Welcome to Otherworld.
I'm your host, Jack Wagner.
This episode comes from a guy named Alex Waterfield.
He's 37 years old from Northern Colorado.
He is a chef and also a very experienced and avid hiker.
Alex's story takes place on Long's Peak, which is said to be Colorado's deadliest mountain.
Now for me, growing up in the infinite flat landscape of Illinois, we had nothing like this hike.
I don't even think I could have comprehended a hike like this while I was growing up.
I always knew parks to be managed, outdoor spaces with trails and signs and rangers or some kind of help nearby.
More like a city park than real wilderness.
They were places that had a metaphorical safety net.
I never felt like I could be in actual danger besides maybe getting poison ivy or something like that.
Later on though, I moved to Montana and ended up...
Visiting a lot of the national and state parks around the country.
I was very shocked at how dangerous many of the trails were and how vast and unforgiving the wilderness was.
One slip on an exposed edge can mean falling hundreds of feet.
The weather can flip from sunshine to lightning in an hour and help maybe half a day away.
If you even have cell service, call for help.
A while back, I had just finished a hike late in the season.
And noticed a very dusty car parked at the trailhead.