Jason vs. The Angeles National Forest: Part II

My legs were giving up and now Victor was eating the dirt I was leaving behind. Since time was an issue I said we should start going sideways, which he agreed on. So we climb sideways and saw a flat area that looked like a dried up river bed. Finally, we had a solid, flat ground to walk on.

Thinking that this was going lead us to safety we walked along it. The river bend became more of a trench after awhile. Almost like in a movie, we noticed the trench ended up towards the horizon. We both knew what this meant but kept going forward anyway. When we got towards the end, it was plain and clear.

If water was present, me and Victor would have been standing at the edge of a waterfall. The drop was close to vertical. I would guess about 40 to 50 ft. Nothing but rocks and dead brush below. Just around the riverbend my ass. Fuck you Pocahontas.

The sun was being a bitch as well. We were stuck. From this vantage point we could literally see where we had to go. Me and Victor were like Lewis & Clark.

We now had the map of this place in our head, but we just didn't know how to get to the other side of this mountain. If we went back up the river, we'd lose time going the wrong way. I took the stupid initiative and climbed up the side of the trench.

I'm pretty sure I confused Victor when I started to climb the side the near verticle cliff. There was dry brush to hang on to. I was tired, hungry and knew it was going to get dark soon. We had to do something. Victor followed me, still questioning my actions. I should have questioned myself, but I knew if we got on the other side of this cliff, we would be well on our way out of this place. Victor knew that too and followed me.

So me and Victor were straddling this cliff, carefully planting out feet and holding on to dead brush. I honestly said a prayer. Its funny how one thinks in dangerous situations. I felt the need to tell a joke to Victor. I told him that this was like Indiana Jones. In the movie, he holds on to a vine to save himself from falling, and smiles thinking he's escaped death. Suddenly the vine snaps a bit and he goes down. The smile goes away. I began to reinact that scene as a joke.

I think God didn't appreciate my humor. As I said that, just like in the movie, the bush I was holding on to ripped out from its roots. Oh, the irony. I started to slide down. Victor reached out to try and grab me, but luckily I had caught onto another bush on the way down. I could hear the rocks crashing below me. What a moment.

We kept going and finally reached the other side of that cliff. It was less steep on this side. Knowing that I could have fallen to my death, I became desperate to get out of there. (TO BE CONCLUDED)