One of the most valuable lessons I have learned while out hiking in 2022 was to listen to my intuition. I’ve had many experiences over the past few years where the hair on the back of my neck and arms stand up to alert me of danger (usually an animal stalking). Most recently, it wasn’t an animal encounter my body was alerting me to, but rather a forest fire.

The morning of September 1st, 2022, I woke up early ecstatic about going to hike one of my all-time favorite hikes just over the Montana border. Little did I know there were fires close-by. By the time I drove through Sandpoint, ID it was very smoky and I didn’t have any clue as to where the fire was located. I pressed on assuming the smoke was blowing in from the Colville National forest fire. Eventually, I didn’t have cell service and couldn’t look up the location of the fire. I made it up the rutted mountain dirt road to the trailhead where I parked my car. I stepped out of my car and was surrounded by the scent and a cloud of smoke (the first red flag). My intuition told me to turn around and do a different hike but if you know me and how stubborn I can be, I didn’t. I sent a quick message to family notifying them that I was starting a trail without cell service and that I would send another message when I safely returned to my car. And off I went. The first twenty minutes were eerie especially after passing an animal liver abandoned directly on the path with no animals in sight. The hair on my arms stood straight up. That was the second red flag that I needed to turn around. Thoughts started racing in my mind—- Why did an animal leave behind just the liver? What if the fire is close and it caused the animal to run off and leave it behind? Should I even keep going? At this point, I should have turned around but guess what—— yes you guessed it, I didn’t turn around.

About an hour into the trail, (2.5 miles uphill) I came to the clearing where I was supposed to see the peak that I would be climbing but couldn’t see anything except white smoke. I turned and looked behind me to see fresh smoke coming from the direction I had parked my car. That was the third red flag warning, so I made a instant decision to turn around. At this point, anxiety and dread started to sink into my mind. I sprinted back to my car with my backpack strapped to my back, my right hand holding onto my holster securing my 9mm Walther so it wouldn’t fall out as I ran, and my left hand clasping my Garmin inReach.

I made it back to my car safely. I still had no cell service so I sent out a quick message from my Garmin to my family and then hopped in the car to drive the heck-out-of- there. The intense adventure had only just begun. I still didn’t know how close the fire was to me or if I was in an evacuation zone. Before driving away, I remembered learning about how forest fires spread very quickly and could easily jump roads to make escaping them near impossible, so I drove away a little too fast. Okay, to be honest, I drove more like a maniac down that rutted mountain road (I don’t recommend doing this). I hit a huge rut and rock going 45mph which caused my car and myself to get jostled around a bit. I could have easily flipped my car or spun all the way out of control. Instantly, I cried out, “God help me!” Seconds later, God answered my cry for help as I regained control of the steering wheel and ended up popping my tire instead of destroying my car completely. I swiftly pulled over to fix my tire (my hands were already shaking since my adrenaline had kicked in).

For clarification, I have changed multiple flat tires on my old Subaru, but in the panic I forgot to loosen the lug nuts on the tire before lifting my car off the ground with the jack. My car was on a slope (yes, my e-brake was on) so when I tried loosening the lug nuts while the car was lifted it slid slightly off causing the jack to became stuck at a slant. I quickly found the biggest rock I could find and rolled it underneath my car to try and get the jack unstuck. That didn’t work. During this time, I had been communicating with my oldest brother (through my Garmin in-reach device) who was trying to send AAA. Once I had exhausted all the energy I had left to roll the rock underneath my car, I felt like I was going to pass out. I quickly grabbed my water bottle, a protein bar (since I hadn’t eaten anything since 0500 and it was now 1100), my Garmin (to communicate), and my phone to play music to calm me down. I sat down before my legs gave out.

As soon as I sat down the panic attack fully set in. I yelled the best I could despite the attack, “God help me!!” Five or maybe ten minutes later, I could see a blurry forestry truck coming up the road and turned down another side road. I had assumed they were parking their truck to come help. I was wrong. A few seconds later, I realized they were not coming to help. My legs still seemed wobbly and I felt slightly dizzy, so standing to go after them (without passing out and potentially hurting myself) was out of the picture. A few minutes later, they came back down the road and this time I waved them over to come help. To this day, I’m still not sure how many forestry guys actually showed up (the panic attack made it a little hard to focus). Two of them got out and asked if I was okay and I responded, “Yes I’m okay, I popped my tire and my jack is stuck, I just need a minute to catch my breath.” And almost immediately I started spewing off questions, “Where’s the fire? Is it really big? And am I in an evacuation zone?!!” Two of the guys started in on the car tire while another forestry truck showed up and one of them answered my questions. Calmly, he said, “the fire started last night from a lightning storm. It’s just over that peak (pointing behind him) at Government mountain (a few days later it was renamed the Bull-Gin complex fire). We have not issued an evacuation and we have it under control as of now. We have a fire boss plane circling it as well.”

After about 30 minutes from when my panic attack started (since I sat on the ground), I finally felt like I had caught my breath enough to actually find out how badly I had damaged my car. To the guys working on my tire, “I really did a number on it, didn’t I?” One responded, “it does appear that you did, but with the spare tire on it looks drivable. Not a really good way to end your hike though.”

The forestry guys finished up and asked if I was going to be able to drive. I stubbornly stated I would be okay even though I was a little wobbly as I stood up. After slowly driving away, I realized that my car’s alignment was way off (and unbeknownst to me it had a broken control arm and strut) which was going to make the three hour drive home near impossible. Thankfully, by the time I reached the pavement (a half a mile down the road from where I had gotten my flat) the AAA guy showed up to help tow my car all the the way back to Spokane.

I learned a few valuable lessons that day to “A” always make sure to check to see if there are any fires close to the trails you are about to travel. Additionally, “B” listen to my intuition because it hasn’t been wrong yet. And “C” panic attacks can come on very quickly and can drain so much energy from your body. If ever a trail feels off or you just have a weird feeling, turn around. Trust me, your family and friends will be so happy you did. Remember your safety is more important than any adventure. Go have good safe fun and listen to your intuition.