The first Cady Family camping
trip that I really Have many solid and fond memories was our 1988 trip to Tony
Grove, Utah. I was eight-years-old and was finally old enough to have some of
my own adventures, free from adults and an older brother who had power of veto
over anything I wanted to do.
We
also had a large camp ground to play around in with a steep hill on the corner
of it that provided hours of entertainment for all of us kids. To name us
quickly, all of us young cousins
constituted my brother and I :Tommy Van Pelt (10), Marc Van Pelt (8),
and my cousins; Andy Bay (10), Scott Bay (8), Megan Cady (6), Shawn Bay (4), with Tisha Bay and Tyler Cady
both almost being three.
We
spent most of our time on the steep path going up the hill that ended at a 5
foot cliff. We could walk along a ridge that followed the base of the cliff but
weren’t able to find any way to the top of it just yet.
Because of the
steepness of the path up, we decided to tie a rope to the tree roots coming out
of the cliff wall. This made ascending the steep hill easier and more fun-
especially for our younger cousins.
As
we began playing here the adults were quick to warn us not to loosen the dirt
from the roots because the tree that they came from was growing right on the
edge of the cliff and leaning a little over the edge. They didn’t want the tree
to fall on any of us. Since we hadn’t considered the fact that we might make
the tree fall we made sure not to dislodge dirt from the roots- at least, we
didn’t while the grown ups were watching. When they weren’t present we thought
making the tree fall would be awesome and went to task on it.
Lucky for us we
failed in this task. Last time I looked, the tree was still leaning in it’s
same precarious position in 1997 that it had been in nine years earlier. In
hindsight I think getting the tree to fall might have ended up being less awesome then we thought. I
suspect our parents might have been smarter then we gave them credit for.
After a couple
of days we gave up on the tree and started exploring more of the area around
the camp and it was then that my cousin Scott and I found a narrow path between
two large bushes that looked like it might lead to the area above the ridge...
and it did!
We were joined
by our cousin Megan and the three of us commenced to explore the upper ridge
line. We found the tree we had been trying to knock over from below and found
out kicking and pushing it from above didn’t work either.
If I remember
right it was also at this time that we had an exchange with some of the older
cousins still playing below that included bragging about finding the path up
first and a few hand grenades shaped like pine cones.
The three of us
decided to continue exploring further along the upper ridge for a while and
after going a good distance Megan said she was scared and wanted to go back.
Scott and I told her that she should go back then, but we weren’t scared and
were going to go on with or without her, and started walking on.
I made it about
six steps before a memory from the night before came back to me. Us older
cousins had noticed a couple of rangers walking down the road with rifles and we had spent some
part of the night debating whether they were looking for a bear, murderer, or
Bigfoot.
Now standing
there I realized the bear, murderer, or Bigfoot could be hiding behind any tree
just waiting to get me.
Scott walked on
another five or six steps before noticing I had stopped in my tracks and asked
what was wrong. I informed him I had a bad feeling and was going to go back with
Megan. Megan was still a few steps back where we left her looking like she was
trying to disintegrate us with her eyes for even thinking of leaving her alone.
Scott announced
he was going on alone then and commenced waling down the path. Megan and I started
back for camp. Most of the way back I spent deciding how I was going to haunt
her after the bear/murderer/Bigfoot, that I was sure was right behind us, ate
me because she couldn’t run any faster.
I was tempted to
scoot around her but decided that leaving a little be eaten while I ran to safety might be
considered unmanly, so it was just as well that there was no room to pass on
the trail.
We got back to
where we had first found the path to the upper ridge, which was in sight and
only a few yards from camp. I was happy to find nothing sinister behind us but
I did realize I had a dilemma. Since I was the oldest, that meant I was the one
the grown ups would hold responsible if something ate Scott.
When deciding
between angry parents and man eating bears/murderers/bigfeet, the answer was
clear- I told Megan to wait at camp while I went to look for Scott.
After retracing
my steps for a bit I came to a fork in the trail with a small path to the lower
ridge that I recognised as being right before the spot we had split up at.
I was about to
continue on when from no where the thought occurred to me that Scott had found
another such path to the lower ridge and was now making his way back to camp
along that path. If I continued on the path I was currently walking then I
would unknowingly pass him and spend heaven knows how long looking for him while
he’d be safe at camp. Again I don’t know how but I knew that if I went down to
the lower ridge and waited then he’d be along in a few seconds.
Years later
while reflecting on this I thought it strange that my eight-year-old self
didn’t even think anything amiss about this sudden revelation and accepted it as
fact with out second thought. Eventually I decided to just blame it on my
mother. (I love you Mom, but if I’ve said it once I’ve said it a hundred
times- Stay out of my Head!)
Anyway I went
down to the lower ridge and stood there waiting for Scott with my hands on my
hips doing my best angry parent impression. I thought about tapping my toe on
the ground like they did in cartoons but decided not to since I’d never seen
anyone do it in real life.
After about 20
seconds Scott came scooting around a bend in the ridge line a few feet in front
of me, hugging the cliff. Upon seeing me he smiled and announced he had found a
way down. I ignored the comment and just proceeded to chew him out for making me
worry and told him we should get back to camp. I didn’t mention it but I had a
nagging fear that Megan might write us off as dead and organize another funeral
for us like she had done for that stupid squirrel.
Which reminds me
of another story...
