How to be massivly stupid and lucky at the same time 28. August 2009

Location: Mainland of Crete, Highest Mountain 2456m

Normally these are stories I used to hear from local radio stations or unknown community newspapers until it happend to me this monday. Crete is actually a very diverse island, it has beaches, old culture stuff, churches, gorges and a high mountain. This mountain called Psiloritis is about 2500 meters high and can be climbed by a path taking you up to the top, which takes theoretically four hours. So this would have been our day’s excursion. ”We” means 2 boys, Ollie and Bryn, and 2 girls, Becky and Alexandra, all volunteers from the Archelon camp and myself. As we knew that organisation is everything, we just planned it the very morning we wanted to leave the camp.

So after morning shift we started to think about taking a car, packing stuff and checking the way to our destination, located circa 40 km south from Rethymno in the mainland of Crete. Finally we arrived the village Fourfouras at 2 p.m., where a footpath started. There was something like a footpath taking us through goats pen and without any signs. Sun was burning down on our heads and after an hour of walking the two guys, Ollie and Bryn, decided to go off the path instead of following the proper, promising path and at this point the reader starts to understand the allusion of the title. Without thinking twice the idea we said „OK, let’s meet at the top.“ and we, the girls followed the path ending at some point and were forced to climb some crappy, dangerous rocks until we got back to the path. Because we lost a bit time we just made it to a refuge, quite close to a mountain, where we found some people with a pick-up taking us down to the village so we could make it in time before sunset. As we could not meet at the top, we were fulfilling plan B that was meeting at the car.

But  it became darker and darker, but the boys were not appearing. As it came to be 10p.m. We started seriously worrying, because the boys had neither any cellphone, nor light, food or warm clothes with them so were probably stuck on the mountain on a freezing night and a strong wind blowing. Therefore we decided to call one of the campleaders, who called Maria the Greek project coordinator, who called the police. We were told to wait in the car for the police, started freezing and to play randomly a guitar just not to think of what might happen to them. Then the mayor appeared bringing us to his petrolstation 300 meters away from our parking place, where half of the village came together. The mayor, his family, some unknown men and a priest. I was telling all the story to the mayor feeling very embarrassed about this unbelieving stupidness starting to hike in the afternoon without any supply. After each 2 sentences the mayor repeated them again to the people surrounding us but a lot louder. Finally after two hours the policeman of the neighbouring village arrived forcing me to tell the whole story again. All people were asking again and again „But do they have a cellphone with them? Or any light?“ Obviously they could not understand this lack of common sense.

At around 1 a.m we started the search mission building 2 groups: one the policeman, 2 village men and me, and the other the mayor and man from the village looking for one tall, thin blond guy and another blond short one, hanging out in some wind protected corner or one of the many cottages surrounding the mountain.

At 2 am they were found by the mayor, sitting between bushes, and covering themselves with a wet towel, unable to walk any further because of the lack of lights or shoes on their feet! They started shouting, when they saw the car stopping at a nearby cottage and needed 1 hour to climb down to the car, their way lit by the mayor. Picking up the other girls sleeping in our rented car, we got to the health center finding Ollie with one shoe and a towel around his second foot, and laughing. On the one hand I was so glad to find them safe and well, on the other hand a I felt this slight need to slap him into his face for being so cool. As they told us, they reached the top in the evening and started to climb down at about 7pm. Then they just could not see anything and spent the night between bushes, freezing, laughing and singing.

The village was very helpful and we got the slight impression that they really enjoyed having some adventure going on in their sleepy place.