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This is the story how Red Rock Search & Rescue helped me, David Smith, creator of LasVegasAreaTrails.com, safely back to the trailhead!
The adventure route that day was to:
The temperature in the Las Vegas Valley on this mid-May day was 95 degrees. It was cooler along this adventure route, but was still fairly hot and dry. The South branch of Pine Creek Canyon was incredibly beautiful. The creek was flowing, but at a low level that allowed us to avoid getting our feet wet. Navigating was more challenging than my customary trail and ridge hiking and running, but the challenge added to the enjoyment of the adventure. As was my practice, I spent a good amount of time documenting the adventure with pictures and videos. So involved was I in that activity that I did not realize I was substituting rest time for the activity of picture and video documentation. The sum total of no rest plus playing “catch-up” all the way to Rainbow Wall summit was quietly adding to a growing exhaustion factor. I knew common sense indicated it was vital to give yourself rest time during a challenging wilderness adventure… however, I wasn’t listing to my body. Too much fun along the way!
Then came the rock climb to the summit of Rainbow Wall. In my videos, I often remark, “I’m a trail runner, not a rock climber.” However, I often take videos of rock climbers, admiring their skill in being able to handle such terrain. Wonder of wonders, today I found myself able to scale near-vertical cracks and navigate ledges, given the experienced guidance of my adventure partners. They were highly experienced in navigating more Rainbow Mountain canyons and summit routes than I previously knew existed. Still, the unfamiliar terrain and style often put my mind into a survival/stress mode which I found added to the energy drain, even during today’s happy discovery that rock climbing just might be a possibility for me!
The pictures and videos added over an hour to the time it took to traverse the route. In addition, I find that the second time I traverse a wilderness route I’m about 30% faster and able to move along with more ease.
When we arrived at the summit of Rainbow Wall I was totally captivated by the spectacular view. There was Mt. Wilson to the South, Bridge Mountain to the North and the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline above to the West. It was amazing to see these major vantage points, where I had previously stood, from this new perspective. Though I knew I was tired, I was too focused on the wonder of where I was and how I’d gotten there. I was in an adventure story I’d never imagined possible. Wonderful disbelief! Every picture and video a rare keepsake!
As we headed down into Oak Creek Canyon, we were losing the light, due in a large part to the time I had added to the adventure. In my thinking, and according to many others, Oak Creek Canyon is more challenging than Pine Creek Canyon. There are huge boulders, ledges and thick brush to navigate throughout the canyon. The route in broad daylight can be confusing. It’s a fun puzzle in daylight, but can be a bit frightening in the dark! We got to a point where a few route options we tried in the dark ended in looking over the black abyss of an unsure drop-off. So, we decided to wait out the night by the side of Oak Creek. It turned out to be a sleepless night with a relentlessly cold wind streaming down the canyon and penetrating everything!
With a totally exhausted water supply, one saving grace was that Oak Creek was flowing and one of the climbers had a water filter! That literally saved my life. I filled every water container I had…ending up with about 4 liters of water. Seemed like overkill, but turned out I was to need every ounce. Note that Summer through Fall water might be hard to find.
The next morning in the blessed full light of day the complicated route down Oak Creek Canyon was more of a fun challenging puzzle the the previous nights dark frightening experience. But it was “rush, rush” again, no pictures or videos today as we all knew that concerned family members who had expected us back the previous day would be both frightened and ultimately angry!
We reached the mouth of Oak Creek Canyon and were on the home stretch back to the Pine Creek Canyon trailhead! One of the climbers had a dentist appointment to cancel, and successfully used my phone to call and cancel. I sent a text to my girlfriend and life partner Darlene, assuming that from the same phone at the same place, the text would easily go through. Bad assumption…I only discovered later that day that the text did not go through! Darlene called Red Rock Search and Rescue initiating the search mission.
That last 1.9-mile stretch along the Knoll Trail toward the Pine Creek Canyon Trailhead, I knew I was in trouble. I learned something new: You can become so dehydrated and exhausted that, even though you an adequate food and water supply, your body begins to refuse the food and water!
That final stretch was hot and through the open desert. I was seriously exhausted and dehydrated, and knew I had to cool my body temperature down before my body would again accept food and water.
About 99.9% of my weekly wilderness adventures through the preceding 40 years have been solo adventures. I naturally reverted to my tried-and-true solo adventure strategy, sending the others ahead so that I could take serious time to cool and nurse myself back to the trailhead. Traveling about a half-mile every hour, from the shade of one large boulder to the next, I rested in the shade for about 45 minutes at each boulder, with a wet towel over my head. The breeze in the shade wonderfully began to cool and revive me…at least enough to get to the next boulder’s shade!
And so, I was resting in the shade of a boulder near the mouth of Juniper Canyon, only about a mile from Pine Creek Canyon, when I heard my name being called! And then a line of helmeted, orange-vested hikers came into view. I knew in that moment that Red Rock Search and Rescue had been called! My first thought: “Boy am I in trouble!” They almost walked past me, though I was in plain sight only about 15 feet from the trail. This shows how one can be lost to others in the desert, even in plain sight! That’s why we don’t see all the animals that are looking at us as we’re hiking along.
I called to the rescue team, embarrassed that I had become one of those hikers who needed to be found and helped. They came to me. I was amazed how, instead of showing judgement for my having landed myself in this situation, I found myself totally surrounded by encouraging, healing care and help. And, what a professional, skilled process! They immediately began giving me water infused with electrolytes. I could drink that water! In fact, I can’t count how many bottles I downed in just a few minutes. They gave me reviving fruit jerky…the best stuff I’ve ever tasted in my life…probably given my current condition. They checked my vitals and asked me the kind of questions medical people ask to help determine if a person is mentally okay. They asked if I needed a helicopter rescue…the helicopter was already on the way. I said I was sure I could walk to the trailhead.
Curiously, one of the rescue team members seemed happily surprised that they’d actually “found someone”. It was only a few days later when I went to the Red Rock Search and Rescue website testimonial page, that I discovered that many times, the object of a rescue mission is not found, or found alive! I began to appreciate the surprisingly fine line between being a happy explorer on one hand, and getting seriously in trouble in the desert wilderness on the other hand.
We turned around and headed down to the Oak Creek Canyon trailhead where they’d set up headquarters. I made that final mile or two back to the trailhead at a good pace, feeling totally revived and recovered thanks to the care I’d just received. I was revived enough to create a short video introducing the rescue team. Then, a police officer/ranger drove me back to the Pine Creek Canyon Trailhead. There was Darlene’s daughter and a couple friends…totally relieved and happy to see me well. The search and rescue team at that trailhead asked if it would be okay for their rescue dog to find me. The dog was on the other side of the parking lot and had only smelled my car. With that little information he quickly and directly located me. Pretty amazing!
Darlene’s daughter suggested, and then insisted that I be checked out at the emergency room. Reluctantly, I finally agreed. Here’s where the extent of my condition came into sharper focus. They checked my CK level, a measurement of kidney hydration and health. The normal CK level is around 200 (see the video). My CK level was 6000, indicating risk of irreversible kidney damage in the absence of immediate intervention. All the time I was feeling fine and ready to head back home! They admitted me into the hospital for three days of IV rehydration. This to me is a warning. Even though I had just been feeling exhausted, and then later totally revived, there were serious hidden issues.
Now the significance of all those who came to my aid that day, family, rangers and Red Rock Search and Rescue…the significance of all of this is far more clear.
As is my practice, I like to analyze everything, so I’ve gone back over the entire wilderness adventure and rescue. I still have an element of disbelief that I of all people got into this situation, requiring rescue and intervention. The video on this page documents what I learned about how this could happen, and how it might have been avoided. I’ve made some important discoveries that call for an upgrade in my 40-year wilderness adventure strategy. I offer these learnings in the video on this page in the chance that some of these learnings might also help others.
In the video on this page I measure my adventure safety factor using a simple T-chart. When the factors on the WARNING side of the chart exceed the factors on the OKAY side of the chart, it’s time to take action. The video and T-Chart describe how I got into a troubled situation, factor by factor.
I’m continually refining my wilderness strategy based on experience. In the video I list and describe some of the new safety factors I will add to the mix, and some of the safety factors that I will continue to employ…factors that helped result in a positive end to this incident.
David Smith has devoted the better part of one day each week over the past 20 years to experiencing a mountain trail running adventure. He began in the Pacific Northwest with the Columbia Gorge and Cascade Mountains; then moved to Southern California and experienced the Angeles Crest mountains; then the Northeast where he experienced the Hudson River Valley and Minnewaska; finally in 2016 to Las Vegas where he is experiencing and documenting Red Rock Canyon, the Spring Mountains (Mt. Charleston area), Death Valley and beyond!
Return often to experience one new adventure each week! From the home page scroll to “Most Recent Adventures“. More about David Smith…
The trail adventures on this website require proper conditioning, preparation and safety precautions. There are many factors beyond our control including weather conditions, unstable ground, loose rocks, insects and snakes, people you may encounter, your own level of physical conditioning, the potential of getting lost just to mention a few. While this site offers guidance, helpful tips, direction and training, the reader assumes full responsibility for whatever may occur during their trail adventure. Have fun and be safe!
