked cozily and dry at the Silver Ridge Lodge in Salida) at 5:02pm:

"We are still waiting on nic...im not officially panicked but is getting close to the time where he would have had plenty of time to get back...will you find the sheriffs number and find out what the missing hiker procedure is...i will be getting worried if he is not here by 6 or 630"

Here is the message I sent to Brenda (still tucked cozily and dry at the Silver Ridge Lodge in Salida, perhaps she is wiser than us?) at 5:06pm:

"Nevermind..."

While I was composing and sending the initial text, Nic rounded the corner and was making his way down the hill towards us. What a relief!