Posted by Mykle - SARA on September 12, 1999 at 09:28:39:
In Reply to: Callout - September 11 - Mount Kimball posted by Henry Jacobs - SARA on September 11, 1999 at 22:20:22:
Gabe has been in Tucson for about eight months, and has done a fair amount of hiking in the area. He left the north end of Alvernon at about 0700 Saturday, intending to hike to Kimball and return by 1300. He made it to the peak without problem, but became disoriented when trying to go east on the Pima Canyon Trail.
A bit of a note to explain all of this: The Finger Rock Trail climbs to a saddle southeast of the peak. It meets the Ventana Canyon Trail that continues north along the east slope of Kimball, staying at about the same elevation until it looks down into Montrose Canyon, then drops to the east into the saddle at the head of Ventana, then heads down canyon. The Finger Rock Trail continues a half-mile up Kimball where it ends.
The Pima Canyon Trail comes up canyon to a saddle at the head of the canyon, a steep climb above the spring. There it ends. A trail of use has been developed over the past thirty years that leaves the Pima Canyon Trail about a hundred yards below the saddle. It traverses downcanyon until it can turn up a side valley, then climbs to the top of Kimball.
It seems that some trail names have been modified a bit, according to the sign at the junction in the saddle where Finger Rock Trail meets Ventana Canyon Trail. The sign names the Finger Rock Trail correctly, but ignores the Ventana Canyon Trail. Then it names the trail going up Kimball as the Pima Canyon Trail. Hmmm.
So, the "Pima Canyon Trail" climbs Kimball to a point on the west ridge close to the peak, then turns southwest and drops to the head of Pima Canyon. The point on the west ridge is about a hundred yards from the survey marker that looks north. The terrain drops very steeply into Montrose Canyon, and this is the "peak" although not quite the high point.
So the "Pima Canyon Trail" now crosses Kimball, with a short spur trail to the overlook or "peak". Gabe couldn't identify this junction, and couldn't pick out the trail heading towards the Finger Rock Trail.
Gabe tried to call his roommate by cellphone to say that he wouldn't be down by 1300 as planned. But the phone is usually busy while the roommate is connected to the internet. So he called his folks, long distance. His dad wound up calling the Forest Service, and a report was delivered to the Sabino Visitor's Center, and was mentioned on the Forest radio for eager ears to overhear. Another call was in progress for an ill pregnant woman not far from the parking lot along the trail towards lower Sabino. SAR officers had drifted that way along with Forest people. So they picked up the call about Gabe while they were there.
TJ, Jess, and Sgt Jim wandered to the north end of Alvernon, with alot of racket on Rescue and on the Lemmon repeater. Ranger-38 was asked to see if they could locate Gabe, while TJ talked to him on cellphone. The plan was to feed GPS coordinates to deputies, so they could direct Gabe to the trail. It looked like he was near the top of Kimball but had got off trail.
Mykle was at his office, a few miles away, and was just leaving to help sort out a Rescue-3 radio problem. Mykle had his laptop computer with him, with maps loaded. Jim had his laptop, but his new map program and files had been borrowed by Mykle, who was done with them and needed to return them. So he headed for the herd of Durangoes at the end of Alvernon. No volunteers had been requested at this point.
Ranger found Gabe and got coordinates, but couldn't identify the top end of the trail that Gabe would need to find. The coordinates plotted very close to the peak. So Ranger landed at the trailhead to take someone who knew the trail better. None of the officers were taking the opportunity to go for a ride, so that's how Mykle wound up in the helicopter.
Yes it would have been much more interesting if more volunteers had been present. What was needed? Someone familiar with the trails at the top of Kimball, and able to keep themselves oriented in a helicopter flying lots faster than the walking pace usually done around there on the ground. Most of our volunteers have not been to Kimball (it IS a 4000' climb, and at least 5 miles by trail), and there aren't many who can keep track of where they are while in a helicopter. Yes, we do have a few people who would be appropriate for this task, but not many. This was not a ferry flight to a known helispot.
Anyway, Mykle is on the helicopter. Gabe is easy to spot, running around on top of Kimball. It is pretty flat, so you can scurry around to overlooks on several sides. Gabe was scurring around alot. The trail was still not all that visible, and Gabe wasn't getting anywhere. So Mykle was asked about being dropped off to meet with Gabe, evaluate his condition, and get him on trail. Mykle had radio and pack with him, along with a bag of water bottles and flashlight that was intended to be dropped to Gabe.
Ranger picked out a flat rock about half-way down to the saddle (it's a half mile from saddle to peak), and hovered at three feet. Mykle could just set the bag and pack on the ground while standing on the skid, then closed the door and made a monkey-bar out of the skid until feet were on the ground.
Once Ranger had disappeared, voice contact was made with Gabe, and notice was given on the Lemmon repeater that Mykle was on the ground, and stand-by pages (at least) would be appropriate. So that's how Mykle got to Kimball before pages were made. Must be a conspiracy.
Mykle headed uphill a short distance to a rock sticking above the ridge, and Gabe joined him within five minutes. They worked their way to the east until finding the trail, then hiked to the saddle.
Gabe was out of water, and had brought only a small bag of potato chips (long gone), and didn't have a flashlight. He was not very well oriented as to what was where, and didn't have a map. It is now about 17:30. Otherwise he was in fine shape. There are probably alot of hikers that are similarly (ill)equipped, with little margin for problems.
The winds were not all that comfortable for Ranger, so once it was determined that there was no need for an immediate evacuation, and that Gabe was able to walk out, and that he was with a person familiar with the area, then Ranger would go home. So that's why they weren't flown out.
There is an old helispot near the saddle. It is along a trail of use from the same junction, but climbing East Kimball (the high point east of the saddle), then wanders down to join the high end of the Pontatoc Trail. The hiking club uses this route. The helispot is about a five minute walk from the junction, so it was checked. We could call it a snug fit for a bird the size of Ranger. Just grass, but several trees are getting big enough to be a problem.
Gabe led the way down trail, getting off trail from time-to-time (especially on the spur trail to Linda Vista Saddle). It looked like this could have been a long night search. Fortunately Gabe would have had to sit when it got dark. No matches either, so his shorts and T-shirt would have been chilly.
The stand-by page had been escalated to a full call to support the "team" in the field. Two teams of four hiked up to the "overlook", and were soon joined by the two coming down trail. All were out of the field by about 21:30.
end-of-speech.