The time I nearly died along with my 3 best friends. (A sufferfest story)

I think for a lot of people, there is a moment in their past the stands out as being especially dangerous or nearly fatal. The reality is that quite often we find ourselves within very small margins of very horrible outcomes. This story is about a time where I, along with my closest friends, found ourselves in just that sort of situation.

The Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area is a beautiful labyrinth of rolling high desert hills covered in a thicket of dry grass and chest high sagebrush. Water in the summer time is virtually non existent making the sandy soil feel more like a moonscape than something just a few hours from my home in Idaho. Equally striking is the isolation you feel there, as if no other human has walked in your path. Often when I adventure in the lush alpine of Idaho and Wyoming the isolation gives way to a feeling of comfort and belonging - seldom have I found myself more than half a dozen miles from some other human or animal - but in the Honeycombs, there was an eerie, lifeless silence that remained a subtly disturbing reminder that help was nowhere near.

(The Honeycombs - Courtesy of theoutbound.com)

As part of a tradition, my three best friends and I would always go on a backpacking trip as a celebratory escape from town after the end of the school year. Among the many beautiful places to visit in Idaho and the northwest in general, we came to a consensus that we would hike the Painted Canyon loop through the Honeycombs Wilderness - an 18 mile loop. Our first mistake was the timing. Be it complacency, underdeveloped decision making skills, or by one of the many other flaws 16 and 17 year old boys have in common, we ignored the weather reports that revealed a high pressure system that would lock in 100+ degree days for the entirety of our trip.

(Nightfall on my first night in the Honeycombs)

After the grueling 50 miles of washboard roads, the plan was to do the 9 mile hike in on the first day but due to inexperience at map reading and the inherent difficulty of navigating in foothills nearly devoid of landmarks, I led my friends down an different canyon. We began out nearly 1700 vertical foot decent into the canyon we believed to be the Honeycombs canyon. after hiking for just 2 miles, we were completely out of water and with the sun still rising to its apex, the temperature was quickly rising through the mid 90s. Expecting only a few more hours of hiking, we were seriously regretting not bringing more water, but knew that it was bearable. Unfortunately, the canyon I had led my friends down was significantly more technical and much longer than we had originally anticipated. The hours passed on and we became increasingly miserable from dehydration, though as we reached the bottom of the canyon, a new danger quickly rose to the forefront of our attention.

Rattlesnakes.

A diamondback rattlesnake can easily kill a human being within just hours of a bite and we were completely surrounded. Walking single file, surrounded by hip high sagebrush, there was no way to anticipate the snakes and one after another, they would appear just feet in front of the leader and let loose a gut churning rattle. Our progress slowed as we became weaker and the rattle snakes continued to block our way. After passing at least a dozen of the rattlers, the possibility of being bitten became far too real.

The constant avoidance of these hostile creatures, heat, and dehydration were playing a tremendous burden on all of our mental and physical stamina and pressing on was becoming increasingly urgent.

(The endless view from within the canyon)

Once we had been hiking in the canyon for around 6 hours, it became apparent that the canyon was not ending where we thought it would and that we must have taken a wrong turn. Now, completely uncertain of our position, we had no idea if the water we so desperately needed was just around the next corner or possibly even 10 or 15 miles away. Corner after corner, it became clear we had made a horrible mistake. The water just didn't show up.

On top of the horrible situation we were in, one of my friends began to feel the effects of deep dehydration. He had gone temporarily blind from the high heat, exertion, and dehydration. He was also getting dizzy and would not walk for more than 300 feet or so without falling over completely.

And then, just when we were hoping to see water...

Please upvote for the rest of the story! Once this post gets to $5 I will post it.