Trail Plans & SAR

[Capt. Jim]

The saturday night episode of "The Tardy Boys" illustrated to me the need to set up some criteria of when to initiate a Search and Rescue. We made great progress in hand signals while drinking friday night, ( You - are - f***ed comes to mind), but MIA trucks needs to be addressed. Granted, those that are late/stranded may be fine, but those back at camp can and do begin to get worried as time ticks by and it becomes late. I have spent many long nights fixing repairs both in the mountains and the swamps. It's not fun but makes for great camp-fire chatter, I'm sure may of you have done the same.

Pilots file file plans, captains file float plans, hikers file hiking plans, etc. A couple of things came to my mind with respect to this on my drive back home. I also welcome input from all of you. Here are some of my key points:

Advise what trails are to be traveled and in what order, including getting out of the forest.

The number of vehicles and people needs to be noted, as well as the capabilities of the vehicles.

All of us need to carry basic supplies, as I am sure we all do, including proper clothing, food/water, first aid, recover gear, tools, etc.)

Advise of any other gear available, CB, cell phone, visual distress signals, etc.

If held up by breakdown or injury, stay on the designated trails in your plan to help allow SAR to be successful.

Establish when to scramble the troops. In other words, spending a night in the woods should be and is no biggie. Come sun-up, if you are really pinned down, searching and finding will be easier. Everyone has different thresholds of pain, fear, survival ability, etc. Everyone should establish what their ETA back to camp is and what time is their limit before the troops are indeed scrambled.

We need to know the ability of those involved and their vehicles. I believe they need to instruct prior to leaving what to do when.

What else do you all think?

 

[BMThiker]

Great start Capt.

1. State the plan.
2. Publish the plan.
3. Stick to the plan.

It will save ALL some headaches in the end.

 

[Hard40]

Troll and I discussed the same in Tellico. Your suggestions are very good.

 

[Gundy]

I agree

Great start Capt.

1. State the plan.
2. Publish the plan.
3. Stick to the plan.

It will save ALL some headaches in the end.

X2 Perhaps we should require trail plans to be pre-filed at base camp
by members including cell #s. I know members understand how
important GOOD first aide supplies should be. All trucks are required
to have one of these and a fire extinquisher. Food, water and adequate
clothing for those "delays", be it accident or carnage, are also just
plan ol common sense. We should always be prepared for a night
in the woods...just in case.
As in the case of "Tardy Boys" we knew they had all this and more.
They informed us of their route and we knew they would stick with the plan.
4 hours late is cause for worry, but, not unusual at Tellico.
It sure helps knowing members could be counted on to survive
until proper SAR can be undertaken.
I'd just like to see a central registry at Base Camp to include a
given time by trail boss for SAR to commence for his/her team.
Make it the trail team leader's call so to speak.

 

[HercDriver]

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! Let's not get carried away with burdensome protocol; this is about having fun.... and lots of it. As Alan so eloquently stated on Sunday; 'if you sup with the devil, bring a long spoon'. Taking it to the limit is what this is about!!!! As Dan says "Can I Do This"?
Those of us who left the trail on Saturday also contributed to the lack of information by pulling out and not maintaining a listening watch. We (me included, and I know better) violated the cardinal rule: never-ever abandon your wingman.
May I humbly suggest an idea: a well positioned radio watch vehicle could comm w/ about any vehicle on the trails. Our hand-helds have the distance to reach a centrally located watch vehicle. It could be posted high on an accessable trail. That vehicle could act as "communication central" for a real emergency: at least at Tellico, where the trails are relatively close and circuitous. Worse case, it could leave and go for help. I wouldn't mind helping in that manner....
Ken

 

[Capt. Jim]

KISS Principle on this:

Carry all necessary supplies.
State where you are going.
State when you will return
State when to come and look for me if I haven't come home.

 

[cruiser4life]

Keeping it simple would be ideal though it is not always easy. As everyone is well aware, wheeling is a complex activity with limitless variables entering and leaving the picture continually.

I was crystal clear on Saturday as to my reasons for turning around 100 yards into the ride and never having been short on words, am happy to review again if necessary.

EDIT to say I do agree with Jim's initial post (and one posted at the same time as me above). Being a life long boater and having spent plenty of time in private aircraft, I am more than familiar with the value of prearranged provisioning and emergency preparedness in the case of unexpected challenges and hurdles.

 

[Trollhole]

I will be the first to agree that things didn't turn out exactly as I had envisioned them Sat. In fact there were a lot of things that could have been done differently the whole weekend. And my injury caused a lot of these things not to happen. As the leader of the club I failed in a lot of aspects on this trip. I don't plan on letting these things happen again.

But I cannot do it by myself. I need others to step up to the plate when I'm absent or down. The need for safety and trail planning is one thing we are lacking. I want everyone who atttends these trips to feel like they are in good hands. There will be a lot of things that will change for our next trail ride (Cullowhee) in the next few weeks with the help of you, UC members we will set up a procedure that

1. Keeps us safe.
2. Keeps everyone informed
3. Keeps trailrides just as fun as they have been in the past and better.

Stay tuned.

 

[CruisinTiger]

I'm equally to blame Marshall as the safety coordinator I should of held a meeting when we had to abandon some vehicles, mine included, and to what the plan was to be for the rest of the trip. But I let my excitement take over on the chance to go wheel some new trails with Alan and Jim. And I really wasn;t concerend about us but more of Dan and Rick and if they were going to make it back to the cabin and not stuck on the trail with a broken rig. Hind sight is always 20/20...this time we were fortunate but it may not always turn out that way....One night this week Marshall we'll talk and come up with some pre-lims on action plans. And we'll contunue to have fun like Ken said!

 

[Capt. Jim]

And we'll contunue to have fun like Ken said!

x2.

 

[CandyPants]

I think, although not formal, we knew where the "tardy boys" were (in general). There were no maps, no plans on file, etc. But if push came to shove, I will bet you that we could have gotten to them if we needed to. If it came down to it, I'd wheel the crap out of my cruiser to get to them. Granted I am prett conservative, but if my friends are in danger, look out! I think y'all would do the same. Thats why I love this group so much. I know that if I was in trouble, you would be there for me.

That being said, I don't think having a Standard Operation Procedure is a bad thing.

 

[BMThiker]

I think, although not formal, we knew where the "tardy boys" were (in general). There were no maps, no plans on file, etc. But if push came to shove, I will bet you that we could have gotten to them if we needed to. If it came down to it, I'd wheel the crap out of my cruiser to get to them. Granted I am prett conservative, but if my friends are in danger, look out! I think y'all would do the same. Thats why I love this group so much. I know that if I was in trouble, you would be there for me.

That being said, I don't think having a Standard Operation Procedure is a bad thing.

Whatever it takes!

(sorry, I couldn't resist)

 

[GXO]

SOP is a good idea. We should do it. Simple is better.

I will tell you that I wasn't worried about the guys at all. I have seen this play out time and time again at Tellico. I believe it is our job as a club to make smart decisions. It is also up to the individual. If the guys decided to wheel on they knew they could break due to the trails they selected. They knew it could take a long time. They knew they were on their own with two trucks. They also knew that we would have come out for them if it got too late.

I have recovered people at Tellico before. It is best to get the person, leave the rig and come back in the daylight. Not too complex here. The real way SOP can help here is to know that the BEST way to get help if you break at Tellico is to walk out the way you came in. Get to the easy trails, stay on them, and wait for traffic to come by.

I broke. I knew I could get back to the cabin, even with carnage. I prepared the truck for this eventuality. Not everyone is. This is another things that happens at Tellico. Be prepared. If you aren't, reconsider your trail selection.

Personally, this is what I would expect:

1. I will tell you what trails, in what order, I will be running.
2. I will ALWAYS try to be back to camp before dark or within 1-2 hours of dark. Wheeling Tellico at night is not a good idea. Night wheeling in general is extremely dangerous.
3. If I break or need to stop wheeling, I leave the way I came in. This is a general rule, but knowing how you get back is just as important as where you were planning to go. This can change if you get past difficult obstacles and the easiest path is another route.
4. I expect that if I can't get back to the base camp within 2 hours after dark that people start talking about what did transpire to assess the need to go out looking.
5. I expect that within 4 hours after dark (which we were right up against that wall on this trip) that two vehicles scout the entry routes to the trails to see if anyone is sitting there, hiking out, etc. Never travel alone, to scout or to hike out.

The issue we had on Saturday had everything to do with the cabin being far and unfamiliar from the trail. Yes, it was nice, yes it was posh. I loved it.

I would recommend we consider a closer, more familiar place the next time with less road time to the trail so people tired, lost, or broken can limp back to base camp easier.

I REALLY loved the place we stayed at, I hated the distance as I limped back with two rear broken axles.

 

[Trollhole]

Bump. Because there are some good ideas here.

 

[BMThiker]

I see.

 

[Turkeypen]

How did I miss this thread? Glad to hear all turned out well in the end. Marshall, were you injured?

Sounds like a communications issue. I know Capt. Jim and I are in the Ham world, eventhough the club relies on FRS. The Ham world out west has established 146.46 as the trails frequency. Should we establish an FRS channel as the standard Upstate Cruisers channel? Should we encourage Ham? (Guys, becoming a Ham was both cheap and easy!) I doubt there is anywhere out at Cullowhee down to Speedwell that can't be covered on simplex.

The problem I have seen on my limited runs is that you have to get "there" before you know what channel, and for people like me who come in after dark, I sometimes don't know.