(While ordinary people stay at home and watch adventures on TV, we in SAR get to do the real thing. Yet, even though nearly all our searches are pretty dramatic, creeping monotony seems to be an occupational hazard. We almost have to dress our stories up as fiction to realize what adventures they really are. So, here is an account of the Camp Creek SAR on Sunday July 9, 2000 as it might have appeared on a legendary TV show.)
Starfleet, this is Enterprise. We have received a distress call in our sector and are responding at maximum warp.
It's only 4:30 a.m., but a dozen SAR volunteers are already at work in the dark here at the Camp Creek bridge on North South Road. We're getting ready to search for a father and three sons who are lost somewhere along the creek. The youngest is five years old. The mother is talking to Scott Stewart, and she is visibly worried.
Personally, I'm worried, too, because none of the four have shown up. Ordinarily, when a group of people is lost, at least one of them makes it out to summon help.
Scott and I spread a map on the hood of his truck. We figure we'll start with a team at each end of the canyon and have them work toward the center. So Dave McCracken, Katie Bolger, Bill Fisher and Andrea Henderson start working downstream from CP, while Karen Gilman, Larry Heist, Dennis Barbee and I start upstream from Bonetti Road, about 6 miles west. Captain's log, star date 2305.6. We have arrived in the area and have begun searching for survivors.
On the river, there is good news and bad news. First of all, the sun is finally up so we can see. Also, the water is low, so we don't need PFD's (life vests) or helmets. However, the footing is treacherous so we make really slow progress, and everyone except Dennis eventually plunges into the water at least thigh deep.
Meanwhile, we're hollering and whistling, but we're not hearing a thing in return, nor seeing a clue. Nothing on scanners, Captain. Also, the fact that the canyon bottom is slippery, even at low water, reinforces my fears that our lost subjects might be hurt.
Communications is typical canyon fare, lousy. The Sheriffs F2 system is unreachable. Sometimes we can hear a little on the Sheriff's Tac 3, other times we use the ham channel. The GPSs are marginal, too. Subspace communications are down, Captain.
Also typical for canyons, hiking upstream takes about twice as long as hiking downstream. It's the vegetation – branches, sticks, and logs all point downstream, against us. After two hours of struggling we think we have come at least two miles, but the GPS says we've come just one disappointing mile. Captain, Scotty here. I canna give ya warp drive until we get out of this debris field.
From the snatches of radio traffic, it's apparent that more people are arriving and forming teams. OHV, Mounted, and more foot searchers are all showing up on the radio.
Then, gradually it becomes clear that the CHP helicopter has sighted the lost four, but doesn't know where they are. How's that again? Meanwhile, Ray Pledger and Mike Golub are apparently driving back and forth on the ridge above, using the GPS to pin down where to hike (or fall) down to the scene.
We finally manage to reach to CP on the radio and ask if we should continue on. There's a pause while they key in the coordinates. Then Scott Stewart tells us that we are basically out of the action and we might as well head back. Starfleet to Enterprise. Return to base.
Bummer. Until now I thought our odds were pretty good, but apparently there's not even a chance for us to intervene. So we sit and take a break. Everyone is dreading the walk back, but at least it's downhill.
I get up again and stand staring upstream. OHV guys going over side, huh? Can we really be that far away? Should Captain Kirk and his ace team ignore Star Fleet and race to the scene? Analysis, Mister Spock? Nah, nobody's hurt, and the people are being taken care of, after all. Moreover, to exit the canyon, we'd have to climb up the side, a huge struggle.
So we turn around, and in an hour we are back at Bonetti Road. CP is nearly gone when we arrive, and everyone is adjourning to Crystal View for breakfast which suits us fine. The End. Theme up. Roll credits.
(The four were in good shape, merely having bit off more than they could chew. They made it four miles down the six mile canyon. They survived nicely by eating the fish they had caught, breaded in crumbled Fritos. Their location was confused because after H-20 spotted them, it had to leave for fuel. Mike asked for the Sierra West truck because he wanted technical assistance getting up the side of the canyon, but at the time there was no technical team readily available.)
Lessons learned:
1. Rule of thumb: at low water, foot teams in a canyon will average one half mile an hour going upstream, and one mile an hour going downstream.
2. When you want something from CP, tell them your problem (not just your solution).
3. For canyon searches, consider that you may need a technical team on short notice.