Thursday, September 10, 2020

Operator 911... What's Your Emergency?

Ahh... the best laid plans of mice and men do often go awry.  Such was our time with the White Mountain wild horses.

We left Kemmerer and drove straight to the entrance of the wild horse loop outside of Rock Springs, Wyoming.  It was a warm, windy, and clear afternoon.  

We found our first wild stallion not far from Pilot Butte, the highest point in the White Mountains at 7,932 feet.  The horse was most uncooperative, keeping his rear end to me the entire time.  At least with the hazy Pilot Butte in the background, it made the photo somewhat decent.

We continued our travels and horse hunt, taking various dirt roads deeper into the mountains.  Finally we spied a rather large band.  We struck out on foot to try to get closer.  The horses were skittish but did not run away.  Rather, they kept their ears up and their distance.




The dirt road was in good condition, so we decided to find a place to camp.  We had been checking the weather frequently because a storm was moving into the west.  The new report suggested light rain and wind.  No problem.

A Sage grouse flew in front of the truck, and I was able to get a bit of a photo when he landed.


We had driven past the band of horses and had now turned around, heading back to the main road.  The horses were heading towards us, so we stopped to watch them pass us.  A curious colt caught my eye...

While I was photographing, David checked the weather report again and found it had changed again.  Now they were predicting a light dusting of snow and, perhaps, winds up to 30 miles per hour.  It was 87 degrees, so we figured the ground was so warm that the snow wouldn't even stick.  Still, the area we were in was rather exposed.  We drove closer to the main road and set up camp in a low spot.  The sunset was beautiful.

As dark approached, so did the heavy clouds.  The wind picked up and felt substantially more than 30 miles per hour.  As we crawled into bed, it began to rain.  By midnight, the truck and camper were rocking and shuddering under 60 mile per hour winds.  When David got up to check our status, he found the window on the back door covered in a sheet of ice.  

We hardly slept.  The wind gusts were so violent that we weren't certain the soft-side, pop-up portion of the camper would hold together.  We literally were bounced and jolted in the bed.  As the night wore on, every check outside showed more and more snow.

We broke camp around 6:30 in the morning, wanting to get off the mountain and into a more protected area.  We had to drop the pop-up twice because the wind was so fierce that the soft-side blew out instead of inside the camper.  Snow was blowing horizontally in a wickedly cold wind.  When David finally got into the cab, his beard was covered in ice.

Thankfully, we had cell service.  We checked the weather and found out that a foot of snow was expected with winds in the 60-mile-per-hour range with higher gusts.  We knew we had to get out.. and quickly.

What we didn't realize was how protected we had been in our little valley.  As we reached the top of the road, the amount of snow was greatly increased and drifting.  David popped the truck into 4-wheel-drive low and locked the rear end for maximum traction.  


We were doing well but conditions continued to deteriorate.  Shortly after the above video, it turned into a white-out blizzard.  Unfortunately, we couldn't tell there was a low spot in the road.  The truck jolted to a stop.  It simply couldn't plow through the enormous, nearly four-foot deep snow drift.  

The driver's door was jammed against the snow, so we had to crawl out the passenger door.  As soon as I stepped away from the truck, I sunk into snow up to my knees.  As we accessed our situation, it was obvious that the truck wasn't going anywhere.  Our little WWII shovel didn't stand a chance against all that snow.  We knew we were stuck.

We were only about 700 feet from the main gravel road, but remembered another large dip where the two roads met.  Even if we could get out of this drift, the next one would be even worse.  The temperature was in the low 20s, and the wind continued to gust above 60 miles per hour.  With the snow so deep and the weather so bad, we knew we couldn't hike out. 

We got back into the truck and talked about our options.  There were only two... try to wait out the storm or call for rescue.  The weather report indicated more snow and freezing temperatures for the next several days.  It was time to call 911.

The operator turned our call over to the Sweetwater Sheriff's Department.  These wonderful folks offered us everything we needed.  They asked if we were warm, did we have water and food, could we run the truck for a while?  We had a full tank of gas, a full propane tank, lots of food and water, and we were warm.  They told us that the freak storm had caught everyone off guard and there were lots of emergencies in the area, including downed power lines, vehicle accidents, and road closures.  Could we wait a while before they came to get us?  We said yes.  They reminded us to keep the tailpipe clear of snow to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.  After checking our GPS location, the dispatcher told us that White Mountain Road was so bad where we were that they would need to bring a snowcat in to retrieve us.  It was all, quite literally, unbelievable.

About five hours and a few check-in calls later, we were delighted to see a bright orange snowcat coming towards us.  I took this photo out the truck window when they arrived.  The orange object is the snowcat.  The bright green object is Lt. Tomich.

We pulled our backpacks and camera gear out and crawled into the snowcat.  What a ride down the mountain!  Officers Tomich and Carr had brought the snowcat on a trailer as far as they dared on the icy road before off-loading it and driving up to us.  Wow!  What a wild and bumpy ride!  We traveled in the snowcat about fifteen miles to the trailer.  These photos are on our way down the mountain.



The officers loaded the snow cat back on the trailer while we watched from the comfort of the heated cab of Sgt. Carr's truck.  He took us down to a motel in Rock Springs and made certain they had room for us before he left.  He even gave us the name of a group called Stuck! RS-GR who pull folks out of the snow (or any situation) just for the fun of it.  

I need to break this story to express our sincere gratitude to Officers Tomich and Carr.  They braved terrible weather conditions to save two crazy Texans.  They didn't care who we were, what color we were, our financial or political status, or our religion.  They only wanted to help, and they did so bravely, efficiently, and with the utmost courtesy and kindness.  Quite honestly, I am embarrassed that these brave men and women all over our country are being treated so maliciously by so-called fellow Americans.  They are being denigrated as a whole because of a minuscule few.  Without these wonderful souls, who will come to your aide when you need them most?

As soon as we got into our motel room, I looked up Stuck! RS-GR on Facebook.  All I needed to do was post a message that our truck was stuck and where.  Unfortunately, I am not a Facebook aficionado.  In fact, I probably haven't posted anything in the last five years.  I couldn't figure out how to post on someone else's page.  Then, low and behold, one of my Texas nephews was online.  I quickly messaged him.  He was kind enough to walk me through the process, including how to pin the truck's location.  (Thank you, Jackson!)

Within minutes, Paul from Stuck! called us.  It was a little after three in the afternoon.  He and his buddy were ready to help.  A few minutes more and they were at the hotel lobby to pick up David.  

David tells me they were driving a souped-up Blazer.  To a layperson, he said, it wouldn't look like much, but to the off-road traveler, it was a limo.  It had off-road tires, heavy-duty suspension, special locking differential, and all the best in a back-road vehicle.   They drove up to the truck and were met by another fellow driving a Dodge power wagon with all the gear.  Between these three men and David at the wheel of our truck, they had him pulled out in less than two minutes.  Here's a shortened version of the video that Paul sent us.

These three young men charged us nothing to pull the truck from the snow.  They do it for a handshake simply because they enjoy helping people.  Between the amazing, self-sacrificing officers who rescued us to these fine young men, I am filled with gratitude and heartened that the values of our culture still exist.

We had another two inches of snow last night, and the wind is still blowing fiercely.  As a result, we have spent the day tucked warm and safe in our motel room with the truck and camper in the parking lot.  It has been quite the adventure.  Who knew this crazy Texan would ever get a ride in a snowcat?  All I can say is "Praise God and Woohoo!"  It's a wonderful life! 

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