We went on a "ride" yesterday, leaving from my rural ranch to go to the Virgin River, near the town of Hurricane. We rode six miles over slick rock and sand. When we got close to the river, the grade increased, and we were committed to go down. Two Polaris Razors, an Arctic Cat 400 4 by, and a 2wd Honda 300 trx.
Trying to get out, we just spun out on the sandy steep road out. Three of us took a Razor and the Cat about 1.5 miles downriver, following sandbars and made 3 river crossings, 2 of which the Cat floated off course.
The Razor could not make the bank at the final crossing, so John stayed there. The two of us rode the cat down looking for the next beach where there would be people. Finally, the cat wouldn't go any farther because of steep sides, so my buddy took off walking. He ended up at that beach, where he got a ride to get back to my house and get the truck. I went back to John, and then we both headed back to the group. We were preparing to spend the night with minimal preparations. doh!
By now, the buddy who set off walking to the public beach had gotten back to my house with the help of a good Samaritan. Sun was setting, and we were in cell phone contact, so my buddy headed toward us in the truck, and we started walking out. In the dark, uphill, through sand and rock. We finally met, and all made it back to the house.
This morning, I went to Ace Hardware to ask the guy there I know who knows everything and everyone in town. In 30 minutes, four search and rescue people with trucks, trailers, and atvs were taking us to get our stuck vehicles. We rode in double on their big honking atvs. When we got there, they just let air out of the Razors tires, and they blasted sand all the way up. What we did need, though, was their 650 Can-Ams to pull out the Cat and Honda. We all got up to level ground, and we took off home. They split up from us and went to explore another trail miles away. By the time we had gone to my house a couple of miles away and shuttled some vehicles, we came back, and they had come out, loaded, and were gone.
Six people - myself, had a 5 way bypass and plastic aortic valve, a guy who is having a knee replacement in two weeks, his wife who had a fractured pelvis a few years ago, my wife who has a bad knee, and SIL who's just a little frail. Only one of the six was in decent condition. But we walked up 1.8 miles through sand and rock in the dark, laughing and joking all the way. Not one whiner.
It's nice to know in this day and age that there are people who help for the sake of helping.
We're going fishing this afternoon. I hope it is uneventful.
Life is good, and God always sends you what you need. Maybe not what you want, but ......
On Sat, 7 Nov 2009 13:58:30 -0700, "SteveB" <oldf...@depends.com> wrote: >We went on a "ride" yesterday, leaving from my rural ranch to go to the >Virgin River, near the town of Hurricane. We rode six miles over slick rock >and sand. When we got close to the river, the grade increased, and we were >committed to go down. Two Polaris Razors, an Arctic Cat 400 4 by, and a 2wd >Honda 300 trx.
>Trying to get out, we just spun out on the sandy steep road out. Three of >us took a Razor and the Cat about 1.5 miles downriver, following sandbars >and made 3 river crossings, 2 of which the Cat floated off course.
>The Razor could not make the bank at the final crossing, so John stayed >there. The two of us rode the cat down looking for the next beach where >there would be people. Finally, the cat wouldn't go any farther because of >steep sides, so my buddy took off walking. He ended up at that beach, where >he got a ride to get back to my house and get the truck. I went back to >John, and then we both headed back to the group. We were preparing to spend >the night with minimal preparations. doh!
>By now, the buddy who set off walking to the public beach had gotten back to >my house with the help of a good Samaritan. Sun was setting, and we were in >cell phone contact, so my buddy headed toward us in the truck, and we >started walking out. In the dark, uphill, through sand and rock. We >finally met, and all made it back to the house.
>This morning, I went to Ace Hardware to ask the guy there I know who knows >everything and everyone in town. In 30 minutes, four search and rescue >people with trucks, trailers, and atvs were taking us to get our stuck >vehicles. We rode in double on their big honking atvs. When we got there, >they just let air out of the Razors tires, and they blasted sand all the way >up. What we did need, though, was their 650 Can-Ams to pull out the Cat and >Honda. We all got up to level ground, and we took off home. They split up >from us and went to explore another trail miles away. By the time we had >gone to my house a couple of miles away and shuttled some vehicles, we came >back, and they had come out, loaded, and were gone.
>Six people - myself, had a 5 way bypass and plastic aortic valve, a guy who >is having a knee replacement in two weeks, his wife who had a fractured >pelvis a few years ago, my wife who has a bad knee, and SIL who's just a >little frail. Only one of the six was in decent condition. But we walked >up 1.8 miles through sand and rock in the dark, laughing and joking all the >way. Not one whiner.
>It's nice to know in this day and age that there are people who help for the >sake of helping.
>We're going fishing this afternoon. I hope it is uneventful.
>Life is good, and God always sends you what you need. Maybe not what you >want, but ......
>Steve
Im rather embaressed for you that you had such poor preps on hand when playing out in the outback.
Think hard before going out again.
Just a heads up.
Gunner
"IMHO, some people here give Jeff far more attention than he deserves, but obviously craves. The most appropriate response, and perhaps the cruelest, IMO, is to simply killfile and ignore him. An alternative, if you must, would be to post the same standard reply to his every post, listing the manifold reasons why he ought to be ignored. Just my $0.02 worth."
> Im rather embaressed for you that you had such poor preps on hand when > playing out in the outback.
> Think hard before going out again.
> Just a heads up.
> Gunner
The three men in the group have been on countless outings all over the world. We did have a very humbling experience, and were all discussing what changes and preparations we were going to do.
Getting caught with your pants down is no fun, no matter what it is you are REALLY doing.
> Sounds like a fun day. Seems like a good case to have a winch > available. Maybe even just a 3/4 ton lever hoist.
> i
No good in soft sand, nothing to dead man to. What got us out was lowering the tire pressure on the Razors, and they climbed right out. It took two Can-ams hooked together in series to get the other two bikes out, one at a time. I never could see what the big deal was about an ATV with 650cc engines until today. Singly, they would run right up the big sandy twisty trail.
> Sounds like a fun day. Seems like a good case to have a winch > available. Maybe even just a 3/4 ton lever hoist.
> i
No good in soft sand, nothing to dead man to. What got us out was lowering the tire pressure on the Razors, and they climbed right out. It took two Can-ams hooked together in series to get the other two bikes out, one at a time. I never could see what the big deal was about an ATV with 650cc engines until today. Singly, they would run right up the big sandy twisty trail.
On Sat, 7 Nov 2009 20:14:07 -0700, "SteveB" <oldf...@depends.com> wrote:
>"Gunner Asch" <gun...@NOSPAMlightspeed.net> wrote
>> Im rather embaressed for you that you had such poor preps on hand when >> playing out in the outback.
>> Think hard before going out again.
>> Just a heads up.
>> Gunner
>The three men in the group have been on countless outings all over the >world. We did have a very humbling experience, and were all discussing what >changes and preparations we were going to do.
>Getting caught with your pants down is no fun, no matter what it is you are >REALLY doing.
>Steve
Ayup. Been there..done that when I was young. Now..I go with what I best consider for the event..proper preps. Saves time, saves headaches..saves lives
Gunner
"IMHO, some people here give Jeff far more attention than he deserves, but obviously craves. The most appropriate response, and perhaps the cruelest, IMO, is to simply killfile and ignore him. An alternative, if you must, would be to post the same standard reply to his every post, listing the manifold reasons why he ought to be ignored. Just my $0.02 worth."
> All's well that ends well ! Inspirational story, particularly considering > the condition of the > participants. Thanks for sharing, Steve.
> Bob Swinney
Well, me and wifey are sure going through the boxes and rethinking. It really looked like four of them were going to spend the night in 40 degree weather with minimal clothing. We did have the presence of mind to take some food and water, and we did wrap some of the gear in towels to cushion the shock. Even though, it would have been a long long night.
One of the longest nights in my life was getting caught in a wet sleeping bag all night in the Rockies. A few nights in ICU don't even come close.
> "Robert Swinney" <judy...@tx.rr.com> wrote in message > news:KOidnevm8sp9QWvXnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@giganews.com... > > All's well that ends well ! Inspirational story, particularly considering > > the condition of the > > participants. Thanks for sharing, Steve.
> > Bob Swinney
> Well, me and wifey are sure going through the boxes and rethinking. It > really looked like four of them were going to spend the night in 40 degree > weather with minimal clothing. We did have the presence of mind to take > some food and water, and we did wrap some of the gear in towels to cushion > the shock. Even though, it would have been a long long night.
> One of the longest nights in my life was getting caught in a wet sleeping > bag all night in the Rockies. A few nights in ICU don't even come close.
> Shit happens. Be prepared.
Like cold weather survival training at Ft. Greeley. They gave you a tent half, a sleeping bag and a folding shovel, along with a day's c-rations. It was well below -20 with a wind that cut right through your clothing. We built a fire, but you had to stand within two feet of the roaring flames to get any heat, while the other side of you froze.
> "Ignoramus8745" <ignoramus8...@NOSPAM.8745.invalid> wrote in message > news:PsOdnedy2I2IqGvXnZ2dnUVZ_uVi4p2d@giganews.com... > > Sounds like a fun day. Seems like a good case to have a winch > > available. Maybe even just a 3/4 ton lever hoist.
> > i
> No good in soft sand, nothing to dead man to. What got us out was lowering > the tire pressure on the Razors, and they climbed right out. It took two > Can-ams hooked together in series to get the other two bikes out, one at a > time. I never could see what the big deal was about an ATV with 650cc > engines until today. Singly, they would run right up the big sandy twisty > trail.
> Steve
The shovel / plow type land anchors would probably work, even just a regular folding camp shovel used similarly. Also given the low weight of ATVs (relative to trucks), carrying a couple hundred feet of good static rope per ATV to extend the winches reach wouldn't be unreasonable.
On Sun, 8 Nov 2009 16:21:13 -0700, "SteveB" <oldf...@depends.com> wrote:
>"Robert Swinney" <judy...@tx.rr.com> wrote in message >news:KOidnevm8sp9QWvXnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@giganews.com... >> All's well that ends well ! Inspirational story, particularly considering >> the condition of the >> participants. Thanks for sharing, Steve.
>> Bob Swinney
>Well, me and wifey are sure going through the boxes and rethinking. It >really looked like four of them were going to spend the night in 40 degree >weather with minimal clothing. We did have the presence of mind to take >some food and water, and we did wrap some of the gear in towels to cushion >the shock. Even though, it would have been a long long night.
>One of the longest nights in my life was getting caught in a wet sleeping >bag all night in the Rockies. A few nights in ICU don't even come close.
>Shit happens. Be prepared.
>Steve
want some good ideas? Ask what a Field Kit for your 4xs should have included in them.
Might be interesting if asked on misc.survivalism as well. There are some very well prepped people over there.
Me...I keep a 72 hour rig in every vehicle I own.
Gunner
"IMHO, some people here give Jeff far more attention than he deserves, but obviously craves. The most appropriate response, and perhaps the cruelest, IMO, is to simply killfile and ignore him. An alternative, if you must, would be to post the same standard reply to his every post, listing the manifold reasons why he ought to be ignored. Just my $0.02 worth."
>> "Robert Swinney" <judy...@tx.rr.com> wrote in message >> news:KOidnevm8sp9QWvXnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@giganews.com... >> > All's well that ends well ! Inspirational story, particularly considering >> > the condition of the >> > participants. Thanks for sharing, Steve.
>> > Bob Swinney
>> Well, me and wifey are sure going through the boxes and rethinking. It >> really looked like four of them were going to spend the night in 40 degree >> weather with minimal clothing. We did have the presence of mind to take >> some food and water, and we did wrap some of the gear in towels to cushion >> the shock. Even though, it would have been a long long night.
>> One of the longest nights in my life was getting caught in a wet sleeping >> bag all night in the Rockies. A few nights in ICU don't even come close.
>> Shit happens. Be prepared.
> Like cold weather survival training at Ft. Greeley. They gave you a >tent half, a sleeping bag and a folding shovel, along with a day's >c-rations. It was well below -20 with a wind that cut right through your >clothing. We built a fire, but you had to stand within two feet of the >roaring flames to get any heat, while the other side of you froze.
On the other hand..if you put that shelter half upwind and braced with snow, built your fire 3-5 foot downwind..you could have sheltered comfortably.
Gunner, who was raised in the UP of Michigan and who used to snow camp out of a back pack regularly in mid winter..including -60f
Gunner
"IMHO, some people here give Jeff far more attention than he deserves, but obviously craves. The most appropriate response, and perhaps the cruelest, IMO, is to simply killfile and ignore him. An alternative, if you must, would be to post the same standard reply to his every post, listing the manifold reasons why he ought to be ignored. Just my $0.02 worth."
>> "Ignoramus8745" <ignoramus8...@NOSPAM.8745.invalid> wrote in message >> news:PsOdnedy2I2IqGvXnZ2dnUVZ_uVi4p2d@giganews.com... >> > Sounds like a fun day. Seems like a good case to have a winch >> > available. Maybe even just a 3/4 ton lever hoist.
>> > i
>> No good in soft sand, nothing to dead man to. What got us out was lowering >> the tire pressure on the Razors, and they climbed right out. It took two >> Can-ams hooked together in series to get the other two bikes out, one at a >> time. I never could see what the big deal was about an ATV with 650cc >> engines until today. Singly, they would run right up the big sandy twisty >> trail.
>> Steve
>The shovel / plow type land anchors would probably work, even just a >regular folding camp shovel used similarly. Also given the low weight of >ATVs (relative to trucks), carrying a couple hundred feet of good static >rope per ATV to extend the winches reach wouldn't be unreasonable.
A 3lb hammer and a 4' chunk of 1" bar stock sharpened on one end makes a very good anchor and is easy to get back out of the ground
Gunner
"IMHO, some people here give Jeff far more attention than he deserves, but obviously craves. The most appropriate response, and perhaps the cruelest, IMO, is to simply killfile and ignore him. An alternative, if you must, would be to post the same standard reply to his every post, listing the manifold reasons why he ought to be ignored. Just my $0.02 worth."
> On Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:28:55 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell" > <mike.terr...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> >SteveB wrote:
> >> "Robert Swinney" <judy...@tx.rr.com> wrote in message > >> news:KOidnevm8sp9QWvXnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@giganews.com... > >> > All's well that ends well ! Inspirational story, particularly considering > >> > the condition of the > >> > participants. Thanks for sharing, Steve.
> >> > Bob Swinney
> >> Well, me and wifey are sure going through the boxes and rethinking. It > >> really looked like four of them were going to spend the night in 40 degree > >> weather with minimal clothing. We did have the presence of mind to take > >> some food and water, and we did wrap some of the gear in towels to cushion > >> the shock. Even though, it would have been a long long night.
> >> One of the longest nights in my life was getting caught in a wet sleeping > >> bag all night in the Rockies. A few nights in ICU don't even come close.
> >> Shit happens. Be prepared.
> > Like cold weather survival training at Ft. Greeley. They gave you a > >tent half, a sleeping bag and a folding shovel, along with a day's > >c-rations. It was well below -20 with a wind that cut right through your > >clothing. We built a fire, but you had to stand within two feet of the > >roaring flames to get any heat, while the other side of you froze.
> On the other hand..if you put that shelter half upwind and braced with > snow, built your fire 3-5 foot downwind..you could have sheltered > comfortably.
We weren't allowed to take any rope, so we had to use small branches to hold it up, then bury most of it in snow. The fire was 40 to 60 feet high, and could go from a roaring fire to cold ashes in less than 10 minutes. We weren't allowed to take an ax or hatchet, so the only way to gather firewood was to break it off the frozen pine trees. If you drop kicked it just right, you could snap a six inch trunk of a small pine tree. A really clean break, where the tree was frozen to the core. The record low temperature was -69 degrees, BTW. the winds could literally blow you off a path, and if you were unlucky, they wouldn't find you till spring. That is, if the wild animals didn't find your frozen corpse first. Its one thing to be able to plan what you're taking to be prepared for the severe weather, and another to have them unlock the door to your room in the barracks and shove you on the back of a duce & a half with what little you're allowed to use. They wanted to see how you reacted to the cold, hunger and isolation. In some cases people had to be hauled out and taken to the hospital, because they weren't physically ready to cope. Southern boys had it the worst. I was from Ohio, so I was used to cold winters. :)
> Gunner, who was raised in the UP of Michigan and who used to snow camp > out of a back pack regularly in mid winter..including -60f
On Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:56:42 -0500, the infamous Gerald Miller <grmil...@rogers.com> scrawled the following:
>On Sun, 8 Nov 2009 16:21:13 -0700, "SteveB" <oldf...@depends.com> >wrote:
> A few nights in ICU don't even come close.
>My only experience in ICU involved a homely, dark skinned female >person with VERY soft hands!
My only experience in a hospital recovery room involved an extremely attractive, dark-skinned female with very tough fingernails. When she was going to bathe me and I had a big smile and a tent going, she instantly deflated the main pole with the flick of one nail. OUCH!
-- The Smart Person learns from his mistakes. The Wise Person learns from the mistakes of others. And then there are all the rest of us... -----------------------------------------------------
Let the Record show that "SteveB" <oldf...@depends.com> on or about Sun, 8 Nov 2009 16:21:13 -0700 did write/type or cause to appear in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
>"Robert Swinney" <judy...@tx.rr.com> wrote in message >news:KOidnevm8sp9QWvXnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@giganews.com... >> All's well that ends well ! Inspirational story, particularly considering >> the condition of the participants. Thanks for sharing, Steve.
>> Bob Swinney
>Well, me and wifey are sure going through the boxes and rethinking. It >really looked like four of them were going to spend the night in 40 degree >weather with minimal clothing. We did have the presence of mind to take >some food and water, and we did wrap some of the gear in towels to cushion >the shock. Even though, it would have been a long long night.
>One of the longest nights in my life was getting caught in a wet sleeping >bag all night in the Rockies. A few nights in ICU don't even come close.
Hitchhiking in August, in Switzerland. It is high enough that it gets cold at night. Didn't have even light jacket to cut it when there's a steady breeze. I wound up behind a Transformer box - "warm" but unable to flag any rides. Good thing for me, I didn't miss any :-) I was 20, young and dumb, and a weekend at the Lausanne school seemed a good idea. - pyotr filipivich We will drink no whiskey before its nine. It's eight fifty eight. Close enough!
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