The Dehydrated Iowan.
By Big Bro
One of my favorite stories to tell from a hiking adventure in Arizona.
Hamar Wife & I were going on a hike with my buddy PAZAZ05 and his wife near Strawberry, Arizona. Fossil Creek Trail; Sky Rail (GC13ZFM) It was a three mile hike down into a valley to a riparian area with a spring. Fossil Spring to be exact. A moderate hike with a swimming hole at the end. We put on our swim suits and we were off! Everything started out great.
About one mile in, we took a break, and PAZAZ05’s wife decided that she could not do the trail. It was a little bit more difficult than posted. She turned around and headed back to the car. This upset PAZAZ05 but we forged ahead, bound & determined to check out this Spring. PAZAZ05 was walking fast. We were having a hard time keeping up with him.
Two Miles into the hike there was a fence which marked the start of the riparian area. We spotted 2 couples taking a break under some small trees. They had Iowa Hawkeye t-shirts on. I immediately struck up a conversation with them since we were also from Iowa. They explained they had turned around and were heading back. The trail was too difficult and they were taking a break. We talked for a few minutes and then carried on. I tried to keep up with PAZAZ05 but Hamar Wife was falling behind. She finally had enough and said that she was going to turn around to hang out with PAZAZ05’s Wife. Our now male only duo headed down the last 1/2 mile. We had finally reached the spring. We took a couple photos and headed back. We did not want to return to angry women waiting for us having fun.
Just a couple hundred feet from the Spring we spotted Hamar Wife. She was hiking towards us. She had stopped to look at a swarm of giant red headed centipedes and must have gotten turned around. She rejoined us hiking back to the car.
We got about 200 feet past the fence when we spotted the Iowans again. One was laying in the shade. We got closer and they called us over. They were out of water and the male Iowan was laying in the shade suffering from the effects of dehydration. He was vomiting. We gave them our granola bars and all of our water. The Dehydrated Iowan was also diabetic. They had called 911 and Search & Rescue were on their way. We felt that they were in good hands and said we would pass information on to S&R when we met them. We continued to hike.
Walking up the valley my cell phone rang. It was PAZAZ05’s wife. I answered and she asked if I was okay. I said yes but my cell phone had lost reception. I then realized she was waiting by the car and Search & Rescue must have shown up. On top of that they were looking for a guy from Iowa. She did not know about the other Iowans. She is a nurse must have been freaking out. After several unsuccessful attempts to call her on our cellphones we continued to hike back.
We met the 1st group of S&R. And then we met more. And then some more with a wheel barrow. Next came a couple paramedics with a fancy trail stretcher apparatus. And then some more S&R. Each group we met we explained what we had seen. We were extremely impressed with the response. We got to the top of the valley and there was a County Sheriff SUV parked on the trail. We talked to the Sheriff. He explained that the week before someone called for help and only the paramedics came. NO S&R! They had gotten in trouble and now everyone was trying to make up for the week before. We then made the short hike back to the car.
We explained everything to PAZAZ05’s wife and had a laugh.
A few month’s later at Kinnick Stadium we were getting some food when Hamar Wife grabbed my arm and pointed towards the bathrooms. I asked what??? She said,”It’s the dehydrated Iowan!” We headed over and sure enough his wife was there waiting for him outside the bathroom. She explained what happened after we left. When the Dehydrated Iowan exited the bathroom I asked him if he was thirsty and offered to buy him a drink.