It was hot. Really hot. As I walked my bike through the loose sand. My brother JT, his friend Levi and I were looking for a way to get back to camp. We were supposed to be back by 1:00 and we had been gone for hours.
“Finally,” Levi said, “Some dirt to ride on. Yes, I thought to myself we had left at 10:00am
and got lost on this stupid trail in this stupid sand. I hoped that this trail would lead us back.
This whole thing started a couple of miles back when we decided to turn on a different trail instead of staying on the one we came on. Jt wanted to go exploring. We like riding bikes, not walking them.
Our threesome continued on the windy coastal trail through the thick brush. As we made it to the end of the trail we found that it actually just ended. All there was to see was sand dunes with an outside ring of trees.
“Great,” I said, “Now we have to go all the way back.”
“Wait,” JT said as I was turning around to go back, “I think that’s the trail back to camp over that dune over there.”
“OK,” I mumbled as I turned around once more, “Lets go see.”
As our group entered what seemed to be a desert, the temperature felt like it increased with every step. The sun ,blazing upon us, seemed to suck away the moisture in my body. I was so thirsty my mouth was completely dry and sticky. As we approached the top of the dune I hoped that I would see what I wanted there, but instead the only thing there was the thick coastal underbrush.
“Maybe its on the next one,” JT commented.
“OK,” mumbled questionably. I don’t know why I didn’t just stop there and go back, but the next dune looked to be a short walk away compared to the long journey back. We started down into the basin of sand. The sand in my shoes made it even more unpleasant, and felt like my feet weighed 50 pounds each. As we made it to the top of the dune once again there was nothing. I don’t know why he wanted to go on, and somehow convinced me to go with.
“Do any of you guys know what time it is?” I questioned.
“No but we better hurry up or were gonna be late,” said Levi. And as we climbed to the top yet again we found nothing but the end of the dunes. Now the only thing to see was the dense coastal wood.
“Now can we turn around?” I asked.
“Ya, lets go,” JT answered.
“Don’t lose sight of the tracks or we’ll get lost again,” I added. We started our long journey back and along the way found a neighboring campground and stopped there.
“Water!” said Levi. We all rain to the spicate and drank graciously. We still had a long ride ahead of us but at least it was on the road, not sand.