IN JULY OF 2007, I STARTED THE PROGRAM, AND IT HAS REALLY HELPED ME ALOT WITH DEPRESSION...IM NOT DEPRESSED ANYMORE, BUT I WORK ON IT EVERYDAY. I AM STILL LEARNING TO COPE WITH PANIC ATTACKS. SO I FELT COMPELLED TO SHARE ONE OF MY STORIES ABOUT ONE OF MY EXPEDITIONS, WHILE I WAS ON A JOURNEY, TO PHOTOGRAPH SECRET WATERFALLS.....
On May 21, 2007, I set out with three freinds, on a mission to find a two certain waterfalls located in the Ozark Mountains. Due to the vast wilderness there, there is absolutely no trails marked. So I did not attempt to find these secret waterfalls, without having a guide that knew that wilderness. So, about 2:30 pm. I finally found a man, that travels it by horse. But since he didnt have enough horses for all of us, he decided to take us by foot on a 6 inch wide poison ivy covered path. Now remember, he had not ever traveled by foot in this wilderness, and said that it would only take 35 minutes, to get to this disclosed location, that I have tried three times to find. So we go to a small place off road, and set off. We started up hill, through a poison ivy path , in which, the poison ivy, was on the ground and 6 inches tall, which me and another person , is highly allergic to, only if I touch with my skin. But believe me, that didnt happen. So , here we are, going up and down hills through brush, and thickets, you name it, and since the guide said it would only take 35 minutes, we only took 1 bottle of water . Well, as we are traveling, and traveling, and traveling, and traveling, for about 2 miles, we have to cross the knee deep section of the creek, the first time. So we crossed it, and remember , the rocks in the bottom are extremely slick to the sediments, so extreme caution had to be taken by me, not to fall, so that I wouldnt soak my camera. So we finally crossed it, and had to go back up another hill. So we went uphill and downhill several, several times. So at this point all three of us, are exhausted, and thirsty. So, since one of my friends drank the only bottled water we had, guess what, yes, I had drink the creek water. Yes, I know, I was leary of impurities, but I didnt care, I was extremely thirsty. It was clear, and flowing. Now, I want you to remember this, the guide was a tall cowboy that was like 6'4" and weighed about 120 lbs, extremely long legs, that could travel fast. So, two hours has passed by now, and we had to get the creek again, but this time, we had stradle and sidestep this bluff located on the creek, that only had 7-8 inches of room for your feet and it went for about 60 yards. We had to use our fingers and hold on to the rocks above our heads to do this. So, we accomplised that task. So we continued on, and at that time, it was 530 pm and we started out at 3pm. So after crossing the creek, several, several times, and traveling up and down the mountains, I finally made it to these secluded breathtaking waterfalls. I was in awe. When I shoot waterfalls, I normally get in the water to photograph them, but these had deep pools, so that was totally out of the question. Now picture this in your mind,.....the sound of roaring waterfalls, and the smell of fresh flowing water, and mint. Yes I said, mint. Somewhere around there, there was several mint plants growing.. It was a heavenly feeling. So after getting several shots, we decided to head to the next waterfall, because it was "supposedly" on the way back, "supposedly". Now the time was 615pm. So here we go again, up and down mountains again, so by 630 pm we had climb up an extremly steep mountain. So we get at the top, and then we realize we had to back down it again. Oh by that time, I was irritated. Now remember, it has started storming and raining, and we are all wet including our shoes and socks. Now Im getting to the extremely bad part. As we was going down the hill, I SLIPPED AND FEEL OFF A RIDGE AND BOTH OF MY FEET WAS AIRBORNE, SO AS IM FALLING THROUGH THE AIR, MY LIFE FLASHING THROUGH MY EYES, I LANDED ON A TREE. SO SINCE I IMPACTED THE TREE, MY WEIGHT FORCED MY BODY TO TWIST AND TURN AROUND FROM THE RIGHT TO THE LEFT. SO, SINCE I WAS TWISTING AROUND THE TREE, AT A HIGH RATE, MY ARMS GOT TREE BURN BRUISES. HAVE YOUR EVER HEARD OF CARPET BURN? WELL THIS WAS TREE BURN, 100 TIMES WORST. SO NOW I HAVE AN INJURED BACK, AND ARMS. HOW LOVELY, NOT. If that tree, had not been, I would have died. So as I managed to slide down the tree, I was on the ground. So after a few verbal obscenties, we started again. Now at this time remember, the ground is saturated by the rain, and slippery. We had to follow along side mountains and coming across several mud slick paths. So about this time, it was 730 pm. I new at this time, it was crunch time, and we had to go fast if we wanted to make out of there before it got dark, because, it got so dark there, that you couldnt see your hand in front of your face. So , we didnt have a flashlight, because our " guide" said we would be back before it got dark. HAHA. So as we are going, one my freinds, got real sick from low blood sugar. I was sypathetic with my freind, but I new we had to keep going, because we couldnt allow ourselves to get stuck in there when it got dark. We had no dry warm clothes, no light, and no food, and we was beyond exhausted, we was dehydrated. Now remember, our "guide" would not stay with us.. he seemed to think he had to stay way ahead of us, which really upset me alot. So , now I'm having to constantly yell at him to stop and let us catch up, because I was dehydrated, and my two other freinds, was having problems of thier own. ONe develped a pain in their hip, and the other was dealing with low blood sugar, and throwing up. So by this time it was about 8 pm and the sun was starting to go down extremely fast, which was not a good thing. So, I had encourage my freinds to please pick up the pace, because we was running out of daylight quickly, and with no flashlight, it would have been impossible to make out there by night, and the thought of trying to survive , with wet clothes on and no light, and no food, was extremely not a good idea at all. Our only hope was that our guide would come upon a section, that he recognized. Now remember, my faith in the guy guiding us, went down really quick, because he was lost too. So, at this time.. I am extremly exhausted, injured, dehydrated, and irritated, and trying to stay mentally and physically strong for my other two freinds,which was baredly able to walk. I was needing a miracle.
so about, 830 pm. it was starting to get really dark, and the guide was still way ahead of us, and we could barely see and the guide finally came upon a section he recognized. So we had to go back up a hill again, and come to another creek, which we had to cross again, while it was raining. So after we crossed it , it was almost dark, and we traveled about 2000 yards, which is about 20 football fields, in almost total darkness, and we finally come upon a hill and climbed it and found a campground. I was so happy and pleased and thankful to GOD, that we found a campground. So we stayed there , and the guide walked down a gravel road back to the starting point, to get his truck, and come and pick us up. I am a chrisian, and I constantly prayed to God that he would help us make our way back, before it got totally dark, and he did. I was so thankful to God, for helping us, that you absolutely, have no idea. If it hadnt been for God looking out for us, we would not have made it. I solely believe he had part in allowing me to land on that tree,to save my life, and help me have strength to encourage my freinds to keep walking, and not give up..So if you have any questions, please feel free to ask and by the way, the pictures will be on my website,
www.jwphotoco.com, entitled, " A Miraculous Journey."
Thanks for reading this.
Joseph
Stress Center Community 
