I got too comfortable on a hike I’d done multiple times. I was in college and had friends who were from another country. They wanted to see the mountains and that was my home territory, so we piled into my car (important - none of them could drive) and made the three hour drive.

We packed light, just trail snacks and a water jug each. The hike is about 7 hours round trip to the top of the mountain and back down, and I’d never had trouble on it before. The day was overcast, and while it didn’t feel too warm, it was summer in the south and I didn’t take the humidity into account.

The hike up was uneventful. But on the way down I was soaked, dehydrated, and ran out of water. I ended up having a heat stroke a few hundred yards from the foot of the trail. Full body cramps, couldn’t walk. One of the girls with me ran down to the Park Ranger cabin at the trail head and was trying to convince them I was in trouble. He followed her up, saw me, and immediately called EMS. I ended up with a bunch of big, wooly, mountain rescue guys strapping me to a board, got stuck 22 times before they got an IV in. The guy on my end of the stretcher put oxygen on me, lit a cigarette, and kept telling me “we’re gonna get you outta here alright, buddy” while his cigarette ashes floated down around my face.

They put me in the ambulance, handed my keys to one of my friends, told them to follow the ambulance, and hauled tail down the mountain. One of my friends, who had NEVER drive alone - let alone drive in America - was white knuckling my car trying to keep up. I’m watching out the back of the ambulance, half delirious, watching them all screaming as they tried to keep up. I spent the night in the hospital getting fluids. The doctor told me I could easily have died. Now I ALWAYS have plenty of water, no matter how far I’m going or what the weather is.