Pokemon Stop
August 19, 2016 – Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
“Remember, once we start the hike, the phones stay with the car,” Marcia Turney said to her three kids in the back of the SUV.
“We know. You’ve already said that a hundred times,” said sixteen-year-old Jonathan.
“I don’t get why we had to leave so early. If no one else is going to be out here, it’s not like we’re beating the rush,” said thirteen-year-old Elise.
“I want to be sure,” replied Marcia. “For once, I want to find a place without a million others cars and people around. Weekday morning. A trail nobody knows about. This has got to work. Right, honey?” Marcia smiled and patted the shoulder of her husband, Rob.
“This is your deal,” Rob replied in a sleepy voice. “But remember, if this is how you want to spend vacation days, I get to decide on what size TV we put in our room.”
Instead of replying, Marcia pretended to look at the map she had printed. She read off some of the navigation instructions. “After six miles, take a left on the gravel road immediately after the National Forest sign. A bumpy, three-mile climb to the Sugarloaf trailhead.”
“We are definitely in the middle of nowhere,” said Rob, staring at the narrow road in front of him. “We haven’t passed another car for at least fifteen minutes.”
Sitting in the middle of the backseat was nine-year-old Kera. Like her brother and sister, she was holding a phone. It was a birthday present and barely a week old. Unlike her siblings, her phone did not have any downloaded music and was practically useless without any cell reception. As the car had climbed higher up the mountain and the trees had grown thick and dark green, she had watched the reception bars on her phone disappear.
Kera looked up to watch her dad turn the steering wheel around a sharp corner. The trees were so close to the road, they felt like walls in a tunnel. She liked the name “Sugarloaf” from the moment her mom had first mentioned it. It reminded Kera of something you would bake around Christmas time or a place in the Candyland game she used to play.
Kera had also liked the idea of Sugarloaf being so isolated. Her phone was mostly used to play Pokemon Go, and so far, the only Pokemon she had caught were the super common ones: Weedle, Pidgey, Rattata. Her friends said that if you wanted to catch something good, you had to look in places no one had been before. Sugarloaf sounded like a good place to catch something as rare as a Dragonite or even an Aerodactyl. Kera kept hoping to reach the top of the mountain where reception would return and her Pokemon luring signal would start working.
“Here’s the gravel road! Turn! Turn here!” called Kera’s mom from the front seat.
The SUV bounced and shook as it crawled up the last section of road toward the trailhead. Most of the gravel was gone, leaving deep ruts and channels in the packed dirt.
“I hope we don’t break a wheel trying to get there,” complained Kera’s dad.
“The directions said it would be a little rough,” replied Kera’s mom as she looked nervously at the pages in her hands.
Kera and the SUV rocked back and forth as her parents discussed whether to turn back. The discussion got louder as her mom claimed they were very close while her dad said he was looking for a good place to turn around.
“There! Right there! There’s the signpost,” called Kera’s mom. “That’s where we start. See where you’re supposed to pull off the road?”
“Alright, alright,” mumbled Kera’s dad as he stopped the car and turned off the engine.
Kera’s mom hurried to open the SUV’s tailgate. “Drink some water and put on sunscreen!” she called. “Then grab your backpacks. They’ve got more water and snacks inside. And leave your phones.”
Jonathan and Elise peeled away their headphones and trudged to the back of the car. Kera took another look at her phone. Still no bars. The trip would be wasted if she did not see at least one Pokemon. Usually she did not question her mom’s rules, but she knew that the phone restriction was mostly for the teenagers. Her mom thought Pokemon Go was silly and a nuisance, but it was not rotting her brain. That was how she described whatever Jonathan and Elise were doing with their phones.
While her mom was checking on sunscreen application and a first aid kit, Kera slid her phone into the outer pocket of her colorful backpack without her mom noticing.
After admiring the wooden post with a brown sticker that read “Sugarloaf”, the family formed a hiking lineup. Mom was up front, followed by Jonathan, Elise, Dad, and then Kera. From her spot in the back, Kera had a good view everyone’s heads, shirts, and backpacks. She liked how they were color coordinated like a rainbow, with reds up front and then morphing into blues behind.
“So are we going to see a waterfall or something at the end?” asked Jonathan.
“I don’t think so,” his mom called back. “But there’s supposed to be an abandoned cabin.”
“That’s it?” replied Jonathan.
“That and plenty of amazing views,” called his mom as she starting hiking.
After a few minutes of following the narrow foot trail, the trees thinned out. On her left, Kera could see the rocky peaks of mountains pointed at the sky.
“Kind of feels like we’re the only people on earth, doesn’t it?” called Kera’s mom. “This is exactly what I was hoping for.” She read from her printed pages about the kinds of pine trees they were passing. Then she talked about the bushes, some of which were growing into the trail and had to be pushed aside.
While her mom was reading, Kera grabbed the opportunity to reach behind her backpack and pull out her phone. Still no bars. She kept walking, but a little slower, as she hid the phone back in the pocket.
“You doing okay back there?” called Kera’s dad, who had noticed her lagging behind.
“Yeah!” shouted Kera and she jogged a few steps to catch up with him.
“I don’t want to lose you,” he said. “How about walking in front of me and I’ll be in back?”
“That’s okay. I like being last,” said Kera.
Despite what Kera was hoping for, the trail never seemed to reach any wide open spaces where wild Pokemon could be found. The slope was steep and she had to breath hard like her dad in front of her. She kept her eyes on his hiking boots and the ground. Every once in a while she would pull out the phone and check for bars. Nothing. When she and her dad lagged too far behind, her mom would stop and wait, hands on her hips and shouting encouragement.
The trail zigzagged up the mountain and then leveled off before coming to a fork. Kera’s mom and the teenagers were waiting at the fork when Kera arrived.
“This way,” said Kera’s mom, pointing toward the left.
“What’s the other way?” asked Jonathan.
“I’m not sure,” replied Kera’s mom. “From what I could tell from the map, maybe a little meadow. But this is the way to that cabin. Everyone feeling good? Are you drinking water?”
They all took the chance to remove their backpacks and drink from the water bottles inside. After a few minutes, Kera’s mom was again leading them upward.
Not far from the fork, the trail became even more narrow. Instead of being surrounded by trees, vegetation thinned out until they were standing on what looked like a bald spot on the mountain. With no trees to block the bright morning sunlight, everyone in the family shielded their eyes with their hands. In front of them, the trail was nothing but a faint trace along a steep slope of loose pebbles and dirt. Dried up water channels from the summer rains had left gouges intersecting the footpath.
“Looks kind of dangerous!” called Kera’s dad. “Did you read anything about this part?”
Kera’s mom looked down at the pages she was holding. “No. But if it was all that bad, the website would have said something. We’ll be okay if we take it slow.”
Kera’s mom inched along the trail, leaning toward the mountainside. “I think it’s okay,” she muttered.
Jonathan followed and then Elise. Kera’s dad was more reluctant but he was finally resigned to sticking one foot carefully in front of the other to keep up. The first four hikers were spread out in a line about twenty feet long when Kera’s dad looked back toward her.
“You coming, sweetie?” he called.
She nodded and was about to take a step onto the narrow, dried-up section of the trail. Then everything in front of her began to slide. The ground rumbled like a giant bulldozer was plowing downhill. Inside a cloud of dust, she could see arms, legs, and backpacks swirling. She heard everyone in her family scream and then they disappeared.
“Dad! Mom!” Kera yelled toward the direction she saw them fall. She backed away from the edge where the trail had disappeared. The mountainside looked like a skyscraper-sized monster had taken a bite from it. She yelled again. “Dad! Mom! Elise! Jonathan!”
The dirt and rocks finally stopped moving and the dust cloud slowly cleared. The mountain fell silent and then she heard the cries below her feet. “Help! Help!”
Down below, at least a hundred feet from her, Kera could see her dad clinging to a small tree. Farther down were the specks of color that had to be her mom, brother and sister. They had all stopped sliding and were clinging to trees and rocks. Elise was shrieking in pain.
“Dad! Dad! What do I do?” yelled Kera frantically.
“I can’t climb up!” her dad shouted back. “None of us can! I think your mom and sister are seriously hurt! You have to get help!”
“Where? How?”
“Go back down the trail! Find the road! Find someone to help!”
“By myself? What if I can’t?”
“You have to! Just keep going down the mountain! You’ll find our car and then the road! Hurry! You have to hurry!”
“But I don’t know if I can do it!”
“You have to, honey!”
Kera paused and wiped at her eyes. She looked over her shoulder at the path and then back toward her father. All she could think to say was, “I love you Dad!”
“I love you too! But you have to hurry! I know you can do it!”
Kera was already breathing hard. She took one last look at her father, turned, and began running back down the hiking trail. She was already thinking about what she would say if she found someone in a passing car. Would they stop and help? Would they believe her?
Shock and adrenaline carried her all the way to the fork in the path. The trail was flat in that section but Kera recognized the way that led back to the car and the alternate path to the meadow. Her head was swimming with fear and urgency. What if the meadow path was a quicker way to the road? It led higher up but maybe from there she could find someone who might help. Her dad had said go down, but what did her dad know about the wilderness? He only went outside for hikes.
Sweat dripped down Kera’s forehead. She did not have time to think. Without any real explanation, she took off jogging in the direction of the meadow.
The path was thick with bushes and branches. Kera swatted them aside. She cried but knew that was not going to help so she wiped her tears away with her sweaty T-shirt. She ran as hard as she could but her legs were exhausted from the climb. With every step, she questioned her decision to go up instead of down.
Kera slowed her pace and was about to backtrack when, in front of her, she saw the bright light from an opening in the trees. She jogged to a flat spot filled with grass and the remnants of wildflowers, which had bloomed during the summer. This had to be the meadow her mom had read about. She ran to the highest point and looked around. No roads were visible. All she saw was endless crowds of trees.
In that moment, of all things, she imagined a Pokemon emerging from the forest. The thought made her reach for her phone. If it was ever going to work, it would be at this spot.
Kera’s fingers shook as she touched the plastic case. Her eyes immediately focused on the corner with the reception indicator. One bar. Pokemon Go was trying to launch. Kera screamed with relief and excitement. She rotated to get more signal and the single bar went away. She rotated back to her original spot and dialed 911. It was the first call she had ever made.
Kera was not sure who would answer or if they would believe her. She heard a woman’s voice who sounded very far away. The woman’s words were choppy but she asked if Kera had an emergency.
“Hurry! My family’s hurt! We were hiking! Sugarloaf trail! Sugarloaf trail!”
From Kera’s point of view, it took way too long for the 911 woman to figure out what was happening. Kera had to describe leaving Ft. Collins that morning and the road her family took. Then someone from the Forest Service joined the call. He recognized the name Sugarloaf and was able to interpret Kera’s frantic description of the meadow and the sliding mountainside. His last words to Kera were, “Stay there. Help is coming.”
When Kera heard the helicopter, she first ran toward it. When she realized it was landing, she hurried back to the protective trees. A team of rescuers with ropes and harnesses ran past her down the trail. Kera thought maybe she should follow them until the helicopter pilot found her and told her she should stay with him.
A second helicopter landed about the time Kera’s dad limped into view. His face, arms, and legs were covered in dried blood, but he was mostly walking on his own. Jonathan arrived next and then Elise and Kera’s mom on stretchers. Both of them had broken bones and head injuries but the helicopter pilot kept telling Kera everyone would be okay.
Kera got to ride down the mountain in the first helicopter. Her aunt was waiting for her when it landed. Kera was also at the press conference when Forest Department spokesman Kevin Karliss told the TV cameras what happened.
“It could have been much worse. We would be talking about fatalities if not for a brave little girl. Things worked out because she stayed calm and properly assessed the situation. And most importantly, she did exactly what her parents advised.”
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