Walking through the woods, following the trail, no one really knows where we’re headed at this moment. Had we just used the assistance of a guide, we wouldn’t be in this forest with the sun almost setting and seemingly no way out.

At this point, two of our elderly trekkers were reaching their limits and there was no sight of an exit or a summit. Perhaps, we should have listened when the locals had shouted at us to follow the trail and never turn back.

But no, someone smart in the group decided that it was better to turn back without reaching the summit because of the time. I believe that’s where things started going wrong. We turned back and started descending and I, like everyone else on the trek, thought we were following the exact trail that we had used during ascension.

It was only when we started passing through stone structures we did not recognize that we realized we were off our original path.

Panic was slowly setting in for most of us. Fortunately, all of us were adults. The bathroom situation would have to wait till morning otherwise it would have to be the call of nature. But by now, there was no more food.

There were hardly any snacks and barely a sufficient amount of water. We had been trekking all day and we ought to have reached civilization at that point but there was no sign.

As we trekked upwards, we finally walked through a line of trees and stumbled across a little opening that faced the setting sun.

And although we knew that darkness was setting, something about the scene calmed every single one of us. The branches gently opened out to the orange sky, and the fog covering the horizon was a reminder that nature was greater than all of us and somehow, that was relieving. We knew we’d make it down. Late, but we’d make it back safe.

Author: Tia