eTrex Vista - Just Add Water for Remote Desert Rescue

My wife and I enjoy exploring the backcountry roads and trails of Arizona in our off-road vehicle. The topography is very interesting and you can drive all day without seeing another person.

We had been traveling for a few hours, and I had not checked our position. Taking a wrong turn we ended up in a large box canyon high in the mountains. At one end was National Wilderness, so no exit, and at the other were a group of trails, none of which looked familiar. We were disoriented and lost.

We drove back and forth through the canyon looking for a way out when suddenly the engine stopped running. It was later determined to be a faulty ignition switch, but we couldn’t figure it out at the time. Lost in the mountains, on foot, getting dark and cold, things were getting serious.

This was becoming a scary situation. We looked around with binoculars and climbed a few hills to try to get a sense of where we were in relation to where we had been. Nothing looked familiar and all we could see were more mountains.

We had downloaded quadrants from our MapSource Roads and Recreation and Topo CDs so we zoomed the map in and out until we got a good picture of where we were and where nearby towns and roads were. Even if we had to rough it through the night, we were going to be able to walk out. The relief of having some idea of where we were had a positive physical effect on both of us – we had confidence that we could handle the situation.

We climbed to the top of a razor back ridge and finally got a line of sight with the cell phone to call 911. Reaching the Sheriff’s office at a nearby town, we gave the dispatcher our position from our eTrex Vista. Within the hour an air rescue helicopter appeared from below the ridge and took us back to civilization.

When we landed the pilot asked my wife whose toy the GPS was, “yours or your husband’s.” She told him that I had bought it. He said, “Let him have all the toys he wants. The position you gave us was exactly where we found you. ” We had never actually used the eTrex Vista before, except around the neighborhood and in front of the TV. We never had to know how far someplace was and in what direction we needed to go. Oddly enough we didn’t know if we could trust it. Now we know we can. When traveling in remote areas be sure you have the essentials, cell-phone and food, GPS and water.

Thanks,
S and L

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