OOPS_ THis was supposed to go to END MONEY WORRIES PAGE

https://rebeccamarina.com/?p=7479

Ok, I’ll get to the mountain lion, but first I have to lay the groundwork.

I wanted to start 2013 being very adventurous. On New Year’s Eve, I did something I have never done. I went to a club that featured a drag-queen show.

Wow! It was actually spectacular. These performers must have spent hours getting into makeup and costume.

Impressive. (Don’t worry, I only had 2 glasses of wine all night and I had a driver). You know, Beloveds… everybody is looking for the same thing: to love and be loved.

So, what next? A friend invited me to go on a hike with him in a National Forest.

I borrowed hiking gear from my daughter Belin and off I went. Now, mind you… I have never been on a hike before: how hard can it be?

I’ve been hitting the gym almost every day so felt I was up to anything. I assured my friend that I could handle it… ha!

When my guide arrived to inspect my gear, he was not satisfied. We stopped by his home and he pulled out all sorts of “stuff.” Strange mittens, something called “gators” and the ugliest hat I have ever seen.

 I was OK with the gators and mittens but the hat was another story. I had hot rolled my hair, put on makeup and I was ready to face the wilderness looking totally cute. I did not want an ugly hat to smash my hair!

Fortunately, my guide convinced me that I still looked cute, ugly hat and all.

So we set off for the forest. It was a 2-hour drive up the mountains and it got colder with snow flurries as we ascended. We parked the car and I realized the temperature was below freezing.

I began to be grateful for all the “getup”…even the ugly hat which covered my ears nicely.

My guide brings out walking sticks (something I had never seen before). “Why do we need those? I asked. I thought this was a flat hike.”

“Oh, the sticks are to help us cross the rivers.”

As we walked, I could see that his idea of an easy, flat hike and my idea of same… were vastly different. However, I sure wasn’t going to ‘weenie out’ of this adventure.

I felt alive and vibrant and began to warm up as we hiked in the beauty of the national forest. (Ok, I was still a bit worried about my hair being smashed flat by the ugly hat.)

We crossed several streams and it was fairly easy. The walking sticks really helped.

Up ahead, we saw 3 young men who were on the other side of a much wider and more turbulent river. They had their pants rolled up, shoes off… and they were wet. Oh no, I thought… are we going to have to take off our shoes and get into that freezing river?

We scanned up and down and there was no other way to cross. Besides, the young men assured us that they had looked for an easier crossing and there was none.

My guide looks at me… fully expecting me to demand that we turn back. The Kali in me came out. Heck, if those boys can do it, then surely Rebecca, the great and powerful, can do it, too.

I start to remove my ‘heavy as lead’ borrowed hiking boots and roll up my pants as far as I could. (I should have taken into account that the boys were a lot taller than me and I would get wetter than they did.)

The first thrust of my feet in that water was shockingly numbing. (Did I mention there was snow and ice on the ground?)

My guide was slightly ahead of me holding my hand to guide me. The current was too strong for the hiking sticks to be effective. At one spot, the water was very deep and we found a rock to step on.

Because the guide did not want to let go of my hand, he slipped and fell in… you know what happened next?

 I fell in, too!

Talk about cold! We were both crawling up the bank, wet as seals. However, instead of being bitchy, I surprised myself by laughing.

I felt very invigorated even as I began to shiver. At this point, my guide thought surely I would want to turn back… I did not.

That would mean I had to get back in the same river and get wet again. (Little did I know there was a worse crossing coming up.)

I voted that we continue the hike.

Fortunately, we both had dry socks in our backpacks. We stopped and changed.

I thought we should take off all our wet clothes, build a fire, and dance around the flames naked till the clothes got dry. (I’ve had five children, feels like the whole world has already seen my hiney. I would have chosen warmth over modesty any day.)

However, my guide said the clothing we were wearing was made to dry quickly from body heat. He suggested we move more briskly, finish the hike, and warm up in the car. Good idea… right?

After about two more miles of easy, brisk walking, we came to another river crossing where two streams converged. There was no wading this one. The current was very strong and it was deep.

The only way across was to leap from rock to rock. My guide went first and he made it.

The last leap was about 3 feet to the bank. I looked down into the swirling current and refused to give in to the horrific visions trying to assault me.

Instead, I envisioned myself flying through the air and landing safely on the other side. Guess what?

It worked. I found myself on the other side panting as I caught my breath.

Now, comes the more adventurous part.

The trail markers completely disappeared. My guide had hiked many areas of this national forest many times but never this particular trail. He had even brought his child on a similar hike the previous weekend with no problems at all. (Except for being cold which is considered ideal weather for hiking.)

Even More adventurous part…

It starts getting dark and we have still not found the trail markers!!!

We are not equipped to spend the night in the freezing wilderness, especially since we were still wet (…and when is this body heat gonna dry these wet clothes?)

My guide, brings out these little headlights and helps me put one on. This gives us light to see about 3 feet in front of us but not enough to spot trail markers that would be several yards away.

We establish a base point and go in one direction. If we don’t find the markers, we go in another direction. By now, it’s about 7 PM, fully dark and I’m pretty miserable from the cold.

Finally, my guide turns to me and delivers the verdict… “Rebecca, We are lost, we may be here all night… and Rebecca… we cannot  stop moving or we will lose our fingers and toes to frostbite!”

I have a choice… grouch at the guide who is in just as much danger as I am… or help us both keep up our spirits. I chose the spirits up route.

After all, it’s not gonna help if we are both whining and discouraged. The hardest part was the pain that I started to feel in my fingers and toes.

I fully faced the fact that I could die out there. I was not afraid… however, I did not want to endure a lot of pain. I decided to introduce my guide to a game. ‘Hey, let’s play the ‘thank Goodness’ game,” I said.

Ok, my turn first… “Thank Goodness you made me wear this ugly hat so my ears don’t freeze… your turn.”

My guide didn’t say anything… he was busy scurrying ahead looking for the trail. “Hey,” I called out… “you HAVE to play and it’s your turn.” Finally, he replied… “Ok, Thank Goodness we have these headlights so we are not completely in the dark.”

We continued playing the game as we walked for what felt like hours. The mud puddles were frozen solid and we began to sink into some deeper snow.

At one point, my guide ran out of things to say ‘Thank Goodness’ for. I decided to help him out…

“You could say, ‘Thank Goodness this woman is not bitching me out for taking her to the woods and getting her lost.’” He didn’t say much to that.

As the realization that we could indeed be out there all night long really sunk in… I began to think of all the things I would miss if we didn’t make it.

Curiously, I was not afraid at all. I thought of my children, grandchildren… and I thought about all my wonderful readers like you. I was especially concerned as I was saying special daily prayers for a small group. I had promised them that I would lift them up daily in my meditation. Oh no, I thought, what if I cannot keep my word to those folks I promised to pray for? I decided to start praying for them right then and there.

I started praying to Divine mother, father, Jesus, Angels. Why am I going through this? (Ever been there?)

Why aren’t you rescuing us? How will it look if Rebecca A Messenger is found frozen solid? Some Messenger I am, can’t even get through to get myself rescued.

Finally, I said another prayer. “Azna send an angel to rescue us and Azna, please do it within 15 minutes.”

About five minutes later, my guide said. “I found the way out… the only drawback is that we have to cross another river.”

Awww shoot, Azna, I really felt like whining a bit… another river?

Mind you, it’s pitch black. My guide says he will try it first (if he doesn’t make it, you can be sure I’m not going to try).

The only time I felt really afraid was then: standing there on the bank as the guide navigates the river in the dark. He disappeared for a moment. I thought, “if he falls in, he will be dead of hyperthermia in five minutes.

I couldn’t even see to find his body, and what would I tell his family?”

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I see his headlight on the other side. This is the way out, all you have to do is cross this one river,” he shouts.

He comes back half-way across to show me the way. Again, there was one point where I just had to turn loose and jump. I did and made it to the other side.

Within minutes, we had found a road.

Just a little muddy track road but… a road always lead somewhere. He navigated according to the river current and determined the shortest route back to the car. It was more than 3 miles but I felt so encouraged to be walking on level ground – who cares if we have only 3 more miles to go?

I’ll take 3 miles on a mud road any day compared to stumbling in the darkness of snow and rock-covered forest floor.

When we were about a half mile away… I began to get the funny sensation of being stalked. I tuned in and felt it was a mountain lion. She was simply protecting her territory. I was trying to send her messages that we meant no harm but I still had the chills.

My guide wanted to run ahead, get the car and come back for me. “No”, I shrieked… “we stay together, they always get the one that lags behind!”

He was a bit surprised as I had not minded when he ran ahead looking for the trail markers. (That was different, I had no sense of being stalked then.) We arrived gratefully at the car.

I was never more thankful to sit down in my life. As we were turning the car around to leave, guess what ran across the road we had just been on?

The mountain lion, of course.

So, I’m wondering what I needed to learn from that experience. I’ve gotten a lot of insight and continue to get more daily. For sure, I needed to see how strong I could be in the face of adversity. I feel most happy at the fact that I never lost my good spirits. I never lost my faith, although, I came pretty close to being really mad at Azna.

It does no good to blame the guide.

He did the best he could and did not mean to put me in any danger. He had all types of equipment. He was simply not prepared for the disappearing trail markings. It had never occurred before and he takes folks hiking all the time.

There is more to this story… but I will leave it for another time. For now, I feel exhilarated that I came though the experience. I have never felt more alive and vital in my life. Will I try another hike? Yes, indeed… only one without deep river crossings.

We had started the Hike Experience at 11 AM. We arrived back in town at 1 AM.

Rebecca, “Glad to be Alive” Messenger

PS: I must confess that I have eaten only Hot foods since the event.

PPS: I have created the most magical, easy, unique, Animal Communication course on the planet.   Course is half-off PLUS a coupon just ridiculously  low. https://rebeccamarina.com/store/4-week-animal-comunication-course/

Several days later…

PS: Update on the A Mountain Lion, A Gay Club, A Raging River… and Me- adventure.

The guide who took me out went back with a can of paint and marked the trail very diligently so that no one would ever get lost again (at least not on that trail)

He sent me pictures of the river we crossed that was raging at the time. Now, it is a slow moving trickle.

It seems the whole universe conspired for me to have that experience. Now, it would be impossible for such a thing to happen at that location.

Perhaps by my experience, it saved some one elses life.