ErikW Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 (edited) Many thanks to deputies Osborn and Siemans for picking up our sorry asses in the Clear Creek Management Area, and to the unidentified people who tried unsuccessfully to rescue us the night before. Topo map of where our sorry asses were Helo info SAR info Salinas Ramblers Motorcycle Club Clear Creek info Edited March 26, 2003 by Erik Warren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Merricks Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 So, how long did your outing last? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted March 25, 2003 Author Share Posted March 25, 2003 Almost exactly 24 hours from me leaving the staging area on my bike to landing back there in the loach. I was up for 36 hours straight. I went about 15 hours without water. I hiked miles uphill in mud in full riding gear in the dark. I tried to sleep in soaking wet clothing in 38 degrees F. I feel like shit warmed over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Merricks Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Dude, Guess you will never forget that trip. Glad your OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 erik, glad you're ok.. for future refrence: http://www.garmin.com/products/rino120/ and http://www.camelbak.com/rec/cb_act.cfm?id=89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Grrl Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Did you get your bike out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Grrl Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 for future refrence:http://www.camelbak.com/rec/cb_act.cfm?id=89 He has one of those drinky things - he carries it all the time while shooting - can't imagine him going riding without out... I'm guessing he ran out! Or smashed it.... did you wipe out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted March 25, 2003 Author Share Posted March 25, 2003 I had about 2 liters of water in my CamelBak and I was thinking the whole day before the ordeal, I'm not drinking enough, I need to drink more. I ran out right at the point I got my bike stuck. (Coincidentally the same point at which it boiled over and needed water.) A GPS would have been good for relaying our position to rescue personnel. The big problem was communicating with them. One guy had a cell phone and he was only getting a signal because he had Sprint PCS roaming and we were on a mountain. (Under some radio/microwave towers, no less.) I think he was actually talking to the rescue truck Sunday night before his battery crapped out. We didn't know if and when they'd try again in the morning, until I spotted the helo. I could see the rescue truck's spotlight Sunday night. I just couldn't get to it. Even if I had a direct radio link to them and gave them my GPS coordinates, I was f*#ked. I couldn't get to them, they couldn't get to me, even the helo couldn't fly in the weather. Do any FRS walkie-talkies like the Motorola Talkabouts let you use an emergency channel? Are they too limited to use anyway? We had a lighter but everything was too wet to start a fire. One of my riding buddies at work said we shoulda used gas from the bikes. But we had hiked miles from the bikes. I'm re-thinking what I'm going to bring on future rides, that's for sure. High on the list are a light source and a fire source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Run n Gun Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Erik, I’m glad you’re back with us! I was a member of the Chouteau County Montana Search and Rescue and a volunteer EMT. We trained a lot. So when some poor soul lost their way or was injured in some God forsaken place and we got the page we were rarin’ to go! It was a blast to be able to put our skills to the test. High pressure, high stakes, against the clock… sounds a little like what we in this forum do for fun. It was serious, sometimes deadly serious work but it was the most satisfying thing I’ve ever done. Talk about making a difference in someone’s life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDean Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=10&n=402...e=717723&size=m Damn dude! Kinda scary huh? I have this RedCross backpack that I take on trips with me. It probably has too much stuff for riding bikes but a few of the things it does have are; Thermal blankets flare gun food bars water packets matches clothes dryer lint Those thermal blankets are lightweight "foil" things that fold up into your pocket. The dryer lint ignites well for fires Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Do any FRS walkie-talkies like the Motorola Talkabouts let you use an emergency channel? Are they too limited to use anyway? Erik, I've got a pair of Motorola 6400 FRS/GMRS radios. They cost $99 for a pair at Costco. Negatory on the emergency channel. BUT, they do have a decent range, supposedly up to 5 miles. DO NOT use the rechargable batteries in the woods, use alkalines. I hate to even suggest this, but the only real solution to getting help waaay out in the boonies is to get a handheld aircraft radio. Freq. 121.5 /243 is monitored by satellite and they can zero in on you virtually anywhere. Bendix/King used to make a handheld GPS/COM that would transmit your GPS coordinates over 121.5. Sadly it's out of production - it was totally unique. Amazingly, no one has come up with a replacement. Before anyone goes out and buys an a/c radio, I would like to mention that using one outside of an airplane or w/o a valid certificate is a Federal no-no. (If you're way in the middle of nowheresville with a broken pelvis - that probably will be the least of your worries.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 In answer to the question, how long was he out there; well, just before they found him his real facial expression looked like the one on his avatar. It is nice to have back up even if they have to come by helicopter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted March 26, 2003 Author Share Posted March 26, 2003 Yes when I saw my avatar this morning, I thought it was appropriate. It was probably how I looked when I was finally cresting a hill, expecting to find my companions in blankets, sipping hot coffee from the back of an SUV. We had been yelling back and forth with each other, marco-polo like, while I saw the rescue vehicle's search light. I assumed they were there guiding me in. I came upon them not at the rescue vehicle, but huddled under the survival blanket. They couldn't reach the vehicle. hehe, won't it be funny when, after surviving this ordeal, I drop dead from the asbestos in the area. (Just kidding; it's a harmless type but they still have all kinds of warnings about it.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Grrl Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 I don't know about everybody else, but I'm having a hard time figuring out why y'all got stuck - wanna fill us in on the gory details? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted March 26, 2003 Author Share Posted March 26, 2003 OK, imagine riding down miles like this... We got to the bottom of the valley and ate lunch, in the rain. When we tried to head back up, our knobby tires packed up with clay-like mud. We had no rear tire traction to power up hills, or no front tire traction to control direction up hills, or we had neither. Then we had to hike up those hills in boots made for motorcycle foot pegs, not for hiking muddy hills. This guy has a great web tour of Clear Creek. His tour ended just before our adventures began. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Grrl Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 Well at least you weren't alone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted March 26, 2003 Author Share Posted March 26, 2003 Well actually for a good portion of the ordeal, I was alone. And then we re-separated Monday morning. The flight officer was not amused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Grrl Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 David needs something to do this weekend if you're going on your own SAR for da bikes I tell ya, you need to stick with safer hobbies, like shooting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 Erik: Sometimes a guy just has to cowboy up and save their own ass. I am glad you did just that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted March 30, 2003 Author Share Posted March 30, 2003 (edited) Well we gathered up some volunteers and went on a rescue mission to get out bikes back. The fourth rider had gone in Friday and got his out. I drove my new 4wd truck over miles of dirt roads to get to the trailhead. We had a hard time finding it. My borrowed GPS helped, as I had marked a few waypoints ahead of time. We piggy-backed on the ferry bikes up and down hill (mostly down), some too steep for riding two-up. We could see our boot prints in the dried mud. My bike was 5.5 miles from the trailhead. I had hiked most of that (mostly uphill) Sunday night in the rain. Our bikes were still there, but it took a great deal of work to get them rolling. We had to use tools to get off the dried mud from around the front sprocket and shock. We had to get the hardened mud off my fork tubes lest it destroy the seals. After topping off my radiator, my bike started right up. We went up the hills like they were nothing, even wheelied up them. Six days before we couldn't go up a bike length without falling down. Pictures from the original ride are in the Gallery. Edited April 3, 2003 by Erik Warren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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