Mt. Cheam

"What're you up to today?" I asked Clint just before I left for work on Thursday.
"I'll probably go up Mt. Cheam with some camp friends.." he replied.

Max and I got home from work at 5:00. His truck was gone, the front door was unlocked and the sliding door was wide open.

At 11:00 pm I called his cell phone to see how his day had gone and to find out when he was going to be back.
No answer.
Tried again at midnight.
No answer.
No answer at 1:00, 2:00 or 3:00 either. In fact, it didn't even ring, meaning his battery was dead.

I fell asleep just before 4:00.
My alarm went off at 7:30. The first thing I did was check out my window to see if his truck was in the driveway. It wasn't.

No answer again on his cell phone.
I took Max to work, then fretted for a few hours while lying in bed trying to recapture lost sleep.
Finally at 10:30 I locate the official camp master list and look for a familiar name.

"Hello?"
"Hi. Is Nick there?"
"No he's not, can I take a message?"
"My name is Jane, I'm Clint's mom. Did Nick by any chance go to Mt Cheam yesterday?"
"Yes..."
"I think Clint went along and I'm trying to track him down."
"Oh, well Nick called at 10:30 last night - and they're all fine."
"Your son called you?"
"Oh, he wouldn't dare not check in.
"You've raised him well...I haven't heard from Clint at all. Do you know who's place they stayed at last night?"
"They stayed on the mountain. They were at the mid-way point when Nick called. They were setting up camp and hoped to reach the peak today."
"Ohhhh. Overnight on the mountain. I'm sure Clint was not prepared for that. His sleeping bag and back pack are right here next to the front door where he left them last week...."
"Nick was well prepared. And I sent along a fully equipped First Aid kit as well."
"Well someone's looking after my boy..."

When they're little you can hardly wait til they're grown so you can sleep through the night...