As the twilight of nightfall approaches on Devil’s Path in the Catskills region of New York State, our voices echoed into the densely rich forest.
“Kyle! Kyle!!”, we screamed.
Suddenly, my portly hiking companion Ron abruptly motioned towards some thick mossy underbrush about 100 feet below us. With adrenaline rushing through our veins, we began to climb down to the narrow rocky plateau for a closer look.
Upon completion of our descent, a faint shadowy figure could be made out through the pale, yet glowing moonlight. Ron, although breathing heavily and drenched with sweat moved swiftly towards the shrubbery thicket pulling it back.
“It’s Kyle!”, he exclaimed.
His body was laid out motionless! Immediately, I began First Aid by checking his breathing and pulse rate. As I started to hunch over with smelling salts in hand, Kyle sluggishly moaned in pain while clutching his right leg.
“I think it is broken,” Kyle muttered weakly.
After a few sips of water, Kyle explained that he had heard a rambling commotion in the bushes, and upon investigation, the ground gave way knocking him out cold. Without warning, a noise about 20 feet away startled us. A sharp snapping of dry twigs followed by a loud rustling of leaves filled our eardrums. Snap, snap, swish, swish, swish! Snap, snap, swish, swish!! As we cautiously gazed towards an abundant row of thick bushes, the outline of a pack of wolves became visible.
“We are at least 2 miles from camp”, Ron whispered.
With Kyle’s leg so badly injured we could not travel far. The barraging clatter grew closer and much louder. Our hearts were pounding in sync so rapidly that the echo seemed to bounce off the surrounding trees like a pinball. We sat there motionless as a pack of deer quickly zipped by with a grouping of wolves in close pursuit.
“We cannot let them spot us.”, Kyle said.
I grabbed the nearest rock and hurled it towards the open embankment of cliffs overlooking a pristine flowing brook. The thunderous smacking reverberation of the rock landing startled the entire forest. Deer, wolves, rabbits, and squirrels all ran in opposite directions fleeing from the noise.
“Take that you wolves!”, Ron happily exclaimed.
After cautiously waiting 10 minutes due to Ron’s outburst, it appeared the coast was clear.
“I remember my dad telling me there’s a cabin about one mile north from these cliffs.”, Kyle said.
“We should seek shelter there for the night then.”, Ron replied as I nodded in agreement.
Carefully placing Kyle’s arms over our shoulders to form a human crutch, we began our trek towards the old cabin. After a slow tiresome hour, our spirits were lifted some knowing that we had refuge for the remainder of the night. Shortly after closing the door, we were all fast asleep. I was awakened by a brisk knocking at the door in the morning. It was Kyle and Ron!
“Are you ready to go camping?”, they both asked.
“You guys, I had the craziest dream last night!”, I replied.
They stood there momentarily stunned with alarm before helping me load my camping equipment in the truck.
“Did the dream have anything to do with these crutches tied to your survival bag?”, Kyle asked.
Flabbergasted by the questioned I chuckled nervously and replied, “Let’s go and I’ll tell you guys on the way.”
