A True Story
(NOTE: This is a long story, for just cache info scroll to the
bottom... like the dog's rescue, this one's hard.)
In June 2003 I hid "Stayin' Alive Too" up in this area. What was
a fun but arduous hike took almost turned catastrophic when a dog I
was hiking with almost drowned near here. In the spring time, this
little creek is often a raging and large river. That's what I had
to cross in order to hide these caches back then. Little would did
I know I would have a little companion to go with me.
Her name was "Abby," a beautiful female Golden Retriever less
than a year old. The surprise is she wasn't even my dog. I didn't
know where she came from but she decided to follow me and acted as
my hiking companion on my Dry Creek Trail adventure. She refused my
commands to stay and was glued to my side (she must have know I
LOVE dogs). Actually I was glad she wouldn't leave... I enjoyed the
company. She had tags and I figured I would return her to her owner
after the cache placement.
All went well even when we made the big river crossing near the
cache crossover point. I initially wanted her to stay but as I
crossed and resumed my hike she yelped and threatened to try to
jump across the raging current. The current was tremendous and
could have swept away even the strongest hiker.
My plan for the crossing: Me first then the dog. I went back and
using the rocks there as jumping points, I managed to across easily
and safely. I secured a rope I had to her collar and I cinched the
collar down. With this rope attached I would have a safety line for
her and a way to help her make the jumps as I pulled on it hard
towards the bank. I communicated the crossing plan in simple
commands to a eager-to-please Abby. Although apparently untrained,
she did a remarkable job of following the plan and the crossing
went well. We then made the bushwack up to the cache location and
enjoyed the views, solitude, and had a snack. We started our
descent about dusk.
Then came the life threatening drama. As before, I placed the
safety line on her collar and crossed first, keeping the line to
her in my hand. As I did so I was constantly instructing her again
to "STAY" as I wasn't confident of her making it on her own.
Catastrophe: she didn't and decided to jump on her own. As I made
my footing secure on the far bank I turned just in time to see her,
in mid-jump, plunge into the raging waters. She disappeared.
I was shocked but confident in my Plan B: the safety line. I
felt I could drag her out. Using every ounce of strength I had, I
pulled on the line. It was alarmingly submerged under a protruding
tree in the river. I feared she'd be caught in a snag and drown
before I could get her out. But as bad as things seemed, they were
going to get worse.
While I had secured the line to her collar, I failed to cinch up
her collar like I had done on the first crossing. I paid for that
mistake because as I pulled on the line, it suddenly went slack and
off came the collar. So there I was, under darkened skies by a
raging creek, holding the soaked rope and collar with no apparent
way to save Abby, feeling helpless, and knowing her death was now
assured. I prayed hard.
My mind raced. I had to TRY to find her. I scrambled for my
SureFire flashlight... I needed a really bright light and needed it
NOW. I ripped through the pack to reach it and was jubilant as
having a way to search for Abby. But more bad news. The batteries
died after I turned it on. I cursed Murphy's law. I then scrambled
for the extra batteries for the light I'd brought. Got them. But in
my haste I fumbled one right into the creek. It seemed darker than
ever now.
Still I wasn't going to give up the search. My friends always
kid me I prepared for everything. Maybe tonight that extra weight
would pay off. I remembered I had back-up mini Princeton light and
luckily found it quickly, in working order. It wasn't a searchlight
but was better than nothing.
Surely this delay meant that Abby was long gone and I seemed to
be moving in slow motion. I shuddered to think how I'd break this
news to her owners. But an even more disturbing thought was the
realization that this poor animal was in a fight for her life as I
ineptly readied my rescue gear. I just couldn't move fast enough it
seemed.
With the small light I scanned the boiling currents downstream.
A futile gesture I thought but I had to try. It would be a body
recover and then only if I'm lucky I thought.
Then I saw them. Amazingly about 80' downstream I saw two little
red eyes peering back at me. Truly a miracle, this dog had managed
to snag another submerged tree and was perched precariously its
tip... hanging on for dear life. She was being swept over by waves
of whitewater and I could just barely make out her outline in the
weak beam of light.
She was shaking uncontrollably and I knew with that cold water
her ability to cling to that log was going to be measured in
seconds, not minutes. Again I scrambled for gear and again I
couldn't move fast enough.
From my pack I retrieved another line then ran to her location.
Fortunately this 50' tree ran at a shallow angle to the bank, its
tip being about 15'-20' from the shore. But that was the only good
part; to get down to her location I had to drop down an 8'
embankment and place myself directly in the current. There was no
"shore" to stand on.
I tied my safety line, attached to my waist, to a sturdy
overhanging limb and slid down the almost vertical embankment. But
I knew this line was no guarantee of safety: if I got swept away I
too would soon be too numb to pull myself in with that frigid
water. I flashed the light... Abby was still hanging on.
You've heard of adrenaline stories... it's true because it
happened to me that night. I planted a trekking pole in the
current. I measured its strength and my own. I figured I won by a
very small margin. Again I prayed. I decided to attempt a reach for
Abby. This would be an all or nothing grab that needed full
commitment. In a one movement, I snagged her by the scruff of her
neck and swung her quickly back into the embankment, pinning her to
the muddy side so she wouldn't fall. She was dead weight and
couldn't move.
My legs were numb now as the current had come up to my thighs as
I made the grab. But they still worked. As I pushed to dog into the
bank I was breathing hard but had tears of joy for having been able
to reach her. But our fight wasn't over. We had to get back up that
8' high embankment. Going down or up stream wasn't possible without
endangering ourselves in the rushing water again... there was just
no shore to be had there.
I basically threw Abby up the embankment. I then kicked in "mud
steps" for me to climb out. It was a laborious, slippery process I
didn't know would even work. But it did and finally we were both at
the top, soaked covered in black mud, and exhausted.
If this had happened in freezing conditions our survival would
have been questionable. It would have been a race to build a fire
not unlike Jack London's short story, "To Build A Fire." But the
warm summer weather made our recovery possible.
But Abby was still a block of ice and wasn't moving much...
stiffened from the cold water. I took out my fleece jacket, zipped
her in it, and held her to warm her up. Slowly she came around. In
about 15 minutes she was able to walk again. I wrung out my
trekking pants and boots and put on a new pair of socks, and
gathered up the gear. I was in awe that she was alive (me too for
that matter).
At about 10:00 pm we started our hike down to the truck. Abby
was right by my heels (within 1 foot!)the whole time. That's when I
took the picture you see below (notice the difference in her
demeanor from her before pic). Using the address on her tags I
retuned her to her owners and recounted the amazing adventure. We
were both grateful for her safe return. As I walked away I said
another prayer... a prayer of thanks. To this day that dog and I
share a strong bond and I visit her everytime I'm up in this
area.
This cache is placed in memory of this miraculous rescue. It
surely WASN'T me. It was that tenacious little dog pulling herself
out and then having several prayers answered as I attempted the
impossible. The odds of her surviving that plunge would had to be
very small... but she did. Also Abby served as my inspiration to
get my own good companion, my female black lab "Allie" who is
frequently by my side on my caching adventures. She too is a
wonderful outdoors companion that I cherish (and trained!). I'll
have to get these two kids together sometime!
SAFE CROSSING POINT TO THIS CACHE: N 40° 30.376 W 111°
43.141.
[The cache is placed about 500 ft upstream of the actual place
of rescue as the satellite reception is better at this small
meadow. Also it's nearer to the above crossing point. If you've
searched out my The Estates cache in West Jordan then you've
seen the container and hide method (it might be best to search
that one out first to be familiar). Detailed hint provided so
you won't get skunked. During the runoff season be careful in
your crossing, that water deserves a healthy respect.
>>>> 9/15/07: Cache and hiding place in good shape. The
group and I decided to leave this one instead of upgrading it with
another I'd brought. I did some maintenance to make it easier to
extract.
TREKKING AIDS:
- DRYCREEK TRAILHEAD AND PARKING: N 40° 28.962 W 111°
45.031
- STAY TO THE RIGHT AT THIS POINT ON TRAIL FOR EASIER ACCESS
TO RIVER CROSSING POINT: N 40° 30.159 W 111° 43.380. If you go
left, you're in for a hellacious bushwhack.
- SAFE CROSSING POINT ACROSS THE RIVER TO THIS CACHE: N
40° 30.376 W 111° 43.141. It's a safe 3 foot jump. This will be
less of a player if the spring run-off is not in progress. If it
is, this creek can be a dangerous river.
- CACHE ORDER SUGGESTION: After logging Abbey's Rescue, do
Cougar, Stayin' Alive Too, Wild America, then Moxie. You will
double back a bit on this order but the best line to go up is
towards Cougar cache.
- SUGGESTED EQUIPMENT: Long pants, gaitors, pair of good
hiking poles, 1.5 gallons of water, Gatorade or other electrolyte
mix (some in party may need this bad as they didn't hydrate and
this can prevent dizziness or fainting), first aid kit, cell phone
(you'll have coverage), extra batteries (everyone always runs out
up here), good sturdy and broken-in hiking boots (no tennis shoes;
one cacher had them and her feet bottoms got badly bruised and
beaten by the trail rocks).
- DOGS: Your dog will have to be in great shape and
"mountain-qualified" i.e. be able to negotiate and tackle heavy
brush, rock jumping, boulder scrambling, and steep, smooth rock
face climbs with confidence. If they aren't up to it and
experienced in this, I suggest leaving them at home unless you want
to carry them out. Even an in-shape dog will be exhausted after
your hiking day is over. Also your dog should be trained and
well-mannered around horses (i.e. no barking, chasing) as you can
encounter many on the trail.
- TIMING: With a leisurely and enjoyable pace, plan on
being on the trail 11 hours to log all the caches up
there.
CoolCache's Dry Creek Trail Caches: Hitting all of these will
take most of the day... start early! Several other good caches are
in the area too making your visit up here productive. Finally all
my upper caches are rated 5/5 to reflect the effort involved even
though they are all easy finds once there (as it should be!)