Into the wild

When I was about three, my family was driving from Tucson to Phoenix in those pre-Interstate times. I have three vivid memories. The first is the restaurant where we ate breakfast; it had ancient double doors with windows behind ancient double screens. The second is the fierce rainstorm that cut visibility severely, almost the desert version of a whiteout. We headed out of Coolidge, my mother behind the wheel, me between her and my grandmother. No other cars were on the two-lane road.

My third memory is of a vast torrent of fast-moving latte-colored water that suddenly appeared in front of us.

I'm sure it wasn't as wide or as biblical as I recall it. I had never seen water in a river before! But what was undeniable is that the bridge had washed out — perhaps at the Gila River — and only my mother's caution, slow speed, and fighter-pilot reflexes prevented our deaths.

As I write now, searchers are still trying to find six-year-old Willa Rawlings, lost when her father's "military-like truck" was swept away in flooding Tonto Creek. The bodies of her brother and cousin, both five, were found Saturday. Only Willa's shoe has been recovered. Her parents escaped.

The Republic's Laurie Roberts hit the right notes of sympathy and bafflement — that the driver would try to cross the flooded creek, and that the Legislature in its low-tax religion has failed to build a bridge. Yet I suspect little will change. Especially on the common-sense front, for bridges can be overwhelmed as anyone knows who remembers Scottsdale's comic attempts to span Indian Bend Wash in the 1970s.

We live in a wilderness that only lets us think we have tamed it.

All our technology, creature comforts, and appearance of Midwestern blandness amid great scenery are no match for this wild land at its deadly capriciousness.

It is no country for old men or anyone else who doesn't really respect it, prepare for it, live in controlled fear of it.

The desert, as Cal says, always wins.

These realities were second-nature growing up in the 1960s, when the state had a population of about 1.5 million, almost all of it in Phoenix and Tucson, or clustered in real small towns of relative density. Every year we were instructed in desert survival in school. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts learned the crafts necessary to safely handle the High Country, desert, and mountains. Nobody went hiking in the middle of hot summer days.

Simple things were second nature to us: Always carry water, knife, and snakebite kit; never pick up rocks (kick them over) or reach under bushes or overhangs; that's a cholla, stay clear; if you hear a rattlesnake, freeze, ascertain the snake's location, back away; walk heavily so snakes can sense you coming; never hike alone; extinguish your campfire with water, stirring the ash remains, and burying them; "if you pack it in, pack it back out," and dozens of other basics.

Now, with 7.2 million people, too many of them treat the state like an amusement park. Few seem to even know even the fundamentals of living safely with this wild land. This has been made worse by the loss of institutional knowledge, population churn, the illusion of invincibility riding high in SUV's, and exurban sprawl.

This tenderfoot idiocracy is on display every day when mountain rescues put first responders at risk in metropolitan Phoenix. And don't forget the woman, who after a fight with her boyfriend in 2002, stomped off into the High Country with essentials we never learned: Shorts, a towel, cigarettes, and lighter. When lost, she lit a "signal fire" — another thing I never picked up in scouting — which led to the largest conflagration in Arizona history.

The urban/exurban bleed into the wilderness adds danger. People become accustomed to the inviting landscape without either skills or respect. Sprawl makes fires more dangerous, especially on display in the 2013 Yarnell fire. A Google satellite image of the Bar X crossing, where the children were lost, is utterly changed from the landscape I once knew. Small subdivisions (!) are nearby, along with a couple of RV "parks."

How did any of this get permitted, profaning the desert and putting lives at risk? We know. The endless hustle.

Now it has a body count.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Amy]

I kno they didn’t mean to diet prior to being stranded though those kids need help -playing near a water and no they weren’t crossing a bridge and probably needed walls around the backyards they live nearby since they cannot swim

[Steve Weiss]

Climate change seems to be bringing new threats, the most recent being the three tornado night just a few days ago. I've lived here for over 60 years, and the weather and winds I've experienced in the last 10 years Midtown have been like no other time previous.

[Ruben]

Without editorial comment, I will state the following fact. We boomers were the last generation to learn to look both ways before we crossed the street.

[Cal Lash]

"Nature Bats Last"!

[Cal Lash]

Will humans make it to the ninth inning?

[J Scheff]

"Military style vehicle" reminds me of when I lived in Colorado. Somehow folks there didn't realize 4 wheels driving will spin out on ice just like two wheels driving. The vehicles off the side of the highway stuck in the snow were always the fancy 4WDs.

[Bill Pearson]

Tragic on so many accounts. Blame? Plenty to go around. The "military-like truck" was an over-sized cab with a massive flatbed. 9 people in it, hard to visualize unless some of the kids were riding the flatbed. If, and i mean if, the kids that drowned were on the flatbed, mom and dad have some serious questions to be answered.

I am beginning to think Talton's Mapstone series and Betty Webb's "Desert series" should become mandatory reading for any of us moving to Arizona. Perhaps then we would have a basic understanding of life in the desert country and more importantly, surviving it.

[Ramjet]

I have been personally involved in two similar incidents at Red Rock Crossing on Oak Creek. People insisted that there was a crossing and never mind my warning that it was impassable at that time. It was fortunate that the only thing lost was a vehicle.
The bridge on Bar X road has been a hot topic for years. There have been many similar incidents there over the years.
Yes, a bridge is needed on one of the possible locations. The problem is that "Il Duce" and his cohorts at the legislature want to preserve their "surplus".
The sad truth is that: "You can't fix stupid".

[Roger]

Agreed. We are not living with the desert. We live against it, and treat it like a resource that can be endlessly exploited.

Also:

"The desert, as Cal says, always wins."

Great. All we need is a Cal with a big head. ;-)

[DoggieCombover]

Yes, this is a terrible tragedy, especially young children being put at risk due to stupid decisions made by adults. And these people chose to live there knowing full well the situation.

As usual, now "gubmint" is called upon to fix this problem. It would be far cheaper to buy out the private property and be done with it. By the way, a significant number of residents east of the creek do NOT want a bridge, as they fear it would change their world.

[Cal Lash]

Roger, humans will keep winning until they loose. Currently besides the real estate marauders, Donnie and his boys are killing with bulldozers in Organ Pipe National Monument. Even conservative Barry Goldwater respected the environment. And today Nixon would be a commie.
Like Greta i got into this subversive thought process before i was a teenager. Living in a rural setting with pump water, no electricity and outhouses furnished with Sears Catalogs and red and white corn cobs. Around 12 i read "City" by Clifford Simak. Maybe it will end the way Simak wrote in an additional last chapter several years after the first publication. For years i have read and give away copies of Desert Solitare and Cadillac Desert. And of course i have read my Friend Chuck Bowden's books and recommend "Blue Desert." And Stenger and Van Dyke and on and on. And i maintain my Still Suit" after reading Dune by Frank Herbert.. As i sit here this winter of the Dog thousands of Canadians and snow birds and soil bankers have surrounded me playing shuffleboard not shoveling snow.

[100 Octane]

Sad but nothing new, it just goes down the memory hole.

https://www.abc15.com/news/region-northern-az/payson/payson-flash-flooding-deaths-who-are-the-victims

https://www.paysonroundup.com/news/local/memorial-recalls-tragedy-of-labor-day-flood/article_58ae1d02-e996-5321-9d5f-708835a1256f.html

"over-sized cab with a massive flatbed"...makes me think it floated and toppled over.

Sad. I'm sure it will be repeated.

Just finished "Blood Orchid", Blue Desert coming up next.

[DoggieCombover]

I think I ran across the suggestion on this site, but the best book I've read this year is "Fantasyland: How America went haywire." It is somehow comforting to better understand the extreme social and political dysfunction we currently experience.

I first read "Desert Solitaire" in 1974 in the Moab area while backpacking for a month. Life-altering. Will have to check out "Blue Desert," Cal, thanks for the tip.

[Cal Lash]

Doggie. Check in at Ken Sanders rare book store in Salt Lake for continuing education credits.

[Roger]

I need a still suit. And I'll check out "Blue Desert". Thanks, Cal. I think I have my Christmas wish list all filled out now.

[Ruben]

Anyone spending time in and around Arizona's streams know that a stream bed that is 3 inches deep can suddenly turn into a six foot to ten foot hole if you are not paying attention. During happier times you would call that a fishing hole.

Watching the truck in question being towed out of Tonto creek, it appears the water pushed the truck over one of these deep holes and the outcome occurred. In being towed out in the space of just a few feet the truck went from submerged to just axle deep.

Once emotions subside, it will be interesting to see how the "stupid motorist" law is applied and whether or not criminal charges will filed.

Reading the comments on the various news stories, about half are the "I send my prayers" group and the other half is looking for blood. It is to be expected.

[toughteri]

Ruben is correct - this tragedy resulted from bad judgement, very bad judgement by the driver of the car. So sad.

[Cal Lash]

Try this.
ROADLESS WILDERNESS

[Cal Lash]

We need less roads and bridges.
Of course ADOTS answer is another Freeway.

"All The Wild That Remains," by David Gessner is a look at Wallace Stegner and Edward Abbey. Additionally the book mentions others that fit into this scene. For Example, Wendell Berry, Joseph Conrad and Louisa May Alcott. And the guy that makes most environmentalists look like stuffed suits, Doug Peacock. A good read is Peacocks "Grizzly Years." While i dont always agree with Gessner in his almost 300 pages, i paper clipped at least 50 pages that i thought were outstanding.
All said, It's a good read.

[Cal Lash]

Most crimes require criminal intent.
I understand billing foolish folks for foolish acts that require taxpayer supported assistance. But i am not sure i want to see law enforcement prosecute someone who will grieve for the rest of his life over a very foolish act.
I wonder how many times this driver has previously driven through these types of situations.
I would want to see the results of the investigation to determine if there were other facts that might point to criminal behavior.

[Ramjet]

I agree with Cal. The foolish actions of the adults involved will punish for the rest of their lives. "Piling On" with any type of criminal charges is not necessary.

[Cal Lash]

I once investigated a 3 person fatal car crash where a man trying to impress his lady friend and her child flew off a freeway overhead curved ramp. He obviously intentionally exceeded the suggested safe speedlimit. That was criminal behavior!
An observation i included in my report about retaining wall height was ignored.

[Cal Lash]

Teri, good to see you post. I am coming to Tucson soon to visit with some folks as a result of the publication of "America's Most Alarming Writer."
How about lunch at Tohono Chul?

[soleri]

The worst is yet to come in terms of human loss of life. There will be drought, superstorms, wildfires, and deadly heat. The desert may always win but it won't be recognizable to those who loved its delicate balance of beauty and starkness. If we succeed in creating a much more lethal climate, its allure will vanish along with the wide variety of plant and wildlife.

There's only one real question left for the species that has recklessly altered the biosphere and it has to do with its proportionate sense of responsibility and guilt. The cleverness you might ascribe to your own survival skills in the desert will be sorely tested in the space of a several decades. Most of us here won't live to rue that day but our grandchildren might. And I suspect their regrets will lie less with the unlucky few who disregarded predicatable danger and more with those hardy souls who thoughtlessly destroyed the only climate capable of sustaining human life.

[Cal Lash]

Yep

[Cal Lash]

By Francisco Cantú

I Was a Border Patrol Agent. Our Walls Need to Be Torn Down.

President Trump’s border wall is threatening species and reshaping entire fragile ecosystems.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/opinion/contributors/trump-wall-environment.html

[Bill Pearson]

Watching the news last night regarding the still missing Willa, two things struck me:
* Nothing has been said about how this happened and where the kids were; in the truck cab or on the flatbed. And i have seen no reports on what happened, like in an investigation one would normally expect.
* The second is more revealing: A Go-Fund-Me account has now raised more than 100K. I'm pretty liberal and love when people help out on another, but on this i am scratching my head. Horrible tragedy or senseless stupidity by adults who should have know better?

Am i being overly skeptical?

[Cal Lash]

Submit a "public records" request from law enforcement.

[100 Octane]

https://www.azfamily.com/news/man-found-dead-after-getting-swept-away-by-rushing-water/article_ce44b846-1957-11ea-91b0-bf8d63074c73.html

Same area.

[Jerry McKenzie]

Senseless deaths due to people wanting to be away from it all (but now look to the rest of us to build them a bridge to a future ghost town).

Killing the Hidden Waters by Bowden. Another must read.

[Ruben]

Tonto creek is a trickle or dry 340 days out of 365.

Cost for Mother Government to build a bridge: $20,000,000. (it would be cheaper for Mother Government to condemn the east side properties and force everyone to move to the west side of the creek)

OR: East side residents could, by themselves, build a roadway that will work for 360 out of 365 days.

Twenty 5' wide by 40' long metal culverts - cost $80,000

Gravel roadway, 30' wide, 1,000 ' long. 1' deep cost $100,000

Approximately $200,000 versus $20,000,000

Installation cost - do it yourselves.

Maintenance cost - do it yourselves.