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Commander’s Corner Last month was quiet for missions. A few exceptions were for missions related to bad weather. (http://www.trsar.org/recent_missions/recent_missions.htm)
A lot of time has been spent by some members on Project Lifesaver. Don Peters has been working hard to get funds from organizations and business in the Payson area for this project. These funds are starting to trickle in. Mike Taylor made some beautiful brochures and business cards to hand out to potential donors. Also, Jack Quinn made a slide related to this project, to be shown on the local Payson channel 4. Jim Martin wrote an outstanding “Letter to the Editor” explaining Project Lifesaver and what it means to the community. Eddy Floyd has submitted a request for a $250 grant from Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart does this to recognize employees who volunteer their time in the community. Anyone with fundraising ideas for this project should step forward. Jim Duffy has come up with some good ideas to solicit funds. When we receive approval for these ideas, they will be made known. We are optimistic for improved success with this fundraising effort. Thanks to all who are contributing. http://www.trsar.org/project_lifesaver/proj_lifesaver.htm
Rope training was held at the Squad building January 22nd. That day we also had Jim Martin and Roger Miotto at the Squad building working on our remodeling project. I would like to thank those members there for training who helped remove the metal Roll-up door. Jim and Roger took advantage of their presence to muscle this door down. They also helped raise the wall that replaced the door. This took away from their rope training but their help was valuable. Thanks for their patience and help with this task. This same day (January 22nd) we had three squad members helping with the 911 rural addressing in Tonto Basin. I’d like to thank Tom Zeisberger, Doug Conklin and Ed Bures for their time and effort. Stay active and stay healthy Dave Pirtle
Don’t forget; the meetings this month are February 8th for the Board and February 10th for the General Meeting.
New
Feature The Webmaster has added a new page to our website. It is entitled “MEMORABLE MISSIONS” and the first article is posted there now. It was written by Reed Thorne about a rope rescue in Antelope Canyon near Page AZ. Check it out at: http://www.trsar.org/memorable_missions/memorable_missions_index.htm
Guest Article
The Journey of Zorba El Griego – Part II
Last month I described my training in the Peace Corps and a crazy plan to drive by motorcycle, 6,000 miles from the Republic of Panama to Long Island, NY. I had notified my co-volunteers and they said I should take some time off and see the Peace Corps Physician. I said to myself, “what the heck, I’m going to try it”. What made my decision easier was the visit to Panama by a Peace Corps volunteer from Bolivia. He had flown to Panama and was contemplating the same trip! (Central America and South America are connected by land but there are no roads…you have to fly or go by sea.) We met at the Peace Corps office in Panama City and decided to make the trip together! What a relief. He was from California and an experienced cycle rider with some mechanical ability. The three things I was most concerned about were eliminated. 1) I was worried about making the trip alone 2) I had no cycle experience 3) I had no mechanical abilities of cycles. He had to wait an extra week while I got all my papers to leave: passport, visa, CIA – “Permiso de salir” (Permission to leave) and of course traveler’s checks. We didn’t have any credit cards. Actually, very few people had credit cards in the 60’s! We outfitted our cycles, bought a helmet and goggles (no windscreen) and drove to David, Panama. David, is about 27 miles from the Costa Rican border. Our plan was to get up early and be at the border when they opened…7:00am in the morning. Well the rains had begun. We were hoping to miss the monsoon season but caught one monster rain. At one point on the way to David, the highway was all mud and not paved. We had to take off the front fender, get off the bike, put it in first gear and walk the bike in the mud for about 5 miles until we hit pavement. We tried to ride but after laying the bike down two times at about 5mph, we realized we had to walk. We cleaned off the cycles with a pressure hose and I soon learned a little bit of mechanics. The cold water from the hose hit the porcelain end of the hot exposed spark plugs and shattered them. We had brought extra plugs and were able to change them, and adjust the gap. Bikes all set, we slept at the home of a Peace Corps volunteer in David, all excited about the next day and our crossing into Costa Rica. We got to the border at 7am and calamity hit! I had put all my papers in a plastic bag and placed them at the top of my duffle which was held tight by parachute nylon line. Unfortunately I did not use bungee cords which always remain taut. The lines had loosened in the 27 mile journey to the border and the plastic bag with all my papers fell out along the highway somewhere. Unable to cross the border without the proper papers and despondent over my predicament and concerned about my Bolivian buddy I told him that he had waited long enough for me. We came up with a plan. I had to fly back to Panama City in a small plane and get duplicate papers, passport etc. I told him to stop in all the capital cities in the Central American countries we were to visit and I would check in at the local Peace Corps office and see if he was in the vicinity. He went on his way and I traveled the 27 miles between the border to David, Panama on the shoulder of the road (facing traffic) looking for the papers. I didn’t find them. I made the trip two times just in case. They had fallen into a ravine and were returned to the Peace Corps office by a campesino (local farmer) after I had returned to the States. As it turned out, it was a bureaucratic miracle that I was able to fly back and get all my papers the next day. They were upset at the US Embassy that I had lost my passport as it was worth about $1,000.00 on the Black Market. I flew back to David, and hit the Costa Rican border the next morning. I was only 4 days behind him. With this motivation I set out on the trip with a purpose. I was 3 days behind when I entered Nicaragua, 2 days behind in the Honduras, 1 day behind in El Salvador and when I arrived at the Peace Corps office in Guatemala they said he had left a few hours before. The realization then hit me….he was heading for California and the west side of Mexico via Acapulco and I was headed for the east side of Mexico via Vera Cruz and I wasn’t going to catch him. The unfortunate part of this was that I wasn’t able to enjoy that part of the trip as it was more of an endurance run then a vacation ride through some of the prettiest country in the world. I did enjoy the people and their interest in my trip, though many had only the foggiest notion where New York was located.
After I had crossed the border in Costa Rica I had a long trip to the capital, San Jose, but I was determined to make up some time. I should have been more cautious. I had spent two years of my life in a tropical climate with two seasons…wet and dry. The heat and the humidity I experienced is one of the reasons I love the mountains of Arizona! It was approaching 5:00pm in the afternoon and I was still about 20 miles from San Jose as I approached the base of a long mountainous climb. I inquired at a local market about the distance and the time to make the trip and they said the name of the mountain was “Cerro del Muerte”. Being fluent in spanish I should have been more wary of the next part of my journey. Cerro del Muerte means mountain of the dead…… The reason for the name was the number of people who had died climbing the peak and the drastic weather changes at night. I was used to 75-95 heat changes and the temperature began to drop into the 40’s. Add the wind chill factor from driving the cycle and I knew I was in trouble. Aside from the fact that I had passed the last village an hour ago and I saw no one on the road with the exception of a few travelers in a land rover going in the opposite direction. I was so cold that my legs were playing the drums against the gas tank, because my light windbreaker was not doing the job! Stubbornly moving on at about 10-25 mph I circled and climbed the peak. Reasons for the slow speed; the road was not paved and stones the size of your fist made driving on two wheels a little nerve wracking, obviously no street lights, low visibility and the thinning of the air was affecting the carburetor and the two stroke engine was straining to finish the climb. I never made it to San Jose that night.
Part III and the conclusion next month….
Respectfully submitted, Ira Gibel – tr 532
Leaders and Legends Jane A. Boyles After Janie retired from writing for the SAR Coordinates, it was suggested that someone should write up the accomplishments and contributions she has made over the years. Since I have been with her longer than any other living person has, I suppose I’m the most logical one to do the work. Janie was born in a small Vermont town. Her father a strict disciplinarian was a pulp woodcutter, hunting guide, and mill worker. Her mother was a homemaker who managed her family whether in a wood camp or hunting camp filled with men. As Janie grew up in the environment with lots of older men about, she was accepted in both settings. Those years growing up in rural Vermont and New Hampshire, she learned many outdoor skills. They raised hunting hounds, therefore, Janie took care of them, feeding, training, and doctoring too. She was a skier, tracker, hunter, and a superb shooter with either handgun or rifle. After Janie married, the young couple moved to Alaska to explore the opportunities there. Statehood year was a good time to get involved with the development of a newly emerging state. Working at the polls and with party headquarters brought her into contact with some of the most well known politicians of our era. Not many of us have had Senator Ted Stevens riding to a cabin fire, on the spare tire for a seat, in the back of an old suburban. My first meeting with Janie had been a short time before the Senator’s ride. She called the local Lions Club looking for volunteers to paint the inside of a small building that was to house a community library. I was one of the men that responded. After some years, we both ended up in Sitka where we were married. I was a commercial fisherman and she became my First Mate. Her skills at navigation, eye for weather, and radio skills made her indispensable on our fishing boat. In 76 when we moved to Phoenix, I laid down the law that all volunteering had to stop. Firefighting, medic, teaching shooting to kids, politics, camp councilor, and bus driver were over. So those of you who have met her know that did not happen. Her first entry into SAR work here started when a child was lost in Strawberry. She heard that on the scanner, and was hooked up to assist TRSAR then. After Janie, Little John, and I joined TRSAR, she thought we could do more if we joined Payson Posse, Maricopa, and Coconino SAR units. Training was so important to her that Janie attended all of the seminars, classes, conferences, everywhere in the state and SAR City in Barstow as well. She took NASAR classes in Search Management and passed with an almost perfect score. Due to a ruling by the coordinators, she was forced to limit her participation to only one unit. Tonto Rim was the one we chose. She held a board position for several years as well as other officer jobs. The Basic SAR Academy organizing and presentations was also a job she excelled at. During the course of her association with all of the different groups, she met the people that she wrote about in her articles. Health issues caused her to limit her participation to command and support activities. However that never diminished her from making more individual finds than most of the more physically able. There were several other organizations in which Janie was a supporting member, but by far her greatest service has been to her family. Janie’s girls have medical degrees, Little John is taking classes to further his education. And then above all of those accomplishments she has been my wife and life companion for over 30 years. She kept me going through several life threatening ordeals. Janie is my greatest treasure. Truly Jane Boyles is a Leader and Legend in her own lifetime ---THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE. J E Boyles 510
Mission Archives (Editor’s note: The following is an official letter that was written by Sgt Terry Hudgens to Sheriff Joe Rodriquez as a recap of a search and thereby paying homage to a dedicated group of volunteers.) On 12-1-94 at about 3 PM a 20 year old girl, Shellie Fuller, became lost while hiking with five of her friends in Fossil Creek Canyon. While out of site of the friends, she took a wrong turn and went deeper into the Fossil Creek Wilderness. Her friends noticed her missing after returning to the trailhead and called the Sheriff’s Office at 8 PM. Temperatures at the beginning of the search were already below freezing and the victim had no equipment, matches or warm clothing. Foot teams from Tonto Rim Search and Rescue Squad, a horseback team consisting of Deputy Dareld Hunsacker, and his father, Lee, and a team from the Gila County Sheriff’s Posse were called out. The teams consisted of Don Muise, Bob Hudson, Joyce Hudson, Mike Larkins, Mike Williams, Mike Taylor, Kim Couch, Rick Heffernon, and Rob Herrin of Tonto Rim and Chuck Heron and Russ Vanderpool of the Posse. Jane Boyles of Tonto Rim assisted at the Command Post. The teams who went into Fossil Creek Canyon isolated the victim’s track from others on the trail at approximately 11:30 PM. They tracked her movements in the canyon and, shortly after midnight, found her tracks going up Fossil Creek toward Calf Pen Canyon. The teams tracked the victim all night long up the canyon, continually deeper into the wilderness, in very difficult terrain which included long stretches of bare rock. At 7:24 AM, just at dawn, the teams made verbal contact with the victim. She was approximately 3 miles from the point where she made the wrong turn. She was on a ridge and out of sight. DPS helicopter, Ranger 36, who had just arrived in the area, assisted the teams in pinpointing the victim. She was contacted and found to be cold but in good condition. Searchers shared their warm clothing with the victim and she was airlifted out. The dedication and expertise of these volunteers probably saved the live of this young woman. She was headed deeper into the Wilderness area and further from normal search areas. She was not equipped, either physically or mentally, for survival. This mission, thanks to these people, was search and rescue at its best. Sheriff’s departments in Arizona are mandated by law to conduct search and rescue operations. It is only possible when they have volunteers of this caliber. I am grateful that we have such people on whom we can depend. Sgt. Terry Hudgens Gila County Sheriff’s Office
Photos We are in need of SAR photos during trainings and missions that can be used on the website. Please share any you currently have and take your camera to SAR events of all types so you can collect more for us. Send them on CD or DVD by mail to:
Jack Quinn Or phone Jack
and he will make arrangements to pick them up.
Fun Website Explains What It Means to Be in SAR Website Tonto Rim SAR Members can now have your very own email address through our site. Just contact our Webmaster at jack@jackswebs.com to arrange for it, no cost to you or us.
We are promoted and you’ll also find our newsletter on the Rim Country Volunteer site; http://www.inpayson.com/Tonto_Rim_Search_and_Rescue_Payson_Arizona.htm
Correspondent The Squad is in need of someone to write a regular column for the Newsletter. At least one of you has the talent for this task. Please step forward and help our Squad. And we can use more than one.
On a separate note, I believe each one of our members has a one-time story that needs to be shared. Please write it up and get it to your editor.
February 2005 Training Schedule
10 Feb There will be a Class after the member meeting (TBA). ____________________________________________________________________________________ 12 Feb. (Sat) Man Tracking Training– Time: 0900 – Location: County Yard – Instructor; J. Martin ____________________________________________________________________________________ 19 Feb. (Sat) Rope Training – Time: 0900 – Place: Box Canyon – Roger Miotto and rope instructors in charge ____________________________________________________________________________________ 25 Feb. (Fri) ATV Ride - Time: 900 – Location. (TBA) Instructor: Don Johnson ____________________________________________________________________________________ 2-3 April ( Sat, Sun ) SAR Academy – Time: 900 – Location : Cultural Hall in Pine ____________________________________________________________________________________ Planned Training Sessions (after next general meeting)April 2005 Medical Type Classes – Place: Ira Gibel’s Home – Time: TBA – Instructor: Ira Gibel ____________________________________________________________________________________ Planned ATV Rodeo – All squad members - Instructor: John Avery ____________________________________________________________________________________ Planned Navigation Classroom (with exercises) – Basic GPS Settings and Techniques - Instructor: Les Hulse ____________________________________________________________________________________ Planned Navigation Classroom (with exercises) – Basic Map and Compass Techniques (no GPS) – Instructor: Les Hulse ____________________________________________________________________________________ Planned Traffic control class will be put on by the Sheriff office ____________________________________________________________________________________ Requested Training Sessions
? If you would like to volunteer to run a training session, or if you have a training session request contact any Board Member or Don Johnson Italics = Sign-up required to attend this training P To reserve use of squad ATV, contact John Avery at 928-476-2106 or 480-892-4424 Jacket, gloves, boots, helmet, and eye protection required to operate Squad ATV ____________________________________________________________________________________ Navigation Route (self-practice) exercising GPS and magnetic bearing functions: From the starting point at the FR 194 sign: 1 – Go to 0450015E – 3803405N (stake H) 2 – Go 818 ft at bearing 63° (stake C) 3 – Go to 0450274E – 3803339N (stake D) 4 – Go 498 ft at bearing 231° (stake A) 5 – Go to 0450170E – 3803121N (stake O) 6 – Return to start The total walking length of this route is 3388 ft. (about 0.65 mile) measured from FR 194 marker. _________________________________________________________________________ Thanks to those who contributed to this issue of the newsletter. Mike 502, Editor@trsar.org |
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