ONE SCAREY NIGHT

It’s time to tell a true story about what happened to me on an unexpected one-day trip to Four Peaks, a mountain range in northeastern Arizona.  A friend was taking us to an amethyst crystal mine which he had found on a previous trip. He said there were amethyst crystals all over the ground. We drove up there on an unpaved road and he said it was in worse condition than he had ever seen it. Not wanting to turn around, we slowly proceeded forward in our station wagon with our friend running ahead and pushing the boulders aside. When the road ended, we parked the car and continued on foot.  We opted for the longer but less steep route.  He lost his sense of direction since he had never personally taken that route before.  He had always taken the shorter, more difficult path. We climbed through brush and vegetation and after three hours we gave up and returned to the car without any crystals.  We were very disappointed but we had no idea of what was yet to come!

While driving the car slowly back down the rough road, our brakes overheated and failed. A passerby in a 4 Wheel-Drive vehicle offered assistance.  The couple seemed very nice and offered to drive me and the two children back to my home where I could return with our other car.  My husband and our friend thought they would let the brakes cool down and then attempt to get down the mountain to the paved main road and wait there for my return.  This was in the days before cell phones! How did we ever get along without them?   Back at home, I grabbed water, an apple and crackers and also made a phone call to alert a family member that I was heading back up there.  I had to fill the car with gas and it was starting to get dark.  I left the children safely at home.  When I got back, I did not see my husband and our station wagon anywhere so I headed up the hill.  I did feel a bit of terror about having to go on those winding, narrow roads  alone in the dark.  I remembered what the woman in the assisting vehicle had told me;  “you are a woman, you are strong, and you can do anything!”  That phrase stayed with me and gave me the courage I needed to get through the night. I went forward to save my husband!!                                        After driving several hours in the dark, I hit the rough part of the road and at that point I knew I had somehow passed the spot where I had left him with the car and he was not there!!  I was so tired, scared and full of tension and thought perhaps I had misunderstood our plan.  I feared that he had gone over the edge of the mountain!  There was no way to turn the car around in the dark  and I couldn’t possibly make the return trip down those narrow roads in the dark and in my exhausted and confused state!   I had started up the mountain at about 7 PM and now it was 11 PM

While apparently driving around  in circles, I had an unusual experience:  Out of the corner of my eye, I sensed an American Indian sitting in the passenger seat.  This was the same Indian we used to sense standing at the foot of our bed so often at home.  It was hard to believe, but it made me laugh and also made me feel protected . Of course, I had been praying for help.  I made my way forward to the parking area, locked my car; ate my supper of apple and crackers; crawled into the back seat and tried to sleep.  I tried sending ESP messages to my husband just in case he made it home safely.  Of course I could not sleep!  At the break of dawn, I headed down the mountain.  It took two hours driving carefully down the winding narrow dirt roads to get home.

Upon arriving, I found a hysterical husband and other family members outside looking up through binoculars for a search helicopter. Apparently they had slowly driven to the foot of the hill after the brakes cooled down. After waiting what seemed like a very long time,  they made signs and put them on trees at the foot of the hill with my name saying they had headed home. They watched for me on the road but never saw me pass them.  I never saw those signs in the darkness.  Upon arriving home and finding the children, and then learning that I had gone up there to get them, they turned around, this time to rescue me. After attempting the trip in our friend’s sports car, unsuccessfully, they turned back, called the sheriff and reported me lost up there.  A search party was sent out to look for me, but they assumed it unnecessary to go beyond that rough stretch of road, as no car could navigate safely through that area. They thought it most likely that I had gone over the cliff since I was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, I was the only car in that parking lot a little further up the hill.  They called my husband and told him a search plane would be sent up to look for me as soon as it was light.  It was a very long night for both of us, each thinking we had lost the other.

After much hugging and tears, I learned that my husband had prayed for my safety and also asked that Indian, who always seemed to be looking after us, to go and protect me!  I learned this after I told him the story of the night and how the Indian had suddenly appeared in the passenger seat of the car.   We were both in total amazement!

Four peaks Mountain is beautiful to look at, but you won’t find us anywhere near there, even for free amethyst crystals.   It’s a good thing I didn’t know about all the mountain lions and bears up there!