My Obscure Fame

I just found out on the trail that to a small group of people I'm "that guy" who was outstanding enough in a way as to make a lasting impression. Though my name wasn't remembered, my deed was. Here's the background...

In 2000 I worked a summer job for an outdoor adventure group that led wilderness trips for teens. I was on a 3-4 day trip on the Lost Coast with 2 other adults and 8 teens. The Lost Coast is one of the last (THE last?) parts of the California coast to be undeveloped. It's a narrow band of beach between the ocean and steep rising cliffs. At high tide the water will come right up to the base of the cliffs in places. It's also known for having an active bear population so food must be properly stored.

I was out with two other adults and eight teens. One of the girls was reprimanded by another adult for breaking a cardinal rule. She took it upon herself to sneak out that night and run away. We didn't discover that she ran until the very next morning. She had all night to get ahead of us. We had two factors working in our favor - there was really only two directions she could go because of the water and the cliff, and she was most likely to go in the direction we came from because she wasn't trying to run for good so much as just pull the rip chord on her own time in the group. She wanted to go home, not evade us forever.

It was decided that one group leader would stay with the kids, while another would scout in the opposite direction just to rule it out, then return to help watch the remaining kids. I was chosen to go in the direction the girl had most likely gone. I had hiked the Appalachian Trail the year before and I was still in pretty good traveling shape. I took some of the gear from my pack for so I could travel lighter and off I went.

I found the girl once I got back to where civilization touched the beach again. She had gotten to a phone, made her calls and was simply waiting for one of us to catch up. My boss (back on the east coast) had already received a number of calls on the matter from the girls parents and understood what was going on. So when I called him to tell him that the girl was back under supervision he said "I didn't expect you to catch up for at least another half an hour". At that point I transported her to the airport and she was flown home.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. I was chatting with another hiker and mentioned that I had once worked for a small outfit that did outdoor adventure. She asked what it's name was and I told her. (Here's the small world moment.) She began working for that very same company the following year. It was quite a coincidence given how very small the company is. I mentioned the incident above and she got excited. She told me that the girl remained the one and only runaway the company has ever had. She also said that that incident has been used as a training scenario every year since. Lastly she went on to say that she never knew who it was that went after the girl, but it was always emphasized that "that guy could really run!" That guy was me.