Hey! I'm a 21 y/o male from California and I also love photography and going on adventures. I'll tell you a short story about a crazy adventure I had last summer!
My friend and I were staying the weekend at his grandma's cabin in the mountains and had planned to come home Sunday. We decided last minute that we were going to leave Monday instead. Sunday morning was spent quickly deciding what we would do all day. We decided to drive up the highway and do some off roading in my SUV. We had a little food (just snacks) and a gallon or so of water. We set off and hit a beautiful 4x4 trail that went along a ridge and then by an awesome lake. In all the excitement, we forgot to call our parents and let them know we were coming home the next day. When I realized we hadn't called them, we were already out of cell service. "Oh well", I thought, "the map says only two more miles of the trail then we will hit the main road and have service."
But those last two miles were the most difficult obstacles I have ever driven through. There were boulders bigger than my tires! I would have turned around, but the trail was narrow and I had gone down a huge rock earlier than I didn't think I could go back up. It took us a few hours to navigate the vehicle less than a half a mile. It was getting dark and cold. We hadn't seen anyone on the trail for 6 hours. It was past 10pm and very cold. We were wearing shorts and only had light jackets to put on in the car. It had been 85F in the day, but now it was 40F. With no easy way out, we decided to camp out next to a river for the night. We folded down the seats in the back of the car and tried to fall asleep despite the cold. We each had one bath towel as a blanket. By 3am it was 35F at most. We could hardly move because we were so cold. With a questionable amount of gas left in my tank, we decided to run the car and the heater for an hour to warm us up. This kept the car warm and we slept till sunrise, then slept again for a few hours as the sun kept th car warm.
We finally woke up at 10am and needed to find a way out. The main trail was too risky to take as it was uphill and huge obstacles. We explored the area and blazed some trails and found a forest service road. The problem was that the only way to get to it was to climb a short rocky hill that was almost at a 45 degree angle. After some time and skilled driving, I got up onto the road. "Free at last," we thought! But no. There was a locked gate between us and the paved main road. At least we had cell service! And 50 missed calls each. Our parents were both furious and scared shitless. We explained what happened and that we were not dead. After the phone calls we looked for ways around the gate but there was no hope. Then suddenly, a worker drove past on the road on the other side of the gate. I ran to the road and flagged him down. Thankfully he stopped and opened the gate for us. After unexpectedly camping in the forest and freezing our asses off we were free!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story. That's just the kind of shit I end up in when I go out for adventures haha. I'd love to hear about some places you've been! Have you ever been stuck in the forest?