The Heroes

We'd just finished a 2 day backpacking trip up in Lassen Volcanic Park and were eager to get a head start on getting home. We were assured by our fellow backpackers that it was an easy loop back to the trailhead where our cars were parked. So with no map or compass, 4 brave or silly girls set off to find their way home through the woods.

As these stories always go, we took a wrong turn in the woods and the easy 40 minute stroll turned into a grueling 3 hour hike to nowhere. Realizing that we could either hike back 6 miles to our car with heavy packs, no food & water or find some kind strangers that would take pity on us and drive us back to our original trailhead, we opted for the latter.

After explaining our plight to the first group of backpackers we saw, trail-code prevailed and three boys in the group agreed to take us. Two of us stayed in the parking lot and two of us rode out for what we thought was going to be a short ride to our car. We couldn't have been more wrong.

Hour 1: We went the complete opposite direction from our original trailhead and ended up driving half way around Lassen (which is not a small park by any measure) before finally stopping at a park ranger station to pick up a real map.
Hour 2: Even with the map, we mistakenly turned down dirt paths with rocks big enough to easily pop tires and ditches big enough to swallow the Saab Aero we were rolling in.
Hour 3: We finally find our car at the original trailhead, drive back to pick up our friends and jet to the nearest town for burgers and beers.

Honestly, we were completely at the boys' mercy and they really could have left us at the side of the road or done much worse. But our Lassen heroes really came through for us that day, regaling us with stories from their previous misadventures with San Francisco girls and entertaining us with tunes from their friends band. So here's to you our Lassen heroes for being super nice and saving the day. Check out the video of their up and coming band, Drop Motion. The two drummers are two of the three that were in the car.



And now, a few words of advice for other city girls venturing into the woods:
1. Always carry a detailed map and compass or take a GPS.
2. Don't break off from the group unless you know exactly where you're going.
3. The talking to strangers rule is null and void in desperate situations, but use your common sense.