A Day of Adventures!

Well...This is truly my new love. I spent about 7 hours yesterday outside in the great wonders of the Sierra Nevadas. We tore up those mountains and spent time finding amazing jumps. Quinn and I decided to take a small tour of the mountain and found a great jump. Basically a ravine. We would start out going pretty slow down the one side and then sped up the other side of the ravine to get some "SWEET AIR"! Yeah baby! Then the last time before Quinn and I decided to go back to home base, I decided to get stuck pretty darn well. Luckily Donny and Jake came to the rescue to save us. That was a breath of relief. They lifted the sled straight out of the whole that I dug. They are super strong! We played some more on that hill and then the boys continued to play and I decided to head back to camp.

This is where I began to run into trouble. I knew the place where we crossed the road was just around the corner. The only problem was that I could not find where the opening was for me to cross the road. So I continued driving and finally decided to turn around when I hit pavement, but my Sweet Snowmobiling skills did not allow this to happen. I ended up stuck in another bank. So first I prayed that I might get the sled out without Donny, Jake, and Quinn finding me and pulling me out again (stupid thought. I am not very strong). So after 15 mins of struggling to get this sled out, I decided to pray again. This time that someone ( I didn't care who) would come help me get out of this rut. As soon as I said Amen, I looked up and this kind Mexican came to help me pull the sled out. He was really strong too and I am sure he hadn't been trying to get a stupid sled out so his muscles were not so fatigued.

I thanked him and then tried to head back to base camp. By this time I was exhausted and just ready to take a nap. I continued up a very unfamiliar hill into an unfamiliar area. So I decided to turn off to the right, which is where I thought camp was, and just follow snow mobile tracks back to camp. I obviously chose the wrong tracks to follow. These tracks started taking me into some areas that were outside my skill level to ride, but amateur me did not know that. So I started to panic at this point and I was driving down a steep hill with 2 other hills on the side and ended up hitting a bump wrong and my sled was not going anywhere. At this point I had to tell myself you are in shock. Everything will be alright. I prayed that I might be close to the campsite and the only thing that was stopping me from seeing if I was or not was a large hill. I then decided, after more prayer, that I needed to walk around this hill.

I was wearing a light sweatshirt and a pair of snow boots (luckily my first pair of shoes was soaked earlier and Jill let me borrow an extra pair she had!). We had told our mother that we did not need gloves because it was such a nice day. I was now regretting this decision. But I had to see what was on the other side of the hill. As I left the snow mobile and started walking, I began to realize how deep the snow really was. I was walking, at some points, in as deep as 3 feet of snow. Then, I looked over to the right of me, and I got really scared. There was a pair of handle bars to what looked like a snow mobile. At this point, I was sure that I was going to die. And I was sure that the other guy died too. I walked for about 1 1/2 miles around the dark side of the mountain and then discovered that this is not where camp was. I then sat down in the snow and began to cry. I know I am pathetic, but I was really lost. I began to scream for Help. This is the first time that had actually screamed for help and meant it. I prayed very hard that someone would find me and that I might be safe. I love the Lord. He knows where we are in our lives and know what needs to happen for us to be safe.

Logic began to kick in and I realized that I would probably be found by the sled, so after crying for a long while, I decided to walk back to the sled and try to dig it out. This was the only way I would get back home and safe with my family. Luckily walking back was much easier because I had already made the footprints on the way around the mountain. As I was walking back, a helicopter flew over me. My first thought was that my family had called search and rescue and I would be saved before it got too dark. But the helicopter was flying elsewhere, so I traveled back to the snow mobile. When I got back, I began to dig. I had really done a number of digging myself into a deep pit. As I was digging, I heard the roar of the snow mobiles in the distance. I began to scream again. Then I heard them stop and my name was called. I could hear them, but they could not hear me. I kept screaming for a long while. They finally heard me and they turned the sleds on and came to my rescue. It was both Jake and Donny that found me. (Right after the second family prayer said back at home base). Jake went back to camp to call off search and rescue and Donny proceeded to dig me out. Then we were off. I got stuck 2 more times on the way back. It took us about 15-20 mins to get back to camp. I was really lost in the deep woods. When I got back home, I was completely embarrassed, but my parents met me with tears in their eyes and a loving embrace.

It is amazing to me that when something as scary as that happens your family can unite and call upon the power of God to help. I love my family and their caring. Nothing makes you appreciate something more, than when you loose it. Thank you to all for helping and for your prayers. I love you and Love to Snowmobile.

Lesson Learned: Never go anywhere by yourself!