The Dramatic Rescue

Andy and I took Alli and Ruby on a short, easy hike the other day. Betsy, Jen and Lucas came too. The trail goes up the mountainside to a beautiful mountain stream where the trail splits, you can climb higher above the falls, or you can hike a little further to a waterfall.

At this point, Andy decided to take Alli up the higher path. I went with Ruby and everyone else to see the waterfall. The hike to the falls was easy. There were lots of people... families and kids checking out the waterfall. We waited and waited to see Andy and Alli on the hill above.

Then a call came on the cell phone. Andy and Alli had climbed pretty high, and Andy needed help getting Alli back down.

I left Ruby with Andy's sisters, and I went up to rescue Andy and Alli. The trail they took was steep. There were huge boulders everywhere with loose gravel in between. They were way up above the waterfall, and Alli had realized how high they were and how slick the trail was, and she was a bit scared. I made it up to Andy and Alli and I started to coach Alli down.

When you are climbing on rocks, up or down, keeping three points on the rocks is a safe way to move (for example keep two feet and one hand on the rocks, or two hands and one foot on the rocks). Alli tried this and was doing great, but moving slow. Andy decided to try holding her hand and walking quickly down. With the slippery gravel, that didn't work out so well. We went back to the three-point crawl.

We made it back down the mountain without too many scrapes and bruises. Next time Andy won't continue up a difficult path with our kids... I'm quite sure. :)

(Check comments for Andy's version of this story.)