Every story begins with once upon a time, this begins with, once upon a bushwhacking really messed up kind of a day...the Knagge Knightmare....
Our good friend Chris text me one night and said, hey, Noah and I have been thinking about doing a 50 miler in June. We were thinking of doing it in the Mica Mountain area. Which would mean full sun exposure in June. I suggested, Mount Lemmon instead. Higher elevation, cooler temps, shade. I said lets look at some ideas on the map and go from there.
Kevin and I looked at some loop options so that he could do a loop and be able to come by our camp for aide and so that we could join him as well. We looked at the map and came up with a couple of options. One would be the Knagge Trail to Davis Springs with connecting into it from the Bigelow Trailhead via Incinerator ridge trail. It would be an 11 mile loop. Perfect. All except one thing, we needed to check it out. It is identified as not well maintained and we needed to make sure is was "runnable" and accessible. We made a plan to check it out. Chris had planned on checking it out on Monday 4 June, but we said, we can go and let you know to save you some training for the race/run.
We planned on heading out Sunday morning, 3 June 2018. We left the house early for the long hour and half drive to the trailhead. On the way we heard a couple of songs, "Ain't no mountain high enough" and "long winding road". We chuckled at the songs given the trail and road we were on.
I had packed an avocado to eat, a pack of pickles and had some jolly ranchers and salt tabs. Kevin had two PB&J sandwiches. We both had 70 ounces of water and each had an additional 16 oz water bottle. We had poweraide zero in our front pocket, an extra bottle in one pack and a bottle of sunkist for a little pick me up in the other. We said, it seems like a lot, we are only going 11 miles. True, it seemed like a lot.
We got to the trailhead and headed out. It was nice and cool and the weather felt great. We headed out. The trails from the trailhead are perfectly maintained. Well groomed. We took note of a couple of turns to take and planned on putting a couple flags out for Chris so he would know where to turn. There are a lot of little off shoots that can be confusing.
All smiles and happiness for a great day out on the trail
Look at what a gorgeous place we get to play in today
This where we started
Off we go into the wild blue yonder
Kevin testing out the app we would be using for the day
Incinerator ridge trail is very well maintained, .1 to Knagge and it changed
Thought we would take a little reference point map
Beauty in all areas
Our journey would be simple, take Knagge to Davis Springs 5.5 miles.
We got to the sign for the Knagge Trail and it was obvious that it doesn't get used very much. A lot of pine needles and it was hard to tell at first glance there was a trail there at all unless you were looking for it. Hmm, well this is going to be fun. But, we have been on countless here and there trails so it would be fine.
Right after we got out onto the trail we saw a deer, it seemed shocked to see us, like what the heck are people out here, people never come out here. I could see a hundred deer and will always stop to pause with them and enjoy this quiet solitude we are blessed to share.
Once you got going it was a little clearer where the trail was. It was pretty steep and a little sketchy for running. We said, it would be okay, but, he may need a buddy out here with him for night time for sure. It is pretty far out in the middle of nowhere.
The trail goes over this log and up there somewhere
I love going through this fern growth, it is kind of scary if a snake is down there. Going through this is like some out of world jungle.
As we continued, the trail became a little unknown and took some work to find.
It took us quite awhile to find where it went through here
I am on the trail, we all have that leg shot, ha ha ha
Even when things are a little dicey and unsure, you should always pause to take in the glory
We have a mapping app for the Green Trails Maps and it is called GTM, green trails map and it will run off of GPS alone and you can see exactly where you are on the map with an identifier so you could stay on course when the trail vanishes. It was pretty handy and a life saver. We consulted it a lot and by a lot I mean a metric shit ton before the day was done.
A video we shot along the way Knagge Trail Video 1
We came across a massive pile of poop. I said, is that BEAR POOP??? I poked it with my hiking pole and it was fresh-ish. I would say a day old. I am not a poop connoisseur, I mean I don't even use the word "skat", but, I would say about a day or so old. I was seeing some bear prints as well. I had kept seeing these holes/tracks in the softer parts of the trail that I thought would be from a horse. I kept telling myself, it is a horse, not a bear. Every time I would tell myself that, I would envision a big bear cruising along the trail. However, now it is known, a bear does shit in the woods.
By this time, we ruled out this trail as an option for Chris to do. It was sketchy, steep, the trail would disappear sometimes. To do that alone, at night and fatigued would be too dangerous. However, we had already embarked this far on the journey and we would continue. We had been able to stay on the 'trail' thus far with no issues. Curiosity they say killed the cat....hmm maybe we should have thought about that.
Where is the trail?
We got about 3-4 miles in from the trailhead, about, 2-3 miles on Knagge when we got to this forested area which was nice and shady and the trail really disappeared in here. We had been struggling with finding and following it for awhile before that, but in here it really just freaking vanished. It was comical how it was there and then it wasn't. We would back track and then re approach and it was not there. So we would look at the phone and head in that direction. In this forested area we found the antler, the shed, the horn which became this weird sort of strength for us both.
Also in this area is when we discovered we did a complete circle. Crap, where did the trail go? This began the game of here it is for 5 ft and then it was gone. 2ft and it was gone. 1 ft, no, just kidding.
We also had began the battle of the bush. Oakbrush, juniper brush, manzanite, yucca, cactus, grass, fern, mesquite trees, dead trees, dead branches, dead leaves disguising holes. Of all of those, 2 won't stab you and will give way as you go by.
In the beginning, we tried to go around these stabbers, trying to preserve nature and not interrupt the habitat, as time went on, we pushed through like a couple of angry buffalo with their testicles in a rubber bands except moving really slow...breaking branches, stepping on brush, stepping on branches, crunch, crack, crunch, crunch, crunch, crack, crack. It is a sound that normally is nice to hear, it is a sound that now wakes us up with a sweaty nightmare.
We did come across a Game Camera and we were hopeful we would see some sort of trail to the camera. There was not one. We decided they placed it 10 years ago and forgot where they put it or they simply couldn't find it again.
It does cross your mind to just turn back and head back up the trail we came down, but, what trail? Bushwhack again back up? We knew it was steeper climb up Knagge and Davis wouldn't be as steep, it was a more gradual climb. Also, we truly thought that Davis Springs would be better maintained and hung on to that hope it would be better so we soldiered on.
We would get through one brush section and get to an open grassy type of area and think it would be more evident where the trail might be and it wasn't. We knew where we needed to go geographically/topographically and we would work on finding the safest route there. We had to scale down this really steep section with loose slate rock, dead grass, rocks. It was awful. One of those areas that when you are on a maintained trail it would be full of switchbacks to cut down the steep decent/break up the climb. But, it was not evident of course so you find the safest route so you don't fall to your death in the middle of nowhere. Many times Kevin would go ahead and check out a route and shout out, don't go this way, there is a giant hole, or that it is really, really dicey. Our friend Chris aptly named it caterpillar-ing along.
Another video taken, around midway through Knagge Midway
It seemed hopeful we would find a trail line in here and there was nothing at all
It was so dicey through here
By this time, for the first time in 45 years, in 35 years of running, my knees were shot. My knees have never hurt so bad in my life. We had been descending for 5 miles, which shouldn't be that big of an issue on a normal run/hike, but we had been descending and bushwhacking for almost 5 hours. Side stepping and sliding and turning to change footing and directions so much it just wrecked the knees.
I stopped taking pictures and videos. I just wanted to get this damn thing done and conserve the battery.
It was so mentally and physically draining. It was so frustrating trying to find where we were at in relation to the trail map. It was emotionally draining that it was taking so long and we were getting so beat up. We were both so scratched up and bleeding on our arms, legs, necks. Our packs would get caught on a branch trying to crawl under. We would try to squeeze by a manzanita tree and they do not bend, they grab. We would crush and push through the oak and juniper brush and it would just tear more cuts in our legs. We would whack at branches and brush with our sticks. We would move a branch out of the way and it would fling back and hit the other person. We took turns leading the trail. It was so draining. I just wanted to stop going down and get a different set of muscles engaged and get higher up in elevation as it was getting hot. I was also getting concerned about our water situation.
We would take turns holding the antler. Oh that antler. We started out with having it in the packs then thought with as much as we were falling and slipping that we should carry it in our hands. It had a survivor, amazing race feel, get the antler to the end and win the prize. Prize of what? Surviving.
We knew we had to keep heading down to this valley and head Northeast to get to Davis Springs. As long as we kept heading in that direction we could hit the water way and follow it all along to the Davis Springs connection and then the trail would be glorious and well maintained. Oh the lies we tell ourselves.
We finally got down to the "bottom" and hit the waterway. We took a small break at the water way. Kevin said, it will be nice, he saw some deer running along and he sounded hopeful. I was hopeful. I had fallen several times prior to the water way. I was in my head thinking the water way would be like a wash with some rocks here and there. I was tired of slipping and falling. Oh the lies.
We started out on the side of the water way thinking we may be able to see a trail, we followed some game trails I think more then once and then we just stayed in the rock climbing, sliding, scrambling water way. It was so dense with growth on either side that it was the easiest choice. There were 15-20 feet drop offs which made the only choice but to butt slide down the rocks and hope for a safe landing. Thankfully, due to the dense growth it was shaded.
It was through here that it was getting obvious we were really getting tired. Kevin would lead and go a little distance and sit down for a rest. After a few of those I made him eat one of the sandwiches and I did a cool little trick. I knew we were at this point out of electrolytes, out of Sunkist and running slim on water, I had been rationing water for awhile. He would stop and yawn and he was really tired and struggling. I had thrown in some propel packets in my pack just in case. I told him that he is going to do something for me that he won't like, but he has to do it. I made him fill his mouth with a mouthful of water, had him open his mouth and I sprinkled the propel pack in his mouth and told him to swallow. I did the same. It was awful, but it did the trick to get the electrolytes in and gave us a boost. We had been staying on top of taking our salt tabs too, which was good.
We continued our way on the water way which was far more fatiguing than expected. We would look at the map and our little directional thing barely moved. We thought we would make a good stretch and it would barely move. Then it moved a great deal after a good push and we missed the turn off for Davis Springs and had to freaking back track. What a demoralizing thing that was. I had thought maybe we will see some campers at the trail and they would have some water. I was keeping it to myself that I was almost out of water. I would take a sip and swirl it around and let it sit in my mouth before swallowing. The thin, dry, hot air was sucking all the moisture from me.
Then, Kevin found it. He found the sign to get us off this stupid damn Knagge Trail!!! Hallelujah!! Hello Davis Springs, you perfectly manicured trail we are dreaming of!!
Oh but wait. Where the FARTS and other F words is the stupid freaking Davis Springs magical Trail????? Good Lord. Now we can play this game we have played for the last 7-8 hours going uphill. I don't think we can do that. But, we tried. We tried like hell.
Notice the sign has engraved years on it. It is illusive. We haven't seen people doing this on signs before. Gives you an idea how insane this trail will make you.
We would go for a little bit and sit and rest in the shade. I showed Kevin the game of waiting for the wind to come to cool you down. You can watch it build in the trees as it winds its way to you. He laid down at one point and took a rest. I laid down too. By this point we knew I was out of water in my hydration bladder. I pulled out the last water bottle in my pack. He had a very small amount in his.
On one of our breaks I tried to figure out how much further we had and I couldn't. Math always eludes me.
Along the way, somehow he deleted the GTM app from his phone, I had it on mine. We had a back up battery charger which we were using for his phone. I had stopped taking videos and a lot of pics to conserve my power.
I would hand him my phone to figure out where we were and he would give it back. It was like the Olympics in track and field with handing off the baton, except more life supporting.
I handed him my phone and said, how much further according to the map, do we have to get to the trailhead and truck with the cooler full of water.....
About 4.5-4.9. Shit. But, that is according to the map which already we have kept close to it, but had to do a lot of going around and through things to find the way. We were at this point about 9 miles into what should have been an 11.3 mile trek that would take about 4-5 hours, 6 hours worst case scenario. Now, that would mean 14-15 miles if we were lucky, with about 17 ounces of water between us to last 4.5-4.9 miles, in by now, full sun exposure on the hottest day of the summer so far. Which on the mountain is cooler, but it was still 85-90 degrees. Shit. Damn. Poop. Farts in a bag. We are fucked. Sorry for the language.
Cecilia was home with the boys and had expected us home and off of the mountain by 11-12. It was 3 pm. I need to let her know we are okay, but, we haven't had a signal since we left.
I could see the towers at the trailhead, if the phone can see the towers, surely it should work.
I would check and nothing. I had been doing that for several hours now. We had hoped once we made the climb it would be more open and better. Check the map. Find the trail. Lose the trail. Check the signal. Rest. Find the trail. Get scratched up. Get stuck. Rest. Sip, swirl, hold, swallow.
Check the phone, ONE BAR. Kevin, I have one BAR!!! I am going to send Cecilia a message. Kevin says, "call 911!"
What? We joke about this all the time. Call 911 I am dying. Is that ambulance for us? Is that helicopter for us? We joke all the time.
"Are you serious?" "Yes, call 911, we need to get resources started and someone needs to know who and where we are." Oh dear. He is right.
I tried calling 5 times and finally got through and stopped moving to hold the connection. I told him he should talk, I will get too emotional. I have called 911 twice in my life. Once for a car accident with me and once for a car accident for a stranger. This was different.
We connected through and we told the dispatcher that we were out on the Davis Springs trail on Mt Lemmon and we are going to run out of water, that we will not make it. We said we are not having a medical incident, but if we keep going without help we will have medical issues. We told her of the clothes we were wearing, our names and our vehicle is parked at the trailhead. We told her we would continue on the trail as close as we could follow. She said she would connect us to the deputy and we lost connection. We didn't get through to them again. We tried and we never had a connection again.
At least they know who we are, where we are, the situation and they can ping the phone for the GPS location, which we could have gave them had the connection lasted longer. We knew exactly where we were and where we needed to be. We weren't lost, we were about to be stranded and in a major situation. We were headed for a recovery of our bodies situation if we didn't get help soon. We had been on the trail for over 9 hours and half a bottle of water between us. I stopped sweating awhile ago. Dehydration, heat stroke, heat exhaustion await.
We had told her we would continue on the trail as best as we could. So we did. We would rest in the shade and push forward and rest in the shade again. Thinking they were going to send in hikers with water that we would need to hike out. Forward relentless progress. Then we heard and saw a helicopter in the distance.
We sat there in the shade and said, is that helicopter for us? This time, it was. We didn't know if they would send a crew up the trail or if this helicopter would drop a case of water? We knew that even if they dropped water, we didn't have headlamps or enough power in the phones to get us to the end, plus we ate all our food and our energy was gone. We both had made the decision if it came to leaving the trail for rescue or continue we would choose rescue.
The helicopter circled around a few times and then they said, "Mr. and Mrs. Trapp, we have you in our sight, we are working out how to get aide down to you." I cried. Crap, this is really happening.
We took this pic, which is one of relief, we are going to be okay.
They went around a few times, I said we should go out in the open more maybe they can't see us. They called down and said there was a shadow at some point and we laughed, yeah it is shade, we are hot. Then the helicopter hovered for awhile on a ridge above us, so I told Kevin we should climb to the ridge, maybe that is the safest place for them to land or get aide to us. So we started the climb up to the ridge. As we are climbing, unbeknownst to us they had dropped a guy down to meet up with us with water.
He made his way around to Kevin and Kevin told me to stop moving. Gladly. They met up with me and he gave me some water which I guzzled down like a POW.
He said, "do you have enough fuel to get to the top." Umm, I have no food and you just gave me water so my fuel is what you got in front of you. Then I realized that he was talking to the pilot of the helicopter. They have to fly around to reduce the fuel weight load so they can bring a passenger up. Given there was two of us they decided to lift one at a time and take us to safety.
He told us to keep going to the ridge we were already headed to. It was so steep and hot but, with having that water I felt better and pushed to the ridge. The entire time I just couldn't wrap my head around that this was happening. I kept trying to tell the guy, Deputy Raterink, that we are experienced and that we are sorry this happened. He was doing his job of focusing on the communication between him and the helicopter. He doesn't need to be riddled by my woes.
We got to the ridge and he started going over the order of operations and what was going to happen real soon. So, no case of water and be careful. This is what is going to happen.
"Sir, your wife is going to go first. Ma'am you are going to get this harness on you and you will need to sit down. They will send down a line and it will hook onto you and lift you up into the craft. When you get up there you will need to push your body away from the skids. You will need to reach for the handle that is green on the crew chief, TJ. You will need to pull yourself in and around him and sit beside him on the right (or left?). Do you understand? You need to put on this helmet and secure your hat. You can keep your sunglasses on. We will take you to the Fire Department LZ (landing zone) and we will come back for your husband."
He straps me into this thing, a strap around my waist and I sit down and he attached a hook with a complicated (secure) closure that the hook from the helicopter will attach to to lift us up in the air. If I had enough hydration I would have peed my pants.
I was nervous and checking the hook for cracks and if it was secure. Then he came over and unhooked it and re-situated things. What the H, why did he do that? There is a little twist in the fabric. OMG, I am going to fall out and die. Am I going to lose my phone. Will my glasses stay on. How high is that. I think I may puke. I took a moment and said this prayer, "Dear God, it is me again. You have been amazing today and I thank you for bringing these guys into our life to save us. I pray for your watch and grace to make sure we make it into the helicopter okay and we land okay and we get to safety and can put this day behind us. Thank you God for everything, but seriously please make sure we don't die. Amen"
The helicopter had come by once and the Deputy said, no it is too windy, come around again. Thanks for looking out. But, that meant they would swing around again, what if a huge gust of wind happened when I was being hoisted in the air? What if the cable doesn't go up. Do I hang there like horses do? OMG. I am freaking out.
The cable comes down. The Deputy attaches the hook deal and says, you may feel my hands on you as I guide you up. Okay, whatever. I was just focused on trying to breathe. Grab my ass. I don't care. Just get me up there.
In a matter of seconds I was lifted off of the ground and I was holding onto the cable for dear life. I had my eyes closed. Breathe held.
Here is the video Kevin took Knagge Helicopter ride
I was taken back by the wind and the movement and thought I would lose my sunglasses and hat and then remembered I was wearing a helmet with a strap. I had my pack on still and my phone was in there and I just had to hope all was secure. I finally opened my eyes and took a breath. I am going to be okay. Oh shit it is the helicopter already. What am I supposed to do? I forgot everything.
Oh yeah, push away from skids and grab TJ. You have to push away from the skids as the cable is lifting you up and you are in this seated position and your legs get stuck under the skids, like a helicopter is sitting on your lap!! Fail. Then I remembered to push my body out and kneel on the skids and grab TJ's green handle to pull myself in. I tried to put my hands and legs in places they were not supposed to be and TJ would guide me where I needed to be with his feet and hand signals. Finally, I got inside the helicopter. My legs cramped up as I was getting in and I just forced my legs to bend so I could sit down.
TJ was dealing with the cable attached to me still and he attached another anchor to me so I was attached to the craft. I had visions of the cable having a malfunction and ripping me out of the door. I cannot put into words how scared I was.
I must have looked like I was going to pass out, cry or throw up and he kicked towards a pack with some water down in front of me. Someone apparently in the journey from the ground to the helicopter took all the moisture I had once in my mouth and replaced it with that air that gets shot in your eye when you get an eye exam, so dry my lips stuck to my teeth when I tried to nervously smile that I was okay. I grabbed a bottle and tried to hold it with one hand and drink it down. Hmm, I suddenly can't control the shakes, I had to use both hands and it was spilling all over me like I was on some sort of bumpy road and had a major neurological condition. TJ says, are you alright? Well isn't that a loaded fricking question!!! He couldn't hear me over the roar of the helicopter and the headphones he had on, so I typed the words "I am afraid of heights" in an apparent text message to Chris. TJ says, "me too." Ummmm, not helpful.
Under other conditions I would like to say that the view was amazing, but I don't remember. I took a couple pictures but they weren't very useful. I was able to re-send a message to Cecilia telling her "we are okay. Having a rough day, but we are okay." " Are you guys okay? We have help coming. Don't be worried." followed later by, "we will be home soon, I am in a helicopter, love you."
I sent Chris a message thinking he knew we were in trouble. He had text earlier, OMG, do you guys have GPS guidance? How is cell reception. We got this message right after the one bar. I thought Cecilia must have sent out a message on FB that her parents are missing on Mount Lemmon.
I wrote. Copter is here. We just called 911.
He wrote. How did it go? Anything I can do to help?
I wrote: In the copter. Kevin is next. Holy shit. I am afraid of heights. So this loop is a no good.
I further cleared things up for him. We spoke later and he was like what in the world happened!!!
The helicopter came into the LZ at the fire department. It is amazing how smooth they land. I wasn't sure if we were going out the way we came in on a cable. I was so scared of that happening.
The last time I was in a helicopter I was 27, it was 1999 and it was a Blackhawk and we were flying in Kuwait and over to the border of Iraq. I was strapped in and it was a fun ride. I had tried to do a video with a CAM corder (VCR tape recorder). It was crazy loud and windy with the doors off and it was very cool. I think I have that tape still somewhere. For now here are a few pics of pictures from a photo album.
One of my hearing protection fell out and I couldn't hear anything following for around an hour
To be so young again
It was a lot of fun, back then it wasn't as scary as it seemed it would be, it was 3 or so hours
However....this ride was quick and scary due to the nature of the ride and I was happy to be off of it so they could go get Kevin.
We landed and a funny little exchange of nonverbal communication happened. TJ helped me out and unhooked all my hooks. I was trying to help, I am not a good helper in times of crisis apparently. He was motioning over to the Deputy to come to me. The Deputy was motioning for me to come to him. No, you come here, no, YOU come here. Alright fellas, we need to resolve this quick so you can get my husband.
Eventually the Deputy came up to me and held my hand and walked me to the Police vehicle and he drove me down to the gate where a couple of young firemen were.
They asked if I was okay and some orientation questions with who I was, where I was, what day/year it is etc. They asked if I needed any medical attention, any bandaids for all the scratches I had. You don't have a box big enough for all these cuts. (a month later and I have the scars still) I drank another bottle of water. Then the deputy had some Spark electrolyte and caffeine mix thing and I drank that too.
I stood around talking to them about the day and how things went so poorly. They said they have had so many rescues off of the mountain on those trails. I said they should put something out there that it is not safe to go on. The Deputy said that when he heard we had been on the Knagge trail and onto Davis Springs and he was shocked we made it as far as we did. He said a year ago they rescued a horse off of Knagge trail. I thought he had said they rescued it last weekend which would make sense for the tracks in the dirt, then Kevin told me later, no that was a year ago. Crap, those were from bears after all!!
I told them that my husband is a police officer in Marana and when he told me to call 911 he was pretty serious. Told them how we have been is some rough situations but not to the point of calling for help. The deputy, he name is Deputy Hayes said that, well we better get him back safely since he is a police officer. He said, he is going to get shit from his guys for a long time about this one. Yeah maybe.
We heard the helicopter in the distance and I walked up to the fence, I couldn't go past it and the Deputy drove up so he could get Kevin. I wondered, is he going to hold Kevin's hand too? Ha ha.
Sorry for the poor videoKevin Knagge Helicopter Arrival
I was so relieved to see Kevin made it okay and was going to be close to me again. I was so worried
No hand hold, just a couple dudes walking along
Kevin said he went to the passenger side out of habit and realized he had to get in back.
The helicopter came in and Kevin got off and they got the harnass and everything off of him and the Deputy walked him back to the vehicle. He didn't hold his hand though. Kevin got back to me and we hugged and I was so happy to see him and that we are safe and going to be okay!
The fire department asked Kevin the same series of questions and I was happy that he passed. They offered bandaides to him too. We looked pretty bad. Kevin drank another bottle of water and had the electrolyte drink too.
We got back into the police vehicle to head to the trailhead to get to our vehicle. From the LZ it is was about a 25 minute drive to the trailhead so we chatted with Deputy Hayes for awhile. He talked about the rescues they have had to do and about his job up on Mount Lemmon. He is the only Deputy up there to deal with all the people that come up there and the folks that live there. People never follow the rules, he is a very busy man. Not an easy job up there. He offered for Kevin to do a ride along sometime. He said he would switch jobs with Kevin too. He is a very nice guy, albeit he has to deal with a lot, you can tell he loves his job.
We got back to the truck and he needed to see our drivers license. I didn't have mine, but Kevin was able to give him his and I gave him my information to run in the system. Make sure they didn't just rescue some mass murderers with warrants out for their arrest. We cleared the system, yeah.
We took some pics of our war wounds. In shock that this went down the way it did!!! The Tucson version of the Barkley Marathon.
First Kevin
Me:
We were getting ready to leave and I got a couple of waters from the cooler and a coke for Kevin. He took a few drinks of Coke then got back out of the truck and hurled. He has had some phlem issues that make him gag a little and so he was trying to cough that up and then hurled. Too much fluid. We both drank a lot since they met us on the trail. 4 bottles of water and a bottle of electrolytes.
We got back in the truck and started to head down the mountain. The entire time we were just talking about what just happened and recounting our own experiences with the helicopter extraction and entry. Poor Kevin. I gave him my hiking poles not thinking that he would have to hold them and his and the antler to get into the helicopter. He thought he was going to drop all of it more then once. He also had his phone in his shorts pocket and was afraid it was going to fall out the whole time. He cramped up pretty badly getting into the helicopter too. He said the Deputy on the ground said, don't do what she just did, push away from the skids so the helicopter doesn't get stuck on your legs. He said in his time while they were bringing me back they talked about how they love to do rescues like this because they are easy, a grab and go. He was glad we called when we did and it didn't turn into a recovery or search and rescue. The entire team was awesome with helping us.
In our discussion while driving down the mountain, Kevin suddenly pulled over. I was like, what is wrong? He said CRAMP. His legs and groin area were cramped up so bad. We were able to get him out of the truck and tried to stretch it out and got back into the truck, this time I would drive. He told me he had been cramping for awhile, when he started to lay down on the trail was when it was starting. He didn't want to tell me so I didn't worry. It was one of the many reasons he said for us to call 911. We talked about just how fricking awful the trail was that it doesn't even seem possible we made it as far as we did. He had to let his Sgt know he had interaction with another police agency and told him what happened. We are still shocked that this all happened.
On the way down the mountain I saw the texts we received from the rescue team. Pretty crazy to get these messages. If we had service I would have seen them earlier. They came through as we headed down the mountain.
We decided we were going to get some Eegees when we got down the mountain. All the water we drank, we just wanted something ice cold and some food. We called Cecilia and asked if they wanted anything and we would be home in a bit. We went into Eegees and ordered and washed up. Wow, I looked rough in the mirror and the amount of grime on my hands was bad. I thought they were burned from when I would put my hand on rocks to steady myself.
We got our drinks and it was the most delicious thing I have every had. I wasn't caring at all about my Keto diet, bring on the ice cold sugary cold Orange Dream frozen slushy drink.
We headed home and ate our sandwiches not realizing just how hungry we were until we were eating. It was heavenly.
We pulled into the driveway so grateful to be home and be with our kids.
It was 7:45 pm. Such a long day. The worst day we have ever had on the trail. We left the house at 4 am.
We recounted the events to the kids and they couldn't believe we were in a helicopter. They had been busy organizing the boys room and there was stuff absolutely everywhere. Books in the bathroom, books and toys in the hallway, books and toys in the living room. It was a mess, usually I am annoyed by the mess, but I was grateful because we were home safe with our kids.
The next task was shower time. I knew without a shadow of doubt it was going to hurt. I felt pretty chaffed up in the undercarriage and the hundred million zillion cuts would sting badly. I told the family if you hear screaming and crying, I am okay.
I got changed and discovered I had half the forest in my clothes, in my hair, in my bra, down my pants. The chaffing was leaves!!! How does that happen!! I was so nasty dirty. It was comical. I showered and cried and scrubbed down my body 3 times to get all of the gunk and blood off. I was dried off and getting dressed and my daughter comes in the bathroom and asks if I am done getting ready because Kevin needs my help. She said he is laying on the floor and can't move and looks like he is in a lot of pain.
I went into the living room and Kevin is laying flat on the floor and does look in pain. He said he wanted to lay down, and he was too dirty to lay on the couch and then he just cramped up from the waist down. So he sent Matthew to get the salt tabs and a poweraide from the truck. I went out to help Matthew because he was taking forever. I gave Kevin two salt tabs and he drank down the poweraide. After a little while he was able to move and I could help him up and into the shower. He kept struggling with cramping through the night. This may have been because he puked everything up on the mountain.
I told him I wanted to make sure people were aware of the problems with this trail and I would post to the Tucson Trail Running group and do a blog up to send out to let people know.
I wrote up a post to the TTR and it started a fury of comments of both good and bad. Good with thank goodness you are okay etc and some criticism for why we were out there. Why didn't we have a compass and a map? Why didn't we turn around when we saw it was getting sketchy? Why did we run out of water? Why didn't we plan better? Why did we get lost? Why didn't we say we were lost? Why did we rely on a cell phone? Why did we let pride get in the way of safety? All these questions. I was getting so upset with defending the worst day we have ever had on the trail.
We could have had a map and compass and it would never would change the outcome. It was overgrown, not taken care of, not marked, non-existent. We knew where we were all day long.
Turning around wasn't an option after a certain point as your distance to the end is closer and we thought the trail would be better maintained.
We ran out of water even though we rationed. We planned for being out there for 11 miles, no more then 5-6 hours, not 10 hours. We planned with more water then we needed and it just didn't pan out the way we expected.
I had to restate numerous times to many that we were not lost. Funny thing, in the TTR there are folks of all walks of life and professions and one of the members is part of a search and rescue group and he was on standby to come for us. It had said "lost couple" on a screen shot he had of our last known location. Which when we made the call we were off of the "trail" and higher up on the ridge to get a signal. I told him we were "in a situation" and he changed it. It was funny.
To reiterate, we went up towards the ridge to get a signal on the phone as the trail is supposed to follow the gulley, so you can see from this screen shot where we made the call was our last know coordinates. For all the nay-sayers about lost etc.
In all reality we stayed pretty close onto the the "trail" as we could. We had to do a lot of circling around overgrown areas to find the safest and most painless route to take. Here is a picture comparing what we did to what the map said.
We relied on a cell phone because we don't own a satellite phone. We are looking into getting one now.
Pride would have gotten us into a recovery of our bodies situation. People truly don't understand what it was like out there. Making that call was the most important and sensible call we have ever made and we would do it again.
Will we go back out on that trail again, I don't know. I would like to go out with a group to do sections of trail maintenance on it to make it passable. It was gorgeous. Really quite a beautiful route. However, if you are prepared with enough food/water to go out for the entire day, with long pants, sleeves and prepared to bushwhack your way through, go see it for yourself.
I have looked back on the journey a thousand times in my dreams and my mind. I think about it all the time. I don't see what we could have done differently other then having a magic 8 ball to know that the trail was going to tear us up and to be prepared with a day pack. I am proud of us and how far we made it and that we didn't become a casualty for our family to deal with.
For many quiet moments that followed that day we could hear the crunch of the trail in our dreams. We needed a good trail day to put this nightmare behind us. We went to Flagstaff for a night and day run which really put to bed those sounds that haunted us. A clear night with a sky full of stars and the glow of the moon helps a lot. The trails we were on were the dreaming flowing kind and it was very clear where it was. Not all trail days are the same and I am glad we had this weekend planned to follow the Knagge Knightmare.
We look at helicopters differently now. I have always had a hard time hearing helicopters since I came home from Afghanistan. Some bad memories with them. Now, we see them or hear them and I tell Kevin, they are still tracking us, "we are okay now", I say to the sky.
Our buddy Chris, the reason we went out there in the first place had his shot at his 50 mile race. We found another route with several points we could meet him on very well maintained trails up on Mt Lemmon. However, mother nature, rather Hurricane Bud had other plans. We got hammered with a pretty significant storm from the Hurricane that dropped 3 inches of rain on Mt Lemmon in a 24 hr period. We headed up the mountain on Friday with plans for Chris to run at 5-6 am in the morning. It was pouring rain, just torrential downpour when we got there and we hoped it would let up for the race. Chris showed up and it was a light, but, steady drizzle. He had on his rain gear, decided to leave his phone in the car. Had a couple bottles, no water bladder, his hiking sticks and off he went. We went back inside the warmth and dry of the camper and then it began to thunder and lightning. Crap. He is going to get in trouble out there. It was really coming down by now. I drove his car to Sunset trailhead where he would have to cross so I could meet him and pull him off of the trail. This mountain and this 50 miler just is not going to happen. I waited quite awhile, concerned he fell or worse, was struck by lightning. Just when I was going to head out to find him, he showed up. I was ready to tell him a laundry list of reasons to pull him off the trail and he didn't need much convincing. He saw the radar on my phone that it wasn't letting up anytime soon. He had to hunker down in a toilet at a trailhead for awhile and under some rocks. The trail was getting messy and slick too. It was not safe. So, no 50. We headed back to camp and had a shot of Fireball and said, another day, Mt Lemmon, another day. But, that is the beauty of solo 50 mile runs, they can happen anytime and anywhere. He will get his 50.
So that is the story of the Knagge Knightmare. If I write a book one day, this will have its own chapter for sure. We are not done with our adventures and we will continue to learn from everything we do. I would like to head back out to that monster knowing what I know now with the emphasis of improving it for others. One of the members of TTR chatted back and forth with me about how he has been out there many times exploring the area we were. He never knew that Knagge and Davis Springs connected. They do, but the journey to see the connection is not for the faint of heart....the sign had years, years engraved on it from when people made it there in years past. We have never seen that before. If and when we head out I will take note of areas to turn at etc. I wished I took more photos and videos, but when I realized that we would be out there a long time, it was about conserving the battery.
I will end with a quote I came across from Yvon Chouinard, "The word adventure has gotten overused. To me, adventure is when everything goes wrong. That's when the adventure starts."
Our journey continues with many "adventures" yet to experience. Through all those adventures we truly learn a lot, a lot about ourselves, survival, risk and making the right decisions. I have been apprehensive with sharing this story with all the criticism we had for continuing on to the point of needing help. The reality is, shit happens that you don't plan on, how you deal with it is up to you. We asked for help and we don't regret it. Those three amazing kids in the other room sure as heck don't regret it either. Lesson is, the weak and the cowardly doesn't ask for help.
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