Getting Lost

I get lost. Alot. Usually not on purpose, just a random turn out hiking, running or what have you. It has always turned out ok, but this was one of the craziest ones. The other day I went running up in the Stanley Basin around our cabin. It was snowing out with rather poor visibility. So I decided to go running. You know something short, maybe 3-4 miles, 6 at the max. So I started running and see a path that I have never ventured down before. It is a small jeep road covered in a couple inches of snow. Everything is fogged over, eliminating all points of reference. So I started running down the road at a good pace. After numerous twists and turns through the woods I came out in a large meadow. Having been running for around a hour to a hour and a half I was getting tired. Coming out of the trees I saw a large meadow. How overjoyed I was to see this meadow thinking that I was almost back to the cabin, it was so beautiful. Seeing a road at the edge of the fog bank I was positive that I was there. Another half a mile and I was at the road.....it was a paved road.....not the road that I was looking for. Later I came to find out that it was the road to Alturas Lake, many, many miles away. Well I was in a kind of conumdrum. Tired, cold, far away from anyone or anything, and lost. I Ran about a mile up the paved road, figured that I was going the wrong way, so I ran back to where I found the paved road. My mind and body where beginning to get numb, but I had enough sense to follow my own tracks back to where I started. Sounded like a good idea to me. As I was getting back to the main road after the long back track through the woods, the fog started to lift and blue sky started to peek through the clouds. For some odd reason I decided to take another short cut. This proved to be the most disastrous course of action. Leaving the trail I bushwhacked through the woods to get back to the main road. Well I forgot there was a creek in the way. After looking for a good fording point, I found a bad one and slipped on a rock. Crawling out of the creek soaking wet and back onto the bank I saw my salvation!!! The road!! And it was the right one too!!! I started running again with a new found vigor. The cold, wetness and exhaustion seemed to just melt away. The next couple miles and the last hill breezed by and don't stick out to clearly in my memory. After sprinting up the driveway I collapsed on the deck with a big smile inside and a great sense of achievement. (Big comfort to my aching body yeah...)