I wouldn't say it was a small act of kindness. However, I was hiking the Huntington Ravine trail on Mount Washington, probably around April or May of 2015. It was just before all the snow had melted.

Little to my knowledge, this particular trail is one of the most dangerous/difficult trails in the North East. It is considered difficult because it is "scrambling", which is basically rock climbing minus the rope and harness. This was not my idea to try it, rather it was my step brothers. We were incredibly unprepared for this trail as we had over night packs with probably about 30lbs each.

Anyways, we get to the tough part of the trail, called "The Slab". I immediately panicked. There was no way I was going to climb 30 feet straight up the side of this mountain with no gear. Absolutely no way. Despite wanting to turn around, my step brother continued on and left me at the bottom of the 30 foot climb. Once you've climbed the slab, the only way to get down is to climb the rest of the mountain. They call it the point of no return

Because of this, I had to try to climb the slab. Luckily, an older couple who was clearly in far better shape and was vastly more prepared than I, made there way to the Slab. I told them the situation, and the gentlemen offered to guide me up the rock face.

About 3/4ths of the way up the rock face, I began to slip. My hand suddenly slipped off the rock, and I flailed to grab onto something. The gentlemen quickly reached his leg out for me to grab onto. I grabbed onto his foot, and used to it stabilize and climb the rest of the slab.

If it were not for this man and this incredible coincidence, I luckily would have fallen 20+ feet off a cliff, into a rocky slope, with a 30lb pack on. I would have almost certainly been seriously injured, or even killed.

I never got to properly thank him, as my adrenaline was pumping so much I couldn't think clearly.