A Frozen Journal

Entry #20 12/20/1803

My name is Nathan Gray, and I am an explorer who travelled to a mountain known as Peak Frostcliff. I have been dreaming of this adventure for years as I have heard that many adventurers have tried to traverse the mountain only to be either lost or give up a few days after attempting to climb it. I have wanted to be the one who would finally conquer the mountain and plant a flag at the very top. Planning for the trip took weeks as I needed to find both a team that would be willing to help me with this endeavor as well as supplies that would last us months in the infamously treacherous conditions of the mountains. I had to call everyone I knew to find enough food, medicine and camping equipment that would be adequate for the fearsome journey. I can still remember that many of my family and friends urged me not to go, telling me about how many others have tried and died when trying to traverse this dangerous mountain. I refused to listen, because after all, there is a first time for everything, and I had hoped to be the first one to climb to the top of Peak Frostcliff.

When we first began climbing, the weather was terrible as the blizzards and biting cold appeared earlier than expected. It wasn’t long during our first day that one of us eventually got hypothermia and needed to leave the trip. I decided that it was best to let him go as he was in no shape to continue the journey. There were people in my group saying that it was a bad omen that our adventure started on such a terrible note, but I remained unconvinced and convinced a local to be the replacement. The first day of climbing, as far as I can remember, was the most difficult thing I have ever attempted in my life, but I was aware that it was going to be the case. I had mentally prepared myself that this was going to be the most difficult thing I was ever going to do in my life, and I accepted that. Walking up the mountain was not easy as the deep snow made it difficult even though me and my group had brough snowshoes. We were also in danger of being crushed by an avalanche, and we actually saw one during our first day of climbing, and fortunately for us, it was a long distance away. There were entire trees shaking, because of the wind with several smaller ones becoming uprooted and flying through past us. A part of my group was convinced that the mountain was cursed, but I remind them that they were paid to keep going forward not complain. That was weeks ago, and now I am trapped in a cave with nothing else to do but write.

Entry #21 12/21/1803

I have been trapped in a cave with the rest of my group for about week now. We managed to traverse much of the mountain by foot for days and lived in our tents at night. Much of the food we had brough was frozen, but we had enough dried meat and fruit to last us for about another few weeks so we were somewhat confident that we could reach the top of the mountain and then go down without fear of running out of supplies. Now we are trapped in a cave with no way to leave, because of how bad conditions outside of the cave had become, and we constantly worry that our supplies with run out. The conditions outside of the cave had only worsened a few days ago as for a while, the winds and cold were not that terrible. We might have had one to two cases of frostbite, but I encouraged my team to go on, telling them that we had enough medical equipment and expertise to treat the affected people once we were inside our tents. It was at those moments where I refused to stop being optimistic, because I believe that if I lost hope, so would the rest of my team. However, several days after I told my team that, the cases of frostbite still hadn’t yet resolved and they were yelling in pain when they tried to walk. I could hear them even with the howling winds that caused most other sounds to be drowned out.

When the cold and the winds finally worsened to a near intolerable degree, my team demanded that we find shelter in a nearby cave. I didn’t want to stop as I believed we could keep going even if I was kidding myself. I was hungry and tired, and I didn’t want to tell the other people in my team this, but I believe that I also had a foot injury. I refused to look at it for days, believing that I would only dishearten me and my team. It wasn’t until I began to lose feeling in my foot that I finally decided that it was best to have it checked. I asked one of my closest friends on the trip to look at it, and to not tell the other that I potentially had an injury. He agreed as he didn’t want to cause panic among our group. When he finally inspected my foot, he said that it looked pretty bad, and I would need to have it checked by a doctor within a month. I told him that if I had a month, then I would be fine as I still wanted to climb the mountain. It would take a near mutiny of my group to finally convince me to allow them to take shelter in a cave. When we finally entered the safety of the cave, the group was relieved that they could finally rest in an area untouched by the cold and winds of the outside world. I was frustrated as I had spent years planning and preparing for this trip, but there was nothing I could do if my team wouldn’t go along with me. So far, the entirety of my team was still alive, so I had that to keep me encouraged. I told my best friend, Tommy, that I wanted to search around the cave to see if there were anything that we could use for resources. He agreed, but only after I rested for a few days.

Entry #22 12/23/1803

Today was the day where I could finally start to explore the cave as sitting around on a knapsack all day had caused me to go nearly insane with boredom. I told my best friend where I would be going, and he said that as long as I don’t travel too far away from the rest of the group, I should be fine. I agreed not to go anywhere where the rest of my group wouldn’t be able to hear me yell, and after packing a knapsack of food, medicine and hiking equipment, I left the comforts of the camp and walked towards the dark edges of the cave, hoping that I would find something that would either be of use to my group or be something that would finally cure the boredom that had been plaguing me for days. I remember after walking for a few minutes, I could see the tops of the cave which had spikes pointed towards the ground. I wondered if they were made of stone or ice and decided to climb a nearby stone to find out. To my dismay, I found that not only were they made of stone, but that they were considerably sharp to the point that I accidentally cut myself when trying to inspect them. While the thought of the falling spikes putting an end to my life did follow me for the rest of the trip, I found comfort by the fact that I could hide under one of the nearby rocks that could protect me if such an event happened.

As I ventured further into the caves, I also began to notice that I was walking a little too far than what I promised to my best friend that I would. It began to become harder for me to hear the sounds of the camp, but because the cave was easy to navigate and walk through, after all there was only one route to and from the camp, I decided that it wasn’t too worrisome and continued my trek through the cave against my better judgment. As I walked past a series of strange looking rocks, I began to notice someone strange on the floor As someone with years of experience hiking through caves and forests, it puzzled me to what exactly it was and I had not seen it before, As I looked around, waving my torch to where I needed the light, I finally looked up and found the answer. The cave, from the looks of it, used to house many bats. I can tell from not only the many bones on the top of the cave, but after another try at looking at what I found on the floor, I could tell that they were bat droppings. The only reason why I didn’t think of that sooner was how old the droppings were. Suddenly, for an unknown reason, the cave shook. While it wasn’t strong enough to cause the spikes to fall, many of the bat skeletons that were on the cave celling fell down on me. As they did, something that felt like maggots began to fall on me to, and the feeling of the creatures crawling all over me caused me to panic and I think I yelled a bit. When I finally shook that off, I could tell that they were empty husks to, meaning that the bats that once lived here died years ago. I suddenly heard screaming from the camp and ran back.

Entry #24 12/24/1803

When I finally returned to the camp, I had saw that a part of the cave ceiling where we had camped under had fallen on the leg of one of my teammates. He was screaming as it was a sizeable rock that had fallen on him with at least four other people trying to get him off him with no avail. Finally, my best friend recommended that the leg be amputated, and the man begged him not to. After about ten minutes of arguing, the man finally agreed, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to go anyway without the amputation. My best friend then gave him something to bite down on as he prepared a tourniquet. In his eyes, the man looked beyond frightened and when my friend was ready to cut the leg off, the man looked away. Even with a rag in his mouth, the screams were palpable as my friend tried his best to cut though tough muscle and bone. The man’s face turned red as Tommy tried his best to work faster. Finally, after another grueling ten minutes, the operation was done, and the man was saved. However, my friend recommend that we should begin preparations to leave the mountain, otherwise the man would have no chances of survive. I was badly disheartened by the news, but I finally agreed that we needed to leave the mountain as soon as possible. I could see years of my life began to be for nothing as we prepared for a trip back down the mountain the next day, but there was nothing that I could do about it. Suddenly another part of the cave ceiling also fell and while no one was injured, a great deal of cold air began to sweep into the camp, causing conditions there to become more dire.

We would have to sleep in and endure below freezing temperatures for at least another ten hours as my team still needed to prepare the requirements needed to travel down the mountain. In the back of my mind, I began to think that the entire trip was nothing more than a fool’s errand, and I knew that the rest of my team would agree. I hid in an area away from the camp and began to cry a little bit with the tears coming from my eyes almost instantly freezing. Tommy found me and told me not to be sad about it. The fact that we had survived for so long in terrible conditions would be enough for us to boast to our friends and family at home. I knew he had the best intentions in mind, but I didn’t know if that would be enough for me. I asked him if we could make the same trip again within a few years. Tommy gave me an annoyed look as I knew that the trip had almost cost us our lives, but I continued to argue with him. We weren’t able to settle our argument that day, but I was finally convinced that making the journey to Peak Frostcliff was not only a dangerous adventure, but also one that I believed might not be worth it. I was also convinced that I needed to stay with the next of the group at camp where I wouldn’t be in danger of freezing to death. I wasn’t sure how we would survive the night with conditions as nightmarish as the ones we were currently in, but I convinced myself that it was the right thing to do. After another eight hours, our fates would finally be decided when we begin the journey down the mountain, a fate that I have no clue how it would resolve.