Letter: Thanks for help walking down Badger Mountain

My wife and I decided to climb Badger Mountain. It was a beautiful day to do it. It was quite a climb, but with resting stops we finally reached the top, with a great 360-degree view.

We made a mistake following the road straight down. A neck and back car injury began nagging. The flatter path down the east side helped.

I was hurting and had trouble walking downhill due to the former back injury. I knew I couldn't make it down the steps. Hanging on to my wife I started down the steps, but had to be helped to the high side to sit. We were headed to the sharp curve. Unasked, Gary, an Englishman working at Hanford, gave me his arm and we started down. It wasn’t working.

He ran down and got some walking sticks and a Danish Hanford friend came up to help. I could stand but not walk unassisted. Gary and Jacob got me down the stairs and to the parking lot, helping me into my truck. Thanks to Gary and Jacob and their families. They are the spirit of the mountain.

Thanks my friends, Tim and LaDonna.

This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 11:04 PM with the headline "Letter: Thanks for help walking down Badger Mountain."