At the request of Meg: One of the Times I Almost Died. It was a beautiful March day. A few of us decided it would be a perfect day for a hike. It was Sunday, so we got a late start due to church. Seems like we even had a leisurely meal at Arby’s. Regardless, we decided on Ramsey Cascade’s Trail. It’s about four miles, one way. The first two easy to moderate, the last two are moderate to strenuous. No problem, we were young & in decent shape. We took off under crystal clear brilliant skies, a warning from a man I knew, that was fishing on the road there, distant in my ears: “it’s supposed to storm. Y’all be careful & watch the sky.” How could it storm on our perfect day? It was 75°. We were in thin pants & shorts. The guys wore Chaco sandals. We gently climbed, joking & teasing, laughing & taking our time. We stopped for Pringles & cokes that we had stashed in our backpacks. One of the guys was of the competitive nature, & was trying to show off, so he rushed on ahead, saying he’d see us at the top. Fine, whatever. We hiked on & stopped to admire the water about twenty minutes later. That’s when we noticed, through our oblivion, that things had changed. “Y’all, I think it’…
