Bushwhacking Story

Introduction

The events of the summer of 2004 left me badly shaken and emotionally spent. It is only now, three agonizing years later, that I can tell the story. I was cautioned not to write this trip report too soon after the end of the adventure as time would be needed to gain an accurate perspective on what had actually occurred. What occurred during those fateful 8 days is still as crystal clear in my mind as if it all happened yesterday. The painful memories still haunt me day and night with no sign of fading. Perhaps time does not heal all.

My sincerest condolences to the friends, family and loved ones of those who did not make it home. This is a story that I believe needs to be told and my apologies to those who do not feel this way. My intent is not to offend anyone, nor do I place any blame at anyone’s feet. We were all subjected to strong influences that were not of our control and we all acted accordingly. Those who were not there have little hope in understanding this completely. Those who were there did what they had to do.

I learned much about the strengths, weaknesses and limitations, of both men and women, but at a terrible cost. Much of what I learned surprised and shocked me to the core and still I fail to find reasons for they way people acted (and what they did to each other) on this adventure; myself included. Humans are capable of great good, and terrible evil, when presented with circumstances that force them to commit such acts. I suggest we can all learn from the trip report you are about to read for it all started out so normal, so usual and so very typical. Perhaps these are the reasons that things went so very wrong; we expected nothing out of the ordinary and were completely unprepared when the extraordinary presented themselves. I do not mean to cause you paranoia, but prepare and proceed with caution whenever you leave the relative safety and comforts of civilization.

For my own legal protection, and to shelter the feelings and sensitivities of those who survived this horrible ordeal (but may not have fully recovered as of yet), I will change the names of those who participated. Also, I will not mention the specific location where this disaster took place in order to mask the identities of those who still wish to hide within their self-perceived shame and guilt. I do not blame them for wanting to remain anonymous as some of the acts committed were not to be proud of. At the risk of being shelved with those authors who write to heal, here is the trip report.