Bad Judgement...nearly cost me

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Oscar Mike

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Yesterday, 6/21/2015, three of us took off into the desert to do a "quick" pre-run of a guided trail run scheduled for next weekend. As we pulled into our destination at Boat House Cove (9-miles from North Shore Road, Lake Mead, NV) one of the guys got a rush of adrenaline and floored his Jeep in order to do a spin out in the mud. As he did so, much to my dissatisfaction, (knowing Lake Mead as well as I do), his Jeep sank up to the oil pan in sticky, black, clay, mud.

We then made our first mistake, we did not take EXTREME measures to not get a second Jeep stuck in the retrieval process. I then learned of my second mistake, I have a Smittybilt 8,000# winch that did not winch. So we dug as the temperatures rose, we realized our "fatal" mistake. Not enough water, temperatures were expected to rise to 115+ at Lake Mead, no bars on the cell phone, no one from our respective families were told where we were going. We were quickly looking like statistics in the making. Luckily we stopped short of getting the third Jeep stuck in an effort to free me from the mud because I failed to survey the area to ensure the safety of my Jeep.

Lessons have been learned again, fortunately we belong to a wonderful, courageous, and supportive Jeep club, The Desert Wranglers. After several hours of trying to free the vehicles from the unrelenting mud (another mistake in judgement), we finally made the decision to have the third Jeep send out an "All-Call" to the Desert Wranglers. We sent the third Jeep out to fetch water, food (yes we forgot to bring food), and help. Seven hours later Jeeps, and a boat showed up with people eager to assist, each bringing valuable water.

I am thankful today to not have become a statistic.
 
Great lessons to be learned.  One thing I've discovered reading about airline accidents was that accidents were usually due to a combination of events that individually were not serious but when you combine several, it can (and has) lead to disaster.

I had a similar situation happen to me many years ago when I was moving our 28' sailboat from one marina to another on the Florida west coast north of Tampa.  It was supposed to be a just a two or three hour trip so I didn't bring any food or much water on the boat - that was in my car ashore at the new marina.

As I headed in the channel to our new marina (I'm several hundred yards offshore) I ran aground - the tide was going out and I was stuck-stuck-stuck for about 12 hours.  How humiliating.  Then adding insult to injury, a Florida Marine Patrol officer cruised by and said I couldn't anchor in the channel.  ::) :mad:.  He left after I said I was hard aground.

I called the marina on the radio and asked the guy to bring me my provisions, that started a two hour long process.  He had to put-put (a non-planing dink) out to me, get my car keys, return to the car, load my stuff and then put-put back to me.  Called my wife on the marine radio phone and wined about my predicament.

As far as Jeeping, when we go out we always have snacks and plenty of water, lots of tools, parts, etc.  As far as winches, one reason I went with a hydraulic version is due to the utter simplicity and reliability of hydraulics vs. any electric model. The no cell phone situation is one reason why we have the ham radio in the Jeep - I can't remember anyplace we have wheeled where there wasn't a repeater we could hit.  I highly encourage you (if not already) to get your Technician license and install a radio in your Jeep.
 
John Canfield said:
Great lessons to be learned.  One thing I've discovered reading about airline accidents was that accidents were usually due to a combination of events that individually were not serious but when you combine several, it can (and has) lead to disaster.

I had a similar situation happen to me many years ago when I was moving our 28' sailboat from one marina to another on the Florida west coast north of Tampa.  It was supposed to be a just a two or three hour trip so I didn't bring any food or much water on the boat - that was in my car ashore at the new marina.

As I headed in the channel to our new marina (I'm several hundred yards offshore) I ran aground - the tide was going out and I was stuck-stuck-stuck for about 12 hours.  How humiliating.  Then adding insult to injury, a Florida Marine Patrol officer cruised by and said I couldn't anchor in the channel.  ::) :mad:.  He left after I said I was hard aground.

I called the marina on the radio and asked the guy to bring me my provisions, that started a two hour long process.  He had to put-put (a non-planing dink) out to me, get my car keys, return to the car, load my stuff and then put-put back to me.  Called my wife on the marine radio phone and wined about my predicament.

As far as Jeeping, when we go out we always have snacks and plenty of water, lots of tools, parts, etc.  As far as winches, one reason I went with a hydraulic version is due to the utter simplicity and reliability of hydraulics vs. any electric model. The no cell phone situation is one reason why we have the ham radio in the Jeep - I can't remember anyplace we have wheeled where there wasn't a repeater we could hit.  I highly encourage you (if not already) to get your Technician license and install a radio in your Jeep.
Click to expand...

I just received the HAM Radio License Exam Book, I'll make it a point. Next on my list is a reliable, and hearty winch...cost is no longer a consideration. I will not make the same mistakes again, starting with canceling a 5-day run from Virginia City to Las Vegas beginning this Saturday, where the temperatures are still expected to remain in the extreme category. I proved to myself that heat can and will kill...indiscriminately.
 
Good story John, thanks for sharing. The seemingly little things we do daily can go awry in a hurry. Glad you are OK and all you got out of it was a lesson and a good story.

I know what you mean about the winch too.  When shopping for mine I looked hard at all the discount winches out there, even the Harbor Freight one.  I was thinking about pinching pennies too when the DW said "just get the one you really want and only buy it once". 

So I took her advice and pulled the trigger on a Warn 9500Ti.  It's been on over 7 years now and still works flawlessly. Let us know what you wind up with. 
 
I learned my lesson about water in the desert 9 years ago, in July of 2006. I had just bought a new motorcycle in Yuma, AZ and was due to take it down there, from Lake Havasu City, AZ, for its first service. That is about a 3 hour ride. The temperatures that week were hot, low 120s. So I headed out very early planning to arrive at the dealership before they opened. But about halfway between Quartzite and Yuma the rear tire on my bike blew. I was so thankful to have managed to get it stopped on the side of the road without so much as dropping it that I didn't realize my new predicament: The temperature was rapidly rising and I had only brought two bottles of water and one was finished. No cell service. I tried to signal to the Border Patrol observation balloon, to know avail. I knew for a fact how well the cameras on the balloon could see but I also knew they were likely pointed south and I was north. With no cars in sight I crawled past the US government's "Live Ordinance--DO NOT ENTER" sign and walked to a point where I could finally get a weak cell signal. Convinced the dealer to drive the 45 or so minutes to come pick me up. By the time that wonderful van I arrived I was curled under a 3' high desert shrub for shade, dehydrated. It was about 10:30 AM and the temperature was already 115.

Back at the dealership, after much needed water and breakfast, I didn't care how long it took to finish my bike (since I wasn't heading home till close to sundown). I was happy. There is a sense of euphoria that comes after an incident like that. Oh, and I rode home after packing as much water on that bike as it could hold.



Mike
 
Hi John,

I'm glad it worked out OK.

I make it a point to keep a couple of plastic 23oz bottles of water in the back of my jeep.

Bill
 
I am really glad you and your buds came out of that ok. Too often mistakes like that mean a recovery mission.
 
Thanks for sharing John, a good reminder to all, carry more water than you will ever need. Also take a few minutes to thoroughly access a bad situation before diving into recovery mode.
 
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