inkedrose

washed up superhero
Supporting Member
Ride of the Month Winner
Joined
Dec 22, 2020
Messages
693
Location
Arvada, Colorado
Ran Hackett Gulch this weekend. We showed up and found this truck abandoned, winch line pulled, winch clutch open. There was remanence of a safety fire, wet boots and clothes but no person. We have big cats and bears in the area, looked like a crime scene. We were getting ready to pull out when he pulled back up. Turns out he was there alone night before. Got stuck and swam through the ice 2x before giving up. No cell phone service. Walked several miles before being able to get help. His wife ended up calling search and rescue who found him. Driver was pretty shook up. Built up rig, said he knew the area well. Confidence made him complacent. Said he was sure he was going to die the night before. Things can go wrong fast. Just a reminder... buddy system works. With our help he was out in a few minutes. Make sure you have supplies, recovery gear and people know where you are. Put my Jeep deeper than I prefer but all fluids have been changed and she's running fine

frozen water.jpg
 
Last edited:
That had to of been absolutely horrible. That crossing is no joke either. Id guess he had to of walked 5-6 miles before getting even a single bar of service.
 
  • Like
Reactions: L J and inkedrose
Glad to hear you were able to help recover him. Job well done. 🍻

Confidence made him complacent. Said he was sure he was going to die the night before. Things can go wrong fast.
complacency can, and does, kill
Make sure you have supplies, recovery gear and people know where you are.
at a minimum:

20221215_195946.jpg
 

Been looking at these a bunch. I spend a lot of time in the backcountry during winter. For snow, your buddy is your life line in an an avalanche but one of these is smart for after. That guy other day was my final push to get one. Got the Ranger. No subscription, good for 7 years. Not many feature other than “come get me”
 
  • Like
Reactions: tworley and L J
Been looking at these a bunch. I spend a lot of time in the backcountry during winter. For snow, your buddy is your life line in an an avalanche but one of these is smart for after. That guy other day was my final push to get one. Got the Ranger. No subscription, good for 7 years. Not many feature other than “come get me”

Got a link?thanks
 
My cousin has the Garmin In Reach, definitely worth the investment but last summer we found outselves on the trail where it couldnt get a call out. Thankfully wasnt an emergency situation just trying to communicate with a group that was late to the trail.
 
  • Like
Reactions: inkedrose
Thankfully wasnt an emergency situation

Wow that defeats the purpose! I wonder if you hit the panic button if it would have gone? I know sometimes you have to wait for satalites to pass over. Thing I read said it could be up to 15minutes
 
Wow that defeats the purpose! I wonder if you hit the panic button if it would have gone? I know sometimes you have to wait for satalites to pass over. Thing I read said it could be up to 15minutes

Yeah I’m sure the SOS feature would work, we were communicating with the other group via text and nothing went through for the ~ 2hours we were on the trail
 
  • Like
Reactions: inkedrose
Ran Hackett Gulch this weekend.

I've been away from the area for a couple of years...but I thought the trail ended at the river since Park County never reopened their end after the fire, which would make this guy off trail. Glad he made it out.
 
I've been away from the area for a couple of years...but I thought the trail ended at the river since Park County never reopened their end after the fire, which would make this guy off trail. Glad he made it out.

He was off trail for sure. You can see across the river it's still being heavily traveled. There's been a big push to close the area for that reason but wasn't going to leave someone stranded. Farms, water supplies ECT... all down stream. Guarantee he learned his lesson.
 
  • Like
Reactions: freedom_in_4low
The only people I wont assist, other than if there is a life safety issue, are those who leave the trail and damage the resource. They are on their own.

Have a local FB group for my area. Posted same post in there... a lot of people were pissed I helped him. Still feel it was the right thing to do. We all fuck up, he got a hard lesson. Leaving a rig in the river with farms, water supplies, etc.. all down stream seemed like a bad idea. Not trying to put that dude on blast but it was a good reminder to me (and hopefully a few others) to make smarter choices when alone and be prepared. He missed mark on a lot of things
 
  • Like
Reactions: freedom_in_4low