I am hiking with David, descending a steep meadow slope by sliding on my feet down a narrow gravel track. At the foot of the slope night falls and as I enter into a section of woods between me and the road the darkness is complete. I bushwhack a short distance to find a house blocking my way forward, much like how in previous dreams my way has been obstructed by houses and fenced yards. In this dream though, I am able to follow a path past the house to a steep little ramp running down to the driveway.
Walking down the gravel driveway I meet a Volkswagen bus in a low place where water has run over the road depositing ripples of sand and mud. The Volkswagen waits for me to pass but after I proceed I regret not letting the bus go first. Just then a big white car comes up behind me and veers off the driveway through some trees and bushes and down a steep embankment to the paved road. Following the bare scrape it left through the bushes and down the embankment I expect to find that the car has crashed but it apparently continued on down the road.

I start walking up the road but find myself instead scrambling up a steep rocky stream with someone else. Looking down I noticed a large red agate and then several more smaller ones, and it occurs to me that I might be in the same area in which I found agates in the previous dream sometime ago. Unable to carry any of the larger agates with me I pick up a couple pocket-sized pieces but they are not as good quality as I thought so I leave them behind.
I find myself in a rock shop looking at several specimens for sale on a table. One of them, about 8 inches across, is a cluster of a dozen or more clear quartz crystals each about 1/2" wide and 4 or 5 inches long sticking out in all directions. According to a small sticker on the piece, it is for sale for $30. The other specimens are both more expensive and less interesting. I stroll through the shop and realize that it is mostly a souvenir shop. Returning to the quartz crystal specimen, I find that it has changed and is not nearly as attractive as it was before. The crystals have all fused together in the shape of a bowl or crown and their tips are chipped and broken. On the way out I meet the proprietor, a man named Paul, and explain to him that I would like to have bought the quartz crystal specimen but unfortunately do not have any money on me. He is understanding and joins me as I start walking up the road.

I am headed for the trailhead where I had planned to meet Darchelle although I am concerned that she might have driven down the road while I was in the souvenir shop. Assuming that if she doesn't find me along the road she will return to the trailhead, I keep going up the road. Suddenly a black pickup truck races down the road towards us then hurtles into the ravine on our left. We see and hear an explosion and assume that it was the truck but looking down into the ravine we see a piece of heavy equipment drilling in the stream and realize that the explosion was blasting related to a mining operation. Then we notice the truck flattened in the stream with its cab blown off. The driver is missing. A small child smothered under a blanket is struggling to get out of a car seat. I take the child, a little boy, in my arms. It is cold and clammy and its fingers are corroded away as if by acid. Paul investigates and determines that the father, who was driving, is dead and the mother is gone. I feel very sad for the child, who is now an orphan but does not yet realize it.
I wake up feeling very anxious though my anxiety may have been in part due to apnea-induced shortness of breath.