Exploring AZ turned into an emergency.

Monday April 6^th 2009

I have wanted to explore a ghost town named Reymert AZ since I first heard about it and found out it was only ~1.5 hour drive from our house. I was further intrigued when I discovered several geocaches (a hidden “treasure” found using latitude and longitude entered in a gps from http://www.geocaching.com/) on the way and one in the ghost town. Family friends of ours; Trevor, Lori, and Kelsi (their little one) are big on exploring and we decided to make a trip to this ghost town on a Monday as Tara and I both have the day off and Trevor gets off work at around 10am.

Tara filled three bottles of water and tossed in some snacks. So we were all packed for what we thought was a pampered dirt road and a quick trip as we needed to be back before Cody got home at 3pm. I brought some radios so we could talk from truck to truck. I had my GPS and a topo map with trail\road level detail with a fairly clear idea of what to expect as I had been reading about this area allot. I had gone exploring near our house last year and I knew of a dirt road that would shave off some miles and time if we drove along some railroad tracks that eventually cross a highway we wanted to get to. There are no other direct routs and it was a simple dirt road. As we made good time up that road, we came upon a “Road Closed” sign. Well Trevor knew or a different road that was the next quickest from where we were. So we followed him. Once on the highway again, we were approaching the trail head from the other direction than I had seen before. Luckily, I had programmed the trail head as a waypoint in my GPS and it was a quick find. It was instantly clear that the trail head was closed just like the previous road. Again, Trevor knew of a different approach into this area. I had looked at this next trail as a possibility as it looked to be the shortest path into the wilderness but it started quite a ways from our house.

Our tires hit the dirt road and we made good time up the trail. We paused for a quick geocache along the trail and that is where the adventure really started. This area was filled with a network of trails leading off into the desert and I was using the gps with its basic map to show our location in this maze and referring to the topo map. I took us about three miles up the wrong leg of a trail before I had the presence of mind to note the grid lines of where we were supposed to be on the topo map with the cords in the gps. Ok, no problem, we turned around and headed back the way we came. I decided to use a different tactic; I used the geocache in the ghost town as a “go to” point turning the gps into a directional guide but as the crow flies not as the road goes. This way I could be sure the turn off was correct due to heading direction. Finally we felt sure we had found the trail turn off and headed up it. The trail quickly got snug with cacti and bushes rubbing the side of the trucks. The GPS showed about 1.5 miles to the ghost town and the trail got more and more tight. Large rocks were becoming the trail and boulders were on both sides causing us to slow to a crawl. I got stuck as I was placing the passenger front tire on a rock that was in the trail. I put the truck in 4x4 and tried again. Well Tara and Trevor ended up spotting me and yelled stop! I had ripped of the front chin spoiler on the truck. Ok, well it was just a corner, no biggie! I got mad and Trevor and I rolled the very heavy rock off the trail. We kept going. I got stuck again and this time it just took a different approach angle to make it through. I could tell that the trail was more than our “Highway truck” was capable of but I know I could make it with my knowledge of off road driving. Hmmm, I also thought that Trevor had as much experience as I because he had done fantastic up to this point.

Well Trevor called on the radio and said he was going to stop and investigate a crumbled structure that he had seen on the right.

We stopped in the middle of the road and scrabbled up the hill side. Trevor and I left the girls and kids back at the first ruins and scrambled up to the next crumbled structure.

Then off to the next.

We were out of ear shot of the girls and I was snapping pictures as I went. After a while I felt that we should head back to the girls and get moving as we had been gone for a while. Tara had been honking the horn for us and I could tell we were gone too long. We continued up the trail a bit more and realized that we had actually passed the geocache and the ghost town as that was what Trevor and I had explored. That was a bum deal but we needed to head back to be there for Cody. I was in the lead and came up to a rock ledge that I knew this truck could not go up easily and I stopped. I decided to walk it first and choose my line. Standing at the top, I knew it would be bad. I walked a bit further up the trail to see what was next and it just got worse. I made the choice to go back the way we came. I reported the news to the rest and since Trevor was behind us, he attempted to turn around first. This begins the rest of the adventure. He got stuck nose to tail across the ravine we were driving in. He was stuck good. The bad thig is that he was completely blocking the road out. Ok, no biggie, been stuck before and have gotten out of worse situations. We placed rocks for traction and Trevor rocked back and forth further digging in. Now I always bring a recovery chain when exploring but not this time. Remember this was supposed to be a graded dirt road? Also, I always have a tow rope under the rear seat… not this time. No shovel, no way to pull him out. Ok, I got out the emergency jack and in the desert mid day heat, successfully lifted three sides of the truck and placed large rocks under the tires to get the truck frame off the ground. On the third and worst wheel the jack slipped on the rock I had under it and bent/ruined the jack. During this, Trevor had climbed a hill out of sight of us to attempt (unsuccessfully) to call his Dad. I, after fighting with a goofy anti theft system, got his truck running and attempted to get out using the three good traction tires I had set up. Nope, just dug in again. Ok, now it has been over an hour and we ruined the jack. I had attempted to fix the jack with a rock as a hammer and got it to work slightly. His jack was missing the handle and our Dodge handle did not mate up with the Chevy version. I am dying from the heat and the water is almost gone. I have three babies, one pregnant woman and one feeding. I know the remaining water needs to go to them. I continued with out. Next I had the idea (With a thought from Tara!) to pull Trevor’s spare tire and use it as a buffer between their rear wheel and my rear bumper. I was going to ram the back of their truck off the road. You see, we were almost out of water, it was very hot, and Cody was now at home by him self. (He has his own key and we told him we might be a few mins late)

I attempted to ram Trevor’s truck as softly as I could as I did not want to damage either truck. We managed to place a dent in his bed while mangling the chrome on the side of his truck , and pop the spare tire. You should have seen me leap out of my truck when I heard the tire hissing! I ran all the way over there before my heart beat once! I was afraid I had popped the tire on the truck. Do you remember I ruined the jack? Could have been really bad!

I was standing there looking at the situation and feeling helpless. I can usually get us out of anything and now my family (and friends) and in danger. Then it hit me, I yanked Brett’s seat out of the truck and cut the nylon webbing out of it. It is rated at 1,000 lbs and it could be used as a tow rope! It was just long enough to allow a knot at both ands and a few inches between the trucks. This just had to work! After breaking the strap a few times, it was too short to use again. We managed to move the truck a few inches. Ok, I suggested we cut a seat belt out of Trevor’s truck as it is thicker webbing. I saw that he did not feel overjoyed with that so we kicked around ideas for a while. It was now 5pm and Cody had been home alone for 2 hours. My fear clicked up the next notch. I cut out the seat belt from his truck and we positioned to try again. This time we tried the back of the truck as it is lighter than the front so this just had to work! Nope! It broke in the middle so there was no trying again. We were out of options. Trevor and I ran up the hill and I was able to call out! I called Cody and he was fine. I called Grandma Perl and she headed over to get Cody. Trevor called his Dad and did the best he could to describe where we were. His Dad had never been to Reymert so Trevor decided to run back to the highway to meet him then show him where we were. So, the impossible task was: Trevor had to hike over 5 miles in the desert, and by the time he would get to the highway, it would be dark. His Dad would have to find him along a highway that stretches almost all the way across Arizona. He only took a half full bottle of Gatorade with him. While he was gone, the light was fading quickly in the valley, so I packed up everything that was scattered around and due to the bugs; we all climbed into the dodge. As I was sitting there, I realized that I was very dehydrated. We had about 6 ounces of water left and I was stuck on the fact that the girls should have it. I sipped on Brett’s water just to wet my mouth and tried to doze off in the wilderness night resting my head on the window. The temp drops sharply at night and it had become quite cold. I also was becoming aware of the cactus needles I had in my leg along with all of the cuts and scratches I had from battling the hill side to make the phone calls and spending hours digging with my hands. I was in a state of mind that I am still reflecting on. There are just a few times in my life where I have felt like things were out of my control. I was exhausted, worried about Trevor in the desert and our lack of water.

At about 8pm, headlights pierced the night behind us and I fell out of the truck to run to the folks headed up the road. It was Trevor and his parents! What is so incredible is that not only had Trevor made it to the highway, but after his parents had driven back and forth on the highway in a particular section that they thought Trevor had described, they found him in the dark! He was dehydrated and sore! Water bottles were passed around and the energy level went back up on everyone. With in minutes, using the recovery chain, I had pulled the truck back onto the road. We got all three trucks turned around and headed out. I don’t remember ever feeling so elated to leave the dirt road behind me as I pulled on to the highway. Usually it is the other way around!

We picked Cody up from Grandma Perl’s house and made it home by 11:30pm.

I broke some rules when it comes to exploring. We were not prepared past the level required for our trip plan. I should have stopped when the trip plan no longer applied to our current situation. Here are a few reminders for the next trip. This applies any time you travel out of your home city or metropolitan area. It is easy to become complacent when traveling even just a short distance from home and we do not always observe these simple rules.

1. Tell someone where you are going. (email a map and time-line if exploring)

2. Bring enough supplies for at least two times the amount of time expected.

3. Know where you are going and set a strict understanding that if a deviation from trip plan happens, there should be a conversation about the changes.

4. Bring tools for repairing vehicles

5. When traveling off road, bring necessary recovery tools in case you get stuck.

I am proud of how Tara handled the situation. She is level headed in an emergency. Even Brett and Ashton were good boys. We were all scared that we were going to be stuck there long enough that we would not make it through due to lack of water. It was a real fear. There have been hundreds of people die in this very wilderness from various causes.

Today, I have repaired the truck and even waxed over the small scratches. I have pulled 6 needles from my skin and there are a few that broke off leaving their poison tips in my skin. Just think, we could have put Reynert AZ back on the map as a populated town.

Photo shoot at a Riparian preserve

A few of the better ones from this morning. I spent almost 2 hours taking about 20 pictures. For the most part 7 am was the perfect time to catch the wildlife energetic before it got warm.

This one bellow has water drops in the air as it shook it's wings.

Lunar detail

Another moon picture. Starting to wish for a big telescope with a star tracking system. Hmmm, that will have to be a mid life crisis purchase as it could cost as much as a used corvette!