Chapter 1: The Arrival

A Chapter by Doogie

The family starts their vacation

The train whistle bellows across the mountainous landscape. I awaken from my slumber. After a six hour drive with my family and then a two and a half hour train ride it's been a long day. I stare out the window watching the trees pass by. This is going to be a fun trip. Mountain climbing with my family on my seventeenth birthday. My younger brother Zach is asleep with his head on my mom's shoulder. She has been feeling sick a lot recently. Like all of the best moms in the world she still wanted to come. My brother just turned nine a few months ago and this is his first real adventure into the wilderness. He won't be doing anything to crazy on this trip. Dad and I have some fun things planned. Hopefully it will cheer him up. Him and mom have been going through a rough patch. I love them both and know everything will work out.

Dad stares deep into to the seat in front of him. Concentrating on the trip or pondering about the future and what lies ahead. I can't blame the guy. He put his own climbing career on hold to have his dream family and now with mom being sick quite frequently it has been hard on everybody. I don't feel like dwelling on anything negative and look back out the window. The mountains out here are beautiful. They're high, jagged, and still have some snow remaining on them. I can't wait to play on them.

The sound of the steam releasing signals the beginning of the end of this part of the journey. Zach and mom wake up from their Skinner as the train starts to slow down. Dad starts to grab our backpacks and gets ready. His backpack has the most weight and then me. We only brought two tents so Zach and I are sharing one and our parents another. Outside we see a smash suspension bridge appear. Everybody starts to smile and feel more awake. I've been looking forward to this trip. Nothing can mess it up now. The train slows to a crawl and then finally stops. All of our gear is ready to go."Let's do this!" I think to myself. Two other hikers jump out and then we followed.

"Ahhh!" Shouts Zach as he clutches his ankle and rolls on the ground. With that scream our great family adventure starts off on a bad note. Zach jumped off with his backpack on and must of stepped poorly on a rock. His ankle didn't like that very much as he rolled it when he landed. He tears up a little but starts strong. Our family has normally been pretty good when it comes to pain tolerance. Mom and dad rush to him right away.

"It hurts so bad." he says with a tremble as he tries to act like it doesn't. "Please don't be mad. I hope I didn't ruin our trip." He says with a look of disappointment.

"Hey, hey, hey. It was an accident. Don't worry. You probably only rolled it or slightly sprained it. Everything will be fine." replied dad as mom looks over them a little concerned. The train whistle blows as it starts to slowly move towards it's next destination. Mom and dad pop up to chase after it but the higher elevation slows them down. We gained a couple of thousands of feet the past day. We're somewhere around nine thousand feet in elevation. Mom fell over from dizziness. Dad is right next to her and gets an arm around her to protect her fall.

"Hunnie, are you ok?" he ask then "Here drink this." As he he grabs a water bottle from the side of his pack to give her.

"I can't believe they left us here like this. Is our son going to be alright?" she ask between sips of water.

"They must of not seen us. Plus they probably have a tight schedule." replied dad. He looks over at Zach who starts to try and stand. I rush over and give him a hand. Then let him borrow a trekking pole and open it up for him. I normally only use one anyway. "He looks like he's going to be fine. Regardless we would have to wait hours for it's return trip. Zach how are you feeling?" Dad says turning back to mom.

"I'm feeling better. It's still sore but it could be worse." says Zach. He limps around a little with the trekking pole. "I'm sure I can keep going."

Our dad helps our mom up. "Are you sure you want to keep going? We have a few miles to go?"

"Yeah. I might be a little slow. Plus I don't wanna ruin Daniel's birthday weekend." Zach replies to dad as he smiles and gives me a thumbs up.

I take in the scenery before we start. It's a beautiful day out. Only a few random puffy clouds in the sky. I listen to the flow of the river and I hear some birds chirping nearby. It feels good to be away from civilization. Except for what looks like maybe an airplane in the distance. I guess no matter where you are in the United States you can never escape technology. It looks stationary in the distance, but it must be heading straight this way. I take in a big breath of the thinner air. The air is so much more cleaner out here. Dad helps put a backpack on mom as I throw on mine as well. Daniel starts to limp his way over the bridge. Mom, dad, and I follow right behind him. It's about five to six miles to reach a good camp spot. We head into the forest with open minds. Not knowing what to expect. Zach leads the way so he can set a good piece in his condition. Our family vacation is officially started.

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