Before venturing onto our various hikes we try to read the brochures handed out by the national and state parks and visitors’ centres, so we know what to expect, what highlights to see, what to bring, etc. In the process we have learned to respect the desert in many ways.
For many years we have followed the code of ‘leave only footsteps and take only photos’ in any protected area, to preserve the land for future generations. Down here in the desert we have learned that even those footsteps we make are damaging the fragile ecosystems. The signs that say ‘keep on the trail’ are there to protect the rest of the desert floor from damage. A single footstep or a bicycle tread can destroy decades of growth of lichens and other minute vegetation that are required for larger plants to become established. We even learned not to pursue lizards or any other desert wildlife. Why? Because their existence is so tenuous that the extra energy they expend trying to evade us can put them over the edge of survival.
The other way we learned to respect the desert is that we have come to realize that yes, even smart folks like us could die out there on a simple outing if we screw up or misfortune strikes. Several of the parks we visited let us know that park rangers, tourists and locals all die accidentally every year in the parks. We met an RV couple in the campgound in Green River and the lady told us a true story from when she was 12 years old. She was in a youth group that did the same river hike that we did in the Narrows in Zion Park. It started to rain, so they skedaddled out of the canyon and made it to high ground before the flashflood came through. But another group of kids that was hiking there the same day took a wrong turn trying to escape the canyon and went into a box canyon (as in dead end). All six of them died in the floodwater.
How to avoid such a fate? Consult the weather forecast before you go and avoid canyons and streambeds if there is rain forecasted anywhere nearby. Flashfloods come with little or no warning and carry away anything in their path. Bring a trail map and follow it carefully. Never go out alone. Carry lots of water (one gallon per person per day - that’s the equivalent eight 500ml bottles of water - each!) and eat high energy food every time you stop for a drink. Protect your brain from overheating by wearing a hat. Wear sunglasses and sunscreen or long sleeves and pants. Sturdy hiking boots are a must. Tell someone where you are going and when you will be back. Make sure your vehicle is mechanically safe and carry spare gas and spare tires if going off road. And the list goes on even further for longer excursions, since the desert gets quite cold at night. Many areas do not have cellphone coverage or are very remote so you can’t just dial 911 and ask for help if you are injured. You need to be responsible for your own safety.
So, bearing all this in mind, John and I set off on a 50 mile drive on a desert backroad to see Horseshoe Canyon, famous for its petroglyphs. The map says the road is impassable when wet but there is no rain in the forecast and we have about 4 bottles of water between us and a picnic lunch. Pictured below is the road. It looks pretty good here.
We crossed perhaps ten dry washes (shallow gullies where streams cross the road when flooding occurs) and bounced through all of them OK. But about half way out the road got less gravelly and more sandy and we started bogging down in the sand. After we slithered through one ugly patch I said to John that would be a good place to turn on the four wheel drive so we would have better traction and he said “We ARE in four wheel drive.” The sky had gradually gotten cloudy and there were a couple of drops of rain on the windshield. Crap…
I start thinking about what would happen if we got stuck up to our axle out here in the middle of nowhere. We have food and water for perhaps half a day and nobody knows where we are. John says I wore grooves in the armrest holding on so tightly. Then we finally saw the sign for the turnoff to Horseshoe Canyon and made it to the trailhead (see photo below).
When we got out of the truck it actually felt humid out and smelled like rain. So, discretion being the better part of valour, John said “Let’s head for the nearest highway” and we took a photo and drove out. We took another route which was only 25 miles out to the highway and fortunately for us, it did not rain, we did not have to cross any more washes and only ran into a couple of sandy patches. This is what that road looked like (below).
The silver lining in all of this is that we saw lots of desert flowers in bloom and I was able to get some good photos (below).
We made it safely back to Green River, eating our picnic lunch in the truck on the way, and we did our laundry at the KOA that afternoon. Maybe we didn’t get to see the petroglyphs in Horseshoe Canyon, but at least we got clean clothes!
July 12th, 2009 at 12:35 pm An excellent blog. It really gets you to think how important it is to take caution in what you do and not mess around in the desert!