The going is slow at first, and Jen almost loses her footing as she climbs out onto the wet log. Her boot slides out from under her on the slick, almost slimy bark, and there is a moment of near instant terror where she can feel herself going over and into the river.

Fortunately, calamity is avoided and Jen is able to catch herself, before completing the task of tying the rope to the tree's spear-like end. After this, it is mostly Frank's patient instruction that gets the two through the lengthy task of pulling it out of the river and onto the muddy bank. Then they must lever the tree trunk up against the ravine wall, struggling to get the rope over a nearby overhanging branch. It takes several throws before they successfully get the rope over and taught. It's exhausting work playing tug of war to get the tree branch up against the ravine, creating a makeshift ladder, and by the time the work is complete, both Jen and Frank are exhausted, stained with sweat and spattered with mud. By now all light has gone out of the sky, and the two are forced to use flashlights as their source of light. The rush of the nearby river has become comforting, a constant in the otherwise unknowable and near impenetrable darkness. Then Jen begins the laborious process of climbing up the tree trunk, going limb over limb with her weighted camping pack, till she can finally pull herself up and over onto the forest floor above the ravine.

But something changes when Jen finally makes it; the forest goes completely silent. Even the constant roar of the water on rocks goes mute. Her flashlight shines down on Frank, but he seems so so far away. Down in the ravine, Frank can see his companion standing up above, her lit flashlight creating a yellow and charcoal silhouette against the blackness. If either calls out to the other, the sound is terribly distant, and warped, like an echo bouncing off of a cave wall. Jen still has the rope and can begin the process of pulling Frank up, if she so desires.