we summited the incline, only to find ourselves on what i fondly referred to as "the gravel road of despair."
gaining the summit, it was clear even to my directionally-challenged mind that we were now walking in the OPPOSITE direction from the entrance to the park, our car, and most desired of all, the vending machines. however, none of us could bear the thought of turning around and backtracking the gruelling 4 hour climb we had just completed. we were now on what appeared to be a gravel logging road, so we decided the best plan was to keep going forward and pray that we would encounter a road, house or human that would lead us back to civilization.
my still very fit kickboxing friend gamely offered to jog down the gravel road to see if there were any people at the end of it that might help us out. she ran on ahead with her equally fit black labrador retriever whom i secretly envied for his ability to drink from the occasional puddle of brown muddy water.
meanwhile, dehydrated, hungry and beginning to be delusional, her roommate and i fantasized about what we would eat if we ever found our way out. the roommate declared that, diet be damned, she would go straight to outback and get the biggest steak she could find. i, on the other hand, declared that my life goals now consisted of: 1) drinking an ice-cold coca cola; 2) eating anything; and 3) taking off my shoes (which, after the 2 hour downhill, had turned my toenails black.)
soon enough, we saw our friend, walking dejectedly back toward us. even her dog looked dejected. "this cannot be a good sign," thought i.
"you won't believe this," reports my kickboxing friend, "but we're not even in fall creek falls park anymore. we have walked clear out of the park and are on
private hunting grounds... and this gravel road ends in a roadblock."
it was at this point that despair truly set in. we had now been hiking for 6 hours without a rest and were now on a gravel road on an open ridge in 95 degree heat with no tree cover, no water, no cell phone signal, and no idea where we were or where we were heading.
to be continued ... 
Nice one Lynn, I've been following this blog since part 1 and theres still part 3 and/or 4 to wait for, can't wait! this is getting to be exciting. =) 
