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This entry gets an explanation. I just returned from what was supposed to be a fun trip with friends to Puerto Rico. Yesterday I joined these folks for a rock-climbing afternoon at the shore. Here's how that went. I'd like to ask you not to offer me advice on what I should have done or felt in response to this entry. Other responses are fine and welcome.
Our group of five arrived in one car at the Survival Beach parking area around 1:45 pm (local time). This parking area was a stretch of uneven sand bordered by some palm trees, and there's some cell service there but none along the beach or coast. By the time everyone had their things out of the car and had gotten to the beach (a short, winding trail-through-the-woods away), it was getting close enough to 2:30 pm—when I had a call to take—that I needed to stay up by the parking area. Once 2:30 pm came and went, I realized I'd forgotten about the one hour time difference between AST and EST, meaning that my call wasn't actually for another hour yet.
I went back down to the beach and found a pile of my group's stuff but none of them around. I thought they must be close to within sight of the stuff, since although it isn't known as a theft-prone area, it seemed risky to me to just leave a pile of belongings out of sight for a long time. Walking down the beach and near another wooded area, I found them climbing but about to move to another, reportedly more interesting, area farther down the coast. The time was around 3:00 pm local time, so I knew I wouldn't have time to follow them down the coast (they said it would be about a 15-20 minute hike) and back to the parking area in time for the call. So we arranged that I'd head back to the parking area, and one of them would come to the parking area around 4:15 pm to get me and show me where they were climbing, since it was so far away and not on any clearly-describable path.
But after the call no one came to the parking area. I figured I'd try making my way down the coast to find them. The sandy part of the shore quickly ended, turning to rocks and then to boulders and cliffs so large that they weren't traversable. The way to continue down the coast was through the highly-sloped rain forest above the boulders and cliffs. Partway along I passed by the one non-climbing member of our group walking in the other direction, presumably to go back to the sandy area where she could relax. She said the way to get to the climbing area was to "keep high" and to ask some other nearby people making their way in the same direction as her but only about 20 seconds behind her which way to go. I did and they gave the same advice. At that point we were at the point where the rocks were giving way to un-traversable cliffs, so I tried continuing but farther from the shore this time.
I found and followed a forest trail for a short while, passing a few people headed (again) the opposite way from me. I asked each of them whether they'd passed people rock climbing but none of them said they had. I think this was 10 or 15 minutes into my walk down the coastline, so I thought I should be seeing them soon. After those few people on the trail, I didn't see anyone else in the forest, and there were no trail markers or signs—the trail just vaguely petered out and seemed to disappear entirely, giving way to undifferentiated dense, highly-sloped rain forest. I crawled and groped and squeezed my way through the least dense areas I could, but it was impossible to find any route that didn't require squeezing through or under dense underbrush, climbing through nets of thorny vines, or other painful or questionable maneuvers. I was exhausted and couldn't find any trail or sight of any people.
I kept going, and I was torn between giving up or trying to keep going; both options promised to be difficult, painful, and possibly dangerous. I'd been going way past the 15 to 20 minutes I'd been told it would take, but if there was some kind of trail I was missing I assumed it would naturally be taking me longer.
Eventually I did see one of them climbing, so I yelled and made my way over to them, and they led me around the rock they'd been climbing for what was another five minutes or so of scrambling up and down boulders to get to where the others were.
Finding them, I was exhausted and furious with them all for not sending someone to meet me and show me how to get to them. I was scratched (and bitten) up and couldn't contain my anger, cursing and telling them I resented every one of them and although I might not feel so angry an hour or day from then, I was really angry with them then. At the same time, I was surprised they hadn't taken down their climbing ropes by this point, since sunset was approaching, but that meant I had an opportunity to climb before they packed up to head back to the car. I had a hard time deciding whether to climb. I'd wanted to so, so badly and I'd taken an extraordinary amount of effort to get there. Sure, I was exhausted from that effort and only had some water and all of one granola bar in me, but this was my chance. I hated my indecisiveness and I hated them. In the end I decided I was so furious and exhausted that I'd probably hurt myself climbing and besides couldn't trust any of them to belay me (that's the role of a person who's not climbing but holds the other end of the climber's rope so that they don't fall if they lose their grip on the rocks). Since I couldn't stand to hang around with them while they made their last few climbs and packed up, I headed back to the car. Even though I hadn't found whatever trail they took, I wasn't especially worried about finding my way back—after all, I'd managed to find my way there. If nothing else, I had the only set of car keys in my pack, not because I'd driven us there but because the car provided a nice quiet, air-conditioned place for me to take the phone call.) So it's not like they could drive back to our lodging without me.
You may have anticipated that I in fact should have been worried about finding my way back. I didn't have a knife or any cutting implement with me, so my journey started out as hard as it was getting there, but the terrain soon became even more difficult, if that's possible. The ground was covered with leaves and criss-crossed with dead and living branches, so guessing where to step was treacherous. And in many places I couldn't even crawl or squeeze through the upright and sideways branches and vines. I quickly ran out of water and needed more badly. I didn't have hiking or even close-toed shoes with me, since I'd had no idea I'd be encountering terrain like this or needing so much water. Again, there was absolutely no cell service throughout this whole area beyond the parking area, to which I had no idea how close or far I was. In some places I tried moving up or down the steep slope to try to find some trail. Occasionally the dense brush would open up in the shore-ward direction such that I'd unexpectedly have a gorgeous view of the water far beyond and below me. It was tempting to stop, and sometimes I did for a short time before moving on. After all, there wasn't anywhere to sit or any food or water to consume. It was definitely after sunset and getting dark at this point.
I tried a strategy of getting as "high" as I possibly could, even if I couldn't find a trail. As darkness fell completely, I found a chain-link fence and followed it along the top of the slope; beyond it was a big grassy field, definitely not a place I recognized but it seemed much closer to civilization and potentially passable terrain. Indeed, even without knowing whether I'd be able to get to the other side of the fence, the ground along it was at least relatively level and not densely forested, albeit still rocky.
I did eventually find a break in the fence and passed through it to a big grassy field and beyond that to some paved areas and what looked like an obviously-closed-for-the-night school or some similar institution. It was totally dark and there was a lot more fencing that it wasn't clear how to get around but I did have cell service! I got one message from a member of the group asking if I was there and I responded affirmatively and asked where they were but received no response. I tried messaging everyone in the group but got no response. Looking on Google Maps I could see where I was but it was not at all clear where the parking area I'd come from was; the area I was in wasn't recognizable, and nothing looked familiar from Google Maps' satellite view as resembling the parking area (which I hadn't driven to or been in a position to clearly view the drive to as I rode in the back of the car). I thought of looking for a convenience or grocery store that I could walk to so I could get some water, but it didn't look like there were any nearby, and the direction of "civilization" (i.e., inland) was away from any direction the parking area could be. I tentatively wandered empty, dark expanses of pavement, figuring that the rest of my group must eventually return to cell range since they'd have service once they returned to the parking area. Without having a clear direction to go, I hesitated to go very far. Suddenly I got an incoming call from one of them, though the audio was hard to make out; I had sent them my current location so I wasn't sure why they weren't just heading toward me if they had cell service and thus knew where I was. I don't remember if I could make out any of what the person on the other end said, but as I was trying to hear or be heard, a car pulled up and a stranger said my friends were looking for me and to hop in. I asked the person on the phone if I should get in a car with a stranger but didn't hear a clear answer. Aside: I'm of an age where we were taught regularly as schoolkids never ever to get in a vehicle with a stranger even—or especially—if they claimed they were there on behalf of an unnamed friend or relative. But also, surely my traveling companions were looking for me (?) and I was desperate, so I got in. He drove me to the original parking area and people in my group seemed relieved, though one can wonder whether their relief was more that I'd been found or that their car keys had been. They shared some of their water with me. I collapsed on the ride home and heard something about miscommunication but I wasn't really with it. Considering what had just happened, I didn't receive a very welcome reception, but I was on my way home and out of the woods.
This entry gets an explanation. I just returned from what was supposed to be a fun trip with friends to Puerto Rico. Yesterday I joined these folks for a rock-climbing afternoon at the shore. Here's how that went. I'd like to ask you not to offer me advice on what I should have done or felt in response to this entry. Other responses are fine and welcome.
Our group of five arrived in one car at the Survival Beach parking area around 1:45 pm (local time). This parking area was a stretch of uneven sand bordered by some palm trees, and there's some cell service there but none along the beach or coast. By the time everyone had their things out of the car and had gotten to the beach (a short, winding trail-through-the-woods away), it was getting close enough to 2:30 pm—when I had a call to take—that I needed to stay up by the parking area. Once 2:30 pm came and went, I realized I'd forgotten about the one hour time difference between AST and EST, meaning that my call wasn't actually for another hour yet.
I went back down to the beach and found a pile of my group's stuff but none of them around. I thought they must be close to within sight of the stuff, since although it isn't known as a theft-prone area, it seemed risky to me to just leave a pile of belongings out of sight for a long time. Walking down the beach and near another wooded area, I found them climbing but about to move to another, reportedly more interesting, area farther down the coast. The time was around 3:00 pm local time, so I knew I wouldn't have time to follow them down the coast (they said it would be about a 15-20 minute hike) and back to the parking area in time for the call. So we arranged that I'd head back to the parking area, and one of them would come to the parking area around 4:15 pm to get me and show me where they were climbing, since it was so far away and not on any clearly-describable path.
But after the call no one came to the parking area. I figured I'd try making my way down the coast to find them. The sandy part of the shore quickly ended, turning to rocks and then to boulders and cliffs so large that they weren't traversable. The way to continue down the coast was through the highly-sloped rain forest above the boulders and cliffs. Partway along I passed by the one non-climbing member of our group walking in the other direction, presumably to go back to the sandy area where she could relax. She said the way to get to the climbing area was to "keep high" and to ask some other nearby people making their way in the same direction as her but only about 20 seconds behind her which way to go. I did and they gave the same advice. At that point we were at the point where the rocks were giving way to un-traversable cliffs, so I tried continuing but farther from the shore this time.
I found and followed a forest trail for a short while, passing a few people headed (again) the opposite way from me. I asked each of them whether they'd passed people rock climbing but none of them said they had. I think this was 10 or 15 minutes into my walk down the coastline, so I thought I should be seeing them soon. After those few people on the trail, I didn't see anyone else in the forest, and there were no trail markers or signs—the trail just vaguely petered out and seemed to disappear entirely, giving way to undifferentiated dense, highly-sloped rain forest. I crawled and groped and squeezed my way through the least dense areas I could, but it was impossible to find any route that didn't require squeezing through or under dense underbrush, climbing through nets of thorny vines, or other painful or questionable maneuvers. I was exhausted and couldn't find any trail or sight of any people.
I kept going, and I was torn between giving up or trying to keep going; both options promised to be difficult, painful, and possibly dangerous. I'd been going way past the 15 to 20 minutes I'd been told it would take, but if there was some kind of trail I was missing I assumed it would naturally be taking me longer.
Eventually I did see one of them climbing, so I yelled and made my way over to them, and they led me around the rock they'd been climbing for what was another five minutes or so of scrambling up and down boulders to get to where the others were.
Finding them, I was exhausted and furious with them all for not sending someone to meet me and show me how to get to them. I was scratched (and bitten) up and couldn't contain my anger, cursing and telling them I resented every one of them and although I might not feel so angry an hour or day from then, I was really angry with them then. At the same time, I was surprised they hadn't taken down their climbing ropes by this point, since sunset was approaching, but that meant I had an opportunity to climb before they packed up to head back to the car. I had a hard time deciding whether to climb. I'd wanted to so, so badly and I'd taken an extraordinary amount of effort to get there. Sure, I was exhausted from that effort and only had some water and all of one granola bar in me, but this was my chance. I hated my indecisiveness and I hated them. In the end I decided I was so furious and exhausted that I'd probably hurt myself climbing and besides couldn't trust any of them to belay me (that's the role of a person who's not climbing but holds the other end of the climber's rope so that they don't fall if they lose their grip on the rocks). Since I couldn't stand to hang around with them while they made their last few climbs and packed up, I headed back to the car. Even though I hadn't found whatever trail they took, I wasn't especially worried about finding my way back—after all, I'd managed to find my way there. If nothing else, I had the only set of car keys in my pack, not because I'd driven us there but because the car provided a nice quiet, air-conditioned place for me to take the phone call.) So it's not like they could drive back to our lodging without me.
You may have anticipated that I in fact should have been worried about finding my way back. I didn't have a knife or any cutting implement with me, so my journey started out as hard as it was getting there, but the terrain soon became even more difficult, if that's possible. The ground was covered with leaves and criss-crossed with dead and living branches, so guessing where to step was treacherous. And in many places I couldn't even crawl or squeeze through the upright and sideways branches and vines. I quickly ran out of water and needed more badly. I didn't have hiking or even close-toed shoes with me, since I'd had no idea I'd be encountering terrain like this or needing so much water. Again, there was absolutely no cell service throughout this whole area beyond the parking area, to which I had no idea how close or far I was. In some places I tried moving up or down the steep slope to try to find some trail. Occasionally the dense brush would open up in the shore-ward direction such that I'd unexpectedly have a gorgeous view of the water far beyond and below me. It was tempting to stop, and sometimes I did for a short time before moving on. After all, there wasn't anywhere to sit or any food or water to consume. It was definitely after sunset and getting dark at this point.
I tried a strategy of getting as "high" as I possibly could, even if I couldn't find a trail. As darkness fell completely, I found a chain-link fence and followed it along the top of the slope; beyond it was a big grassy field, definitely not a place I recognized but it seemed much closer to civilization and potentially passable terrain. Indeed, even without knowing whether I'd be able to get to the other side of the fence, the ground along it was at least relatively level and not densely forested, albeit still rocky.
I did eventually find a break in the fence and passed through it to a big grassy field and beyond that to some paved areas and what looked like an obviously-closed-for-the-night school or some similar institution. It was totally dark and there was a lot more fencing that it wasn't clear how to get around but I did have cell service! I got one message from a member of the group asking if I was there and I responded affirmatively and asked where they were but received no response. I tried messaging everyone in the group but got no response. Looking on Google Maps I could see where I was but it was not at all clear where the parking area I'd come from was; the area I was in wasn't recognizable, and nothing looked familiar from Google Maps' satellite view as resembling the parking area (which I hadn't driven to or been in a position to clearly view the drive to as I rode in the back of the car). I thought of looking for a convenience or grocery store that I could walk to so I could get some water, but it didn't look like there were any nearby, and the direction of "civilization" (i.e., inland) was away from any direction the parking area could be. I tentatively wandered empty, dark expanses of pavement, figuring that the rest of my group must eventually return to cell range since they'd have service once they returned to the parking area. Without having a clear direction to go, I hesitated to go very far. Suddenly I got an incoming call from one of them, though the audio was hard to make out; I had sent them my current location so I wasn't sure why they weren't just heading toward me if they had cell service and thus knew where I was. I don't remember if I could make out any of what the person on the other end said, but as I was trying to hear or be heard, a car pulled up and a stranger said my friends were looking for me and to hop in. I asked the person on the phone if I should get in a car with a stranger but didn't hear a clear answer. Aside: I'm of an age where we were taught regularly as schoolkids never ever to get in a vehicle with a stranger even—or especially—if they claimed they were there on behalf of an unnamed friend or relative. But also, surely my traveling companions were looking for me (?) and I was desperate, so I got in. He drove me to the original parking area and people in my group seemed relieved, though one can wonder whether their relief was more that I'd been found or that their car keys had been. They shared some of their water with me. I collapsed on the ride home and heard something about miscommunication but I wasn't really with it. Considering what had just happened, I didn't receive a very welcome reception, but I was on my way home and out of the woods.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-02-12 07:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-02-12 06:44 pm (UTC)