Flattop Mountain

Was in the military, Air Force, stationed in Anchorage Alaska and was a few weeks away from separating with an honorable discharge after my four year contact was over. My friend and I decided to actually for once take part in what Alaska had to over and hike atop Flattop Mountain which is a big spot for hiking.

We went off the trail (by accident) since it wasn't well marked and about 30 minutes later realized we had no idea where we were. It was in July but in Alaska and at that elevation it was still extremely cold. Panic started to settle in and we made some ill-advised self-deprecating humor about how of course this would happen so close to when we were about to leave; however, jokes turned to fear when we realize we were legit lost with no one else in sight. Thankfully in the summer the sun still shines bright later into the evening as we started to make our way down and encountered several wild life that left us alone.

About 2-3 hours after making our way back down we got in worse shape as the landmarks we saw on our way up weren't even in sight and got no reception on our cell phone. We ended up on the mountain overnight and thankfully we saw someone in the morning about a half mile away and made a full on sprint towards them screaming. He laughed at us wondering how on earth we got lost and pointed out we were nearly not as lost as we really were, and then took a selfie with us, with dried up tears in our eyes. After that we went back to our dorm and made a solemn vow never to experience Alaska again.

 

That's foolhardy of you to do that hike. But anyway, I congratulate you for having the mind of surviving over the night. I understand that there are predators in the wilds of Alaska particularly bears that can kill humans. Sometimes you think that navigating in the wild is easy especially in going up a mountain but when you are at the peak, you may lose your sense of direction. Maybe you had forgotten the use of the sun as a navigational aid. At least you would have remembered which is north and south so you can at least an idea of where you are.

But that's a fairly good lesson to you and to your comrade. And you gave me a laugh with that Alaska, never again attitude.