Brett Grimes (49:02)
And I'm like, okay. I mean, yeah, that'll work. Like, that will work. As long as this bucket doesn't rip and our belts don't rip, like, we can do it. So we get up there, and the first couple runs was just seeing what we can carry. We would drop boulders in it and then loop up on our shoulders, pick it up off the ground. And it was like, he'd look at me like, do you have more? I'm like, I got a little more. I think I can do a little more. And so we dump another one in and give it another test. And when it got to the point we could barely lift it. He just looked me go, and boom. We just start hoofing it down the trail. And that's when all of this being illegal, like, I. I had kind of figured it out before, but now it's in front of my face. We are in the COVID of darkness. They did not call the other guys, mind you, who have been there longer than me, but are probably a little less trustworthy. They're not using their rigs. They're using my truck. And the goal is to get that shit down as fast as we can. And so I'm like, dude, if somebody drives by, like, that's it. Like, can I go to prison for this? Yeah. I don't know what the charges are. I don't know what they have done to secure this land. How did they find it? Did someone allow them to do this? But obviously not, because we're cutting corners that you would do to make sure no one knows what you're doing. And so we're rushing down this mountain, back and forth, lap after lap through this trail. We're bleeding sweat. When I could actually see light on him, you could see his whole face. You know, skinhead, head, neck, face is glistening. I am soaked in sweat. And it's just like, you know, that tenacity is like, keep your feet moving. Keep going. Don't think. Just follow your feet. Let's get it done. And by the time we brought the last trash can down, it was extremely hard. We couldn't drop the tailgate anymore. I couldn't drop it at all because we had stacked that high with boulders. And so now, not only are we worn out, but we're having to actually get underneath this thing and pick it up over the tailgate and drop it into the truck. And every time I could see my truck sitting, boom, Lower, lower. And by the time we were done, we hop in the truck, and neither one of us are talking. And the load was so heavy because I was driving an 89 Chevy back then, and it had the leaf springs in the back. And so I remember when we got in, I could hear those old leaf springs had flattened out, so I have zero suspension in the back of my truck. And we start going down, and I'm having to tap the brakes because at that time, I was too stupid to realize that I can shift into first on the. On the column and downshift an engine brake. And so I'm feathering the brake as I'm going down, trying not to hit the gas. And I can just feel every time my brakes are going in farther, farther. So I'm burning my brake pads, and I'm starting to get squeals. So I'm hitting my rotors now. Brake pads are gone. And luckily we got to the bottom, and I was able to level it out, and we're fine. And I. I turned to him, and I'm like, we are off the mountain. And he just goes like, I have a spot. And he goes like, I'm just going to give you lefts and rights, so take a left here. And I'm like, okay. And I'm driving now. I don't know really where we're going. And we pull up at this storage unit. So we pull in between these long sections of storage units, all the doors in them. We pull up. I remember lighting a cigarette and just being like, okay, hand this shit over and get out of here. And I look up and the sun's coming up, and I'm like, fuck, we just worked all night. To me, I mean, it was hard work, but it felt like we were there for an hour. Well, the sun's coming up now, and as, like, everything is sitting in, the adrenaline starting to come off. And then these 2U haul moving trucks pull up, and they back up towards my truck, and I don't remember if I saw anyone get out or not, but I remember the back of them opening, and they had already framed rock cradles on either side of the walkway. So it's these square boxes they had made out of wood. And each one was meant to cradle a single boulder. We loaded these things up, dropping rocks in each one of them, and within minutes, they were gone. Joseph's standing there, and I'm looking at him. You could tell he wanted to have a conversation with me. And he kind of. And like I said, like, through all of this, through how sketchy and weird and odd and secretive it was, I had this feeling that he was. Some part of him was a good man. And he had looked at me with this, like, grandfather eyes, like he was gonna, like, sit there and talk to me. And I could see his response to the look on my face. And he kind of stopped what he was about to say. It was just like, thank you. I appreciate this. Like, we'll be in touch. And I'm like, okay. You know, I don't remember saying goodbye to this, the crew lead, but I remember, like, getting in my truck and taking off. And I remember even being like, I have no idea if I need gas. I'm gonna catch gas a half hour from now if I need to fill up. Like, I just need to get out of Mount Shasta. I need to get as far away from the scene of the crime at this point. And I felt. I felt scared and relieved at the same time. With every mile that went by getting closer to home, the anxiety was lifting, you know? And I remember getting to the edge of my town and just, like, not listening to music. I hadn't turned the radio on. I had just my window down with my elbow on the window and my head kind of tilted into the wind. And I had just been thinking, and then I start kind of chuckling to myself. And then it's just like, you fucking idiot. Like, hey, we landed on our feet again. That's awesome. But, like, oh, my God. And I get home, I hadn't gone in the house yet, and I'm like, sitting on my mom's front porch. And it was just like this kind of a calm, peaceful feeling because what happened? I had adrenaline dumped, you know, And I had done it for hours and hours on end of not only the work, but all the what ifs running through my head and still to the fact that I didn't know where we were going to do the drop off. And I remember rolling up and being like, they allowed me off the mountain, so there might not be danger, but if there is danger, it's going to happen right now. Yeah. And luckily, like, that's when I kind of realized the danger part was done and I was going to walk out of here on my own two feet. And now it's just like, is there going to be repercussion for what I just did? Yeah.