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1-24-08 On Thursday
I got stranded out in the Huasna national Forest area. The weather has been terrible this week and I was feeling adventurous. So I decided to drive out there and well I said my prayers on the way out crossign the creeks. I had left the house after my mother left for work around 11:30 The day started out all right and I was suprised to see snow 14 miles east of Arroyo Grande. I saw some wild pigs and deer on the way out. I took my M1 Carbine rifle with me which is an old semi-automatic WW2 rifle that our GI's used in combat during the war. There was not much ammo left in my can and it fill 3 15 round mags and 26 rounds of .30 Carbine in a preban 30 round magazine I have. (which is a POS btw) I went to the usual place where I go shooting. Arrived here at 12:30pm(there pic below)
The only thing was that there was a blanket of snow and creeks running this year and time around. I was amazed it was like a scene from Band of Brothers in the battle of the Buldge. It was quiet out there in this somewhat remote area. Atleast I was without the mortars and Germans to worry about. Well I had my OD green trench coat on with wool liner that kept my upper body warm and my favorite green cowboy hat with chin strap on. I brought some empty plastic bottles with me too. So I filled them up in the cold creek which make my hands numb. Loading the mags with the loose ammo thats was in the ammo can brought circulation back into my hands. Slapped a 15 rounder into the mag well of my carbine. Slung it on my back and grabbed the crate of bottles full of water. Set my targets up at different ranges accordingly and charged back the blot and starting taking my shots at my targets. My rifle was shooting a little to the right I noticed so I adjusted my aim and hit atleast 60% of my targets and had some failures to feed. So when I was done with my fun with the gun and out of ammo I decided I wanted to go exploring. Got in the Blazer and had it in four high. I crossed a foot deep puddle and sucked up water. (I just did the sign of the cross and my truck started right up) Took myself to higher elevation and noticed that the area didnt look the same as it did in dry weather. The white blanket of snow covered most of the roads. So I drove out there further and got to a point where I wanted to go down. Since it was a challenge with the trees in the way and all I thought I could make it. (i know dumb and crazy) Of course I didn't have tire chains with me because I wasnt expecting snow and I was out there this time last year. It wasnt raining then though... Anyway so I started to down this slope and it turned into a slippery slope. I thought I could get out of the situation but I ended up going down hill in reverse. Where I ended up getting stuck is where an annoying tree was blockign me. I did my best to not hit the trees because I had done this before in my Toyota but not in the same area I was. (I hit trees with that beater though) Okay so I started to get pissed off at this tree and started to go forward and revese into it. Hoping I'd knock the damned thing down! Ended up digging myself in two feet deep or judge for yourselves how far I was in the ground to my rear axle. (see pix below) I got stuck at 1:30pm
Mind you these pix are 24 hours after my truck was out there. It was all white the in the setting before! Now I chose to abandon my truck because I wanted to get the hell out of there. So I walked on foot for awhile and got lost. It was good I did not panic, let fear set in, and stayed focused . I thought for a bit chewing on a twig to keep me calm and sane because at this point I knew I needed help but with the way we men are well we dont always like to admit we need help. No my cell didnt have service not even ****in 911 worked out there on my cell. So my options were to stay put and possibly freeze to death. I heard a story where a guy froze to death in his car buried in snow but that was four feet of snow. (besides I would have kept an eye on the snow level if I had stayed I had an army shovel) I was dealing with maybe 7" of snow. My gun was out of ammo so it was useless. A gun without bullets is just a ****ty club so I left it in the truck. Besides I didnt wanna look threatening with it seeking for help. Having ammo would have helped for survival and distress signals though. Shooting three times is SOS, but I felt since it cold and wet I had to get out of there. Sure I could have built a shelter and a fire but it would have been a miserable stay and for who knew how long. I still had my Leatherman CORE which is a multitool so I could have made a sharp stick to poach for food if necessary. (yes there were animals out there I saw tracks) I didnt tell nobody where I went (big mistake) but my Dad noticed I took my gun atleast so he knew where I went because I did this before once back in July. (I figured and hoped he would know) Anyway back to where I got lost I walked for a couple hours and starting see a place I didnt recongnize fences and gates open I had never been through. Walked in puddles with a frozen layer on top sloshing through them getting my feet numb. I decided to track back a few times. The snow began to fall but lightly and it wieghed my down I didnt notice for awhile either. I even ate snow it was nice and fresh because I had a bottle of water I was savoring. Boy was I feeling heavy too I eventually took notice and brushed my self off a bit. I kept following my tracks but got lost again. At some points a fell down but got right back up. I fell once and stayed down for a bit and thought hey I could just give up and freeze but no I wanna live. My hands were numb because I had no gloves so I kept them warm by putting my hands against my stomach under my coat against the warm wool. MY face was also very numb my lips felt like novacain had been injected into them. I had to man up too when I got emoitional at some points but realized crying or panicing would have been my end so I got a grip. I was far off from the place I wanted to go orginally. I felt since I knew the area so well I would have a problem but again in the snow it looks different. At one point I found a sign I accidently knocked over it said no motor vehicles National Forest Service HAHA. I didnt see what it said when driving because it was covered in snow how ironic... I turned around again and was hoping I'd get back to my truck and I found my tire tracks. Dont worry I took breaks but I could do it long at all because the longer you stop the harder it is to get up. I had to keep my blood flowing or else I could have had gone into shock and got hypothermia. Of course my clothes were damp and soaking wet. IF you're clothes are wet in a in a cold environment do not remove them you will loose body heat. The wool liner in my heavy ternch coat kept me warm. Hey it works for cold weather in winter and I dont wear it for a fashion statement it ****in works good. The coat supposively served my uncle during the Veitnam war. People always gave my **** for it, sometimes complemented me, or found it frightening even when I wore it in the rain and cold at school when I was in high school.
I got stranded out in the Huasna national Forest area. The weather has been terrible this week and I was feeling adventurous. So I decided to drive out there and well I said my prayers on the way out crossign the creeks. I had left the house after my mother left for work around 11:30 The day started out all right and I was suprised to see snow 14 miles east of Arroyo Grande. I saw some wild pigs and deer on the way out. I took my M1 Carbine rifle with me which is an old semi-automatic WW2 rifle that our GI's used in combat during the war. There was not much ammo left in my can and it fill 3 15 round mags and 26 rounds of .30 Carbine in a preban 30 round magazine I have. (which is a POS btw) I went to the usual place where I go shooting. Arrived here at 12:30pm(there pic below)
The only thing was that there was a blanket of snow and creeks running this year and time around. I was amazed it was like a scene from Band of Brothers in the battle of the Buldge. It was quiet out there in this somewhat remote area. Atleast I was without the mortars and Germans to worry about. Well I had my OD green trench coat on with wool liner that kept my upper body warm and my favorite green cowboy hat with chin strap on. I brought some empty plastic bottles with me too. So I filled them up in the cold creek which make my hands numb. Loading the mags with the loose ammo thats was in the ammo can brought circulation back into my hands. Slapped a 15 rounder into the mag well of my carbine. Slung it on my back and grabbed the crate of bottles full of water. Set my targets up at different ranges accordingly and charged back the blot and starting taking my shots at my targets. My rifle was shooting a little to the right I noticed so I adjusted my aim and hit atleast 60% of my targets and had some failures to feed. So when I was done with my fun with the gun and out of ammo I decided I wanted to go exploring. Got in the Blazer and had it in four high. I crossed a foot deep puddle and sucked up water. (I just did the sign of the cross and my truck started right up) Took myself to higher elevation and noticed that the area didnt look the same as it did in dry weather. The white blanket of snow covered most of the roads. So I drove out there further and got to a point where I wanted to go down. Since it was a challenge with the trees in the way and all I thought I could make it. (i know dumb and crazy) Of course I didn't have tire chains with me because I wasnt expecting snow and I was out there this time last year. It wasnt raining then though... Anyway so I started to down this slope and it turned into a slippery slope. I thought I could get out of the situation but I ended up going down hill in reverse. Where I ended up getting stuck is where an annoying tree was blockign me. I did my best to not hit the trees because I had done this before in my Toyota but not in the same area I was. (I hit trees with that beater though) Okay so I started to get pissed off at this tree and started to go forward and revese into it. Hoping I'd knock the damned thing down! Ended up digging myself in two feet deep or judge for yourselves how far I was in the ground to my rear axle. (see pix below) I got stuck at 1:30pm
Mind you these pix are 24 hours after my truck was out there. It was all white the in the setting before! Now I chose to abandon my truck because I wanted to get the hell out of there. So I walked on foot for awhile and got lost. It was good I did not panic, let fear set in, and stayed focused . I thought for a bit chewing on a twig to keep me calm and sane because at this point I knew I needed help but with the way we men are well we dont always like to admit we need help. No my cell didnt have service not even ****in 911 worked out there on my cell. So my options were to stay put and possibly freeze to death. I heard a story where a guy froze to death in his car buried in snow but that was four feet of snow. (besides I would have kept an eye on the snow level if I had stayed I had an army shovel) I was dealing with maybe 7" of snow. My gun was out of ammo so it was useless. A gun without bullets is just a ****ty club so I left it in the truck. Besides I didnt wanna look threatening with it seeking for help. Having ammo would have helped for survival and distress signals though. Shooting three times is SOS, but I felt since it cold and wet I had to get out of there. Sure I could have built a shelter and a fire but it would have been a miserable stay and for who knew how long. I still had my Leatherman CORE which is a multitool so I could have made a sharp stick to poach for food if necessary. (yes there were animals out there I saw tracks) I didnt tell nobody where I went (big mistake) but my Dad noticed I took my gun atleast so he knew where I went because I did this before once back in July. (I figured and hoped he would know) Anyway back to where I got lost I walked for a couple hours and starting see a place I didnt recongnize fences and gates open I had never been through. Walked in puddles with a frozen layer on top sloshing through them getting my feet numb. I decided to track back a few times. The snow began to fall but lightly and it wieghed my down I didnt notice for awhile either. I even ate snow it was nice and fresh because I had a bottle of water I was savoring. Boy was I feeling heavy too I eventually took notice and brushed my self off a bit. I kept following my tracks but got lost again. At some points a fell down but got right back up. I fell once and stayed down for a bit and thought hey I could just give up and freeze but no I wanna live. My hands were numb because I had no gloves so I kept them warm by putting my hands against my stomach under my coat against the warm wool. MY face was also very numb my lips felt like novacain had been injected into them. I had to man up too when I got emoitional at some points but realized crying or panicing would have been my end so I got a grip. I was far off from the place I wanted to go orginally. I felt since I knew the area so well I would have a problem but again in the snow it looks different. At one point I found a sign I accidently knocked over it said no motor vehicles National Forest Service HAHA. I didnt see what it said when driving because it was covered in snow how ironic... I turned around again and was hoping I'd get back to my truck and I found my tire tracks. Dont worry I took breaks but I could do it long at all because the longer you stop the harder it is to get up. I had to keep my blood flowing or else I could have had gone into shock and got hypothermia. Of course my clothes were damp and soaking wet. IF you're clothes are wet in a in a cold environment do not remove them you will loose body heat. The wool liner in my heavy ternch coat kept me warm. Hey it works for cold weather in winter and I dont wear it for a fashion statement it ****in works good. The coat supposively served my uncle during the Veitnam war. People always gave my **** for it, sometimes complemented me, or found it frightening even when I wore it in the rain and cold at school when I was in high school.
When I did try bear foot the rock benth my feet were jagged. So I decided to stick with the sand paper pain because I found it less annoying to me. Boy do I have some meat showing on my heels. Of course my heavy coat was taking its toll on my lower back too. I finally made way and I was near some ranches around 10:00 but it was not till 11:00 I saw the first human soul all day. I heard a motor and I was hoping it was a vehicle. Then I saw their headlights so I wavied them down. It was these rednecks driving a Yamaha ATV drunk well the almost hit and missed me by half a foot. I waved them down and the backed up. I could barley talk straight to them but I offred cash to them. I would have gave them all I had on me. The driver said straight up "**** that!" so he told me to get into the back, but damn we introduced oursleves of course. They gave me a Miller beer which made my day because I needed one all day. I even told them so and powered it. So they asked me where I was from and lived. I told em Arroyo Grande off Fair Oaks Avenue and they said they'd help me out since I am family. (yes a true local) It hailed on us on the way back too that cold wind wasnt fun either. In addition I have had strep throat for two weeks but it was bad by then and it was a pain swallowing the beer but I did. We got to their house in the Huansa town site. The gentlemen both were great guys and gave me two more beers, a phone call, and food. I ate some taco shells with some sort of meat in them and they were both hilarious. Their names were Shane and Gorge. Hell Shane saw my feet and said let me see one of those. He punched both of them and I didnt even yelp. They both had decided to goof off because Shane's wife was not home that night and they took her vehicle by chance. Thank god they found me or else I would have been walking another few hours or so! (possibly into town) Well my Dad and brother came to pick me up! Of course I had my *** chewed out but what was I expecting.... I could have croaked as a young man but I didn't want to die its a good thing I am a persistant, tough, and experinced person. (in regards to hiking)
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