This morning we woke up to a
beautiful desert sunrise, but there was little time to enjoy it, we had a long
hike and the heat of the day was coming. We loaded our packs, wolfed down some
breakfast and set off across the San Cristobal valley towards the Bryan
Mountains.
Normally on a Search and Recovery
(SAR) we would walk in a line, each person spaced 50 feet apart. We would have
a left and right line anchor on either end and a line manager in the middle
making sure that we are all walking at the same pace and that everyone is
accounted for when we go through washes or thick desert brush. Today, because
we have such a great distance to travel just to get to the search area we used
a restricted administrative road as the fastest way to travel across the valley
so we would have time to do a proper search once we got to the Bryans.
And we walked, and walked and it
got hotter and hotter, and we walked some more. And we stopped chatting and
kept walking. After about 5 hours of walking we hunted for lunchtime shade and
ate and then started walking again. Finally, at about 2pm (after 7 hours of
walking) we arrived at the waypoint we had been given where the man we were
looking for had been left behind. And there was nothing but desert. We did not
find any sign of the man, or any sign of his group.
Like the desert itself,
information for SAR can be an illusion, time, space and distance look different
from different places. A slight rise in the terrain or a wash with tall trees
can make a mountain look closer or a valley look narrower than it really is. Also
with SAR, one piece of information, such as a waypoint, can seem larger and
more important than it is. Another piece of information that might seem small
and insignificant can lead the search team to the correct place.
Just because we found nothing at
the waypoint we were not going to decide that there was no-one or nothing to be
found.
Carrying a lot of weight in the
hottest part of the day after an 11 mile hike is not the way to do an effective
search. We rested, unpacked our packs and set up camp. Then, somewhat
refreshed, we set up with only essential items, water, a little food, GPS,
marking tape and walkie talkies, for a line search of the area North of the
waypoint. We spread out with the West line anchor on the lowest slopes of the
Bryans and the East line anchor (me) on the fringe of the San Cristobal valley.
We walked slowly, checking under palo
verde and mesquite trees, looking in washes and stopping to investigate items
left behind in the desert. Our line moved deliberately and thoroughly North for
just over an hour. Then we stopped, the sun was starting to set, and the Bryans
threw a big shadow over the valley. It was time to turn back to reach our camp
before it got dark. We bumped the line out to the East to continue our search
as we went Southward. I moved about a quarter mile out towards the center of
the valley and Lia, from the West anchor, moved to about the line that I had
taken coming North. We returned in the same methodical way that we had come.
We did not find the person.
Back at our camp, we lit the
campfires, cooked our dinners and had a little bit of a birthday celebration. Then
I set up my blankets, rolled up in my sleeping bag and starred at the stars.
Days like these in the desert
bring up so many questions. There are obvious logistical questions like: Was
the waypoint wrong? Did we look in the correct directions? Where should we look
tomorrow? How much is it OK to use this opportunity for general exploration to
gain information that might be helpful for future SARs? There are also
emotional questions: Is it OK if we do not find the person? Is it OK if we
laugh, tell stories, celebrate a birthday and generally enjoy each other’s
company while we are on a SAR? Is it allowable to love and appreciate the
beauty of the desert while looking for someone who has died in it?
These are questions for
tomorrow….
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