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C.J. Richards:Sliding Down the Wrong Turn

  • Writer: facethyfear
    facethyfear
  • Jul 10
  • 3 min read

Updated: 4 days ago


“Life has a way of teaching us through detours. Sometimes you plan the perfect route, and then one wrong turn drops you into something wild—something unforgettable. My friend CJ found himself in that exact place: standing on a glacier in Oregon in July, boots full of snow, no clear path forward. What happened next was part chaos, and part genius.”


Here’s CJ’s story, straight from his own words:


“So the idea to slide down that hill started with us taking a wrong turn on the trail. We had just started, and there was way more snow than we thought. I mean—we should’ve known, it’s literally a glacier—but being almost July, I didn’t expect we’d run into that much.

At first, it was a little hard to follow the trail. We had our maps and all that, but you only check your map so often, especially when you’re joking around and having fun. So we’re walking up this hill, thinking we’re on track, but when we check the map again at the top, we realize the trail is all the way down at the bottom of this steep hill.


Now we’ve got two choices: walk back through the snow—my boots already full of snow, and we’re a little chilly—or go down the hill. I said we should just run down, even though it was super steep and we might slide a little. But my friend Rachel? She had the bright idea to use my sleeping pad as a sled.

At first, I didn’t think it’d work. The snow was kind of slushy. But as soon as she picked up her legs—boom—we started sliding. Fast. It was wild. Thank God we decided to go a little higher up the hill first, where there were fewer trees, because right away we were heading straight toward one. That’s when I figured out I could use her leg like a rudder. I put one of her legs down to steer us, and it actually worked. We avoided the trees and just kept flying down.

It was probably a 50–75 foot hill, and we zipped down like kids at recess. The video doesn’t do it justice. We were laughing so hard when we hit the bottom. That was the first of many fun moments on that trail, but for sure a highlight—something we’ll remember for a long, long time.”


Reflection:



This hit me because I know that feeling. In life and in recovery, we all take wrong turns. We think we’re on track, then realize the real path is somewhere down a steep hill we didn’t plan for.


Sliding into the unknown takes courage. Sometimes you’ve got to grab the sleeping pad, push off, and trust you’ll steer clear of the trees. You might laugh, you might scream—but when you hit the bottom, you’ll know you lived.


CJ reminds me that recovery isn’t just about staying clean—it’s about finding joy in those unscripted moments and making the most out of the chaos.

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“Wrong turn? Good. Steep hill? Better. Sometimes the fastest way to growth is headfirst down the slope. Don’t freeze up. Don’t overthink it. Grab your pad, lean back, and steer through the chaos. The bottom is waiting—and so is the best version of you.”



This is just one of many stories from the people and places that inspire FaceThyFear. More adventures, more wrong turns, and more lessons are on the way. Stay tuned.


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For licensing, inquiries, or features: facethyfear@gmail.com



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