While I had her, I pulled out the articles that Hal had printed out and asked her thoughts on the matter. Admitting as I did so that I was going to be visiting with him over dinner later. Max seemed to latch on to the date part of the conversation rather than answer what I had asked. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad people are being supportive, but that's not what this is. Not that I wouldn't mind, but there is a purpose here that isn't either of us being significant to the other.
When I could get her attention again, Max did remember what Hal had said last week about the missing persons being connected to the video she was obsessing over. With her acceptance of the video, sort of, she did want more information. Skeptical as always, she wasn't prepared to accept that the connection was valid. But if so, she wanted to know. She told me to hear him out, but to keep in mind that he might have alternative motives, which she totally supported, and that I shouldn't just take him at his word. The printed articles helped with that.
After work, as planned, Hal picked me up for dinner. The staff at Annie's knows us well enough, and is probably part of the reason Hal suggested it, help me to feel safe. While we waited for our food, we chatted about work and his classes at the university. Like Max, he was taking courses during the summer. Just a few here and there, mostly leaving him open for his internship.
Hal has been focusing on comparing and contrasting human culture and mythology. Primarly between Europeans and the Native Americans. He said there's actually some surprising and fascinating similarities to be found despite the lack of connection between the two continents. He wants to look into studying in the north east, up into Canada if he can. He wants to learn about when the Vikings were thought to have found the America's and what impact they might have had on the local cultures. But that's a long way off, for now he's been thrilled to learn what there is to find in our own area. His internship at the museum has given him the chance to physically handle some things relevant to his study, and he just loves having that tangible connection.
One of the things Hal said he was interested in was mythology, creation stories and the like. He said there's a Caddo legend about Turtle saving the world from four giants. I'm not sure if Caddo was the name of the turtle, or if it was a group of native tribes, but I think the legend was Pawnee. May have to ask him about it again to clarify. In any case, one of the things he found interesting is how giants are often used to explain land formations, and how this is true across many cultures. Even early Americans had stories of giants leaving impressions on the land, e.g. Paul Bunyan who carved the Grand Canyon by dragging his axe behind him.
Anyway, in the Caddo myth, the four giants became the cardinal directions: North, South, East, and West. But this also involved another common myth, the flood. While the world was flooded, Turtle dug the earth out from beneath the feet of the giants who had formed together. They collapsed, separated, and drifted away becoming the directions.
I was starting to think he was stalling having told me about this myth, but then he explained why he had taken his hiking trip in the first place. He had found reason to believe that there was a place in Arapaho National Forest where it was said Turtle had dug the earth out from beneath the giants. When he had taken his hiking trip, the purpose was to find that place, as well as to take some pictures of the eclipse. He's also an amateur photographer, which helps him with his primary study.
Hal took a break after that, which gave us to chance to focus on our food for a bit. He seemed to be considering whether to tell me what he had invited me out for. When I was ready, I prodded him asking if he had found what he was looking for.
Hal nodded, and said he did find something. It wasn't what he was expecting, but he did find something. He had hiked up to Lake Evelyn and spent some time looking around for a place to mount his camera and in general to see what he could find. The lake was on the north side of a mountain ridge, and as he approached that ridge where the trees cleared away, he found a large stone that was sticking out of the ground. What had attracted his attention about the stone was that it didn't appear to be the same as other stones in the area.
Part of his education has been geology classes, learning how to identify different types of rocks. The stone that drew his attention was darker than the others, and looked igneous. Byers peak isn't volcanic, which suggests the igneous rock would have had to have been brought in. What Hal found was that it was sticking out of the ground as though it had been buried there. He didn't have the tools, or the permission for that matter, to go digging it up, so he had no idea how large it was.
What was really interesting, was that it had carvings on one flat side. They extended down below the ground, so he couldn't see the whole carving. It reminded him of the Norse Runestones, except the carvings looked more like Greek lettering. In addition to pictures, he took an impression using paper from a note pad he had brought with him. At this point he produced the pictures and the impression. It was a lot to take in, and the picture were convincing. Curious about the rock itself he had gathered some samples from rocks in the area, and then using his pocket knight he tried to strike off a small sample of the runestone. He said he had a buddy in the geology department who could run tests on the rocks to find out their chemical composition. With that information he might be able to learn where the rock came from.
The runestone was tough though, and wouldn't break readily. He had to go back to his car to get the tire iron. As he approached the rock, he said he felt this wave radiate out toward him as though warding him away. It wasn't wind, the trees around him weren't moving, but the sounds of nature all went silent. Birds, insects, all the things around that make noise and are usually ignored. He waited, looking around, and sure enough the sounds returned. So he continued to approach the rock and had no further resistance.
Even with the tire iron though, the rock didn't want to chip. So he found a way to prop the iron, and then using another large stone nearby as a hammer, he struck the tire iron to chip the runestone. The runestone cracked, all the way through starting from the point struck by his tire iron. The sound was deafening, like a lightning strike, but even more horrifying was that afterward there was this deep rumble and the air around him was pulled toward the stone. Almost as if something was sucking air in, then a pause, and then a blast of air that knocked him back and sent him tumbling.
He grabbed his iron, grabbed a sample of the runestone that had chipped away, and then ran back down the hill toward the lake. Except he couldn't find the lake. That was when he had gone missing. Having spent time looking around the lake, Hal felt he was sure he wouldn't get lost. The area is small enough, the trail well marked, and enclosed by mountain ridges, Hal shouldn't have gotten lost. Yet when he looked around, nothing was recognizable. The mountain ridges, the lake, none of it there. And to make matters worse, that was about the time the eclipse happened.
Remembering that he had wanted to get some pictures of the eclipse, Hal pulled out his camera and tried to get some shots. He hadn't found a good clearing where he could prepare his mount, so unfortunately the pictures were unsteady, unfocused, and hastily composed. He pulled em out, but basically admitted they were useless to prove anything. The vegetation was all the same, so it's not like he had strange trees where he shouldn't have been able to find them, or located with other plants that wouldn't grow around them. He was unable to find any good spots to capture a landmark or anything that could help establish his location. And once he thought of doing that, he checked the GPS on his phone only to find his phone wasn't finding a GPS signal. He did take a screenshot of that just to show, but it still doesn't help his case.
He didn't wander far, not wanting to get away from where he had started in case someone would go looking for him. And where he did go, he made sure to be able to recognize the area so he could get back. It made exploring the area very slow, but it did keep him safe. After the first night, he set about making shelter using tree branches tied together with his shoelaces. He also set about trying to get water. It rained the next day, which was a mixed blessing 'cause it soaked him through and ruined his camera. The pictures were digital, so they were fine, but the camera was ruined so he couldn't take more. But he was able to collect some water in his canteen.
By the third day he was getting desperate and hungry. He said he turned to some berries that he had found hoping they weren't poisonous. They didn't kill him, but they did make him sick. He puked up the berries, and then tried to make his way back to camp in a dizzy haze. By the time it was getting dark he realized he had lost his way and was well and truly lost. The next morning he was woke by the sound of the rescue dogs, they found him a hundred feet from his car.
Hal said he had since reached out to his rescuers to thank them. According to Hal, they aren't sure how he wound up where they found him. There were no tracks, and the dogs never followed any scent leading in that direction.
I can't imagine what he was going through. I start to panic when I can't find my parents at the mall, but then I've not been alone since I was diagnosed with my tumor. The idea of heading out into the middle of the wilderness alone is beyond my experience. By this point in his story it was getting late, and I needed to go home. So unfortunately I was unable to find out how this related to the other hikers, or Max's video, but I did agree to come out with him another night so he could explain that.
This was not the end of my night though. As we were leaving the dinner, there was some commotion down the street, just a couple of blocks away. Flashing lights, a siren, and lots of people. We stepped out onto the sidewalk to take a look and found that the street had been blocked to traffic. There was a fire engine, which made it seem like something had caught fire, but I didn't see any burning buildings.
Out of curiosity, Hal and I joined the crowd of people to find out what we could. Others explained that a fight had broke out at The Goose, and in the fracas something caught fire in the kitchen. The fire was contained quickly, but the police made sure the fire department was called. From our position we couldn't see much so Hal and I didn't stick around, but the excitement was certainly contagious.
Between the excitement at The Goose, and Hal's story I can still feel my blood flowing, it's going to make it hard to get to sleep tonight which sucks because I have work again tomorrow. Going to try and calm down so I can go to bed.
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