Drama on the Rock

As I was saying, there was drama this week at Independence Rock.  I am not certain I handled my part well.  You be the judge.

After climbing up on the backside of the rock we wandered around a bit, exploring some of the nooks and crannies.  I admit to feeling a bit tense as there we are lots of places that presented dangerous possibilities.

It was so beautiful, though, it was well worth it.  We had no drama at that point.

After hiking back down (I admit, Mike hiked but some of my descent was on my bottom.) we followed the trail on around, leaving it for just a bit.  We took Bode over to a creek for a time of cool down.

It was quite pretty there as well. 

Nope.  The drama did not occur at the creek.

AFTER the stop at the creek we continued our stroll around Independence Rock.  We'd been following the path for awhile when we heard voices asking us if we knew a way to get down.  It took me a bit of visual searching to discover from where the voices were coming.  Finally, we saw two young boys still up on the rock.  I'd guess they were maybe 10 and 12.  Can you spot them in the photo below?

How about this photo?

Now?

They'd been up there awhile and said they were stuck.  They were trying to find a way down from that ledge.    From our vantage point we really couldn't be sure how to direct them as there are so many tricky places up there.  We kept talking to them and found out they were travelling with grandparents, who were back in a camper trailer in the parking lot.  We asked them to see if there was a way up, rather than down.  Our hope was they could get to the backside where the descent was a bit easier.  As they disappeared over the top, Mike headed back to help them down.  I continued on with Bode to get the grandparents if necessary.  I was so very grateful that Mike went back to help them down.  I had a hard enough time getting myself down! 

The plan was for Mike to call me with details from the other side but cell service was spotty.  I paced and debated for awhile.  Should I go get the grandparents?  I worried about getting the boys in trouble but luckily, they were able to get down and soon I saw the three of them trekking back toward the parking area.

It was fun watching them approach as it was apparent Mike had made some new friends!

Happily the story ended well.  They headed back to their camper and Mike and I found a picnic table to enjoy our lunch.  The part that bothered me was wondering if I should have called the grandparents out there.  Like I said, I didn't want to see the boys in trouble, especially now that they were Mike's BFF's.  However, I was wondering what kind of people would let those two young boys go up there on their own and I kind of wanted to let them know they needed to be more careful.  What do you think I should've done?  By the time we finished lunch I noticed their camper was gone so I didn't get a chance to change my mind.

After our lunch we debated what we should do with the rest of our day.  Go home and get some things done or go the other way and explore a bit further.  What do you suppose we did?  Of course, we decided to follow the road a bit further to see what there was to see.  Monday was such a big day, it is going to take me several posts to describe it to you!