cfdjay
WKR
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2016
- Messages
- 598
I wanted to do a little write up on my experience because I truly don't want to see any of my fellow outdoorsmen go through what I did/am at the moment. Let me start by saying these things are all relative to what I consider real "tragedy" or real "problems". It was time, it was money, and it was headache. All of which, in the grand scheme of things, are nonsense.
On Aug 15 I set out on what would be one of the longest and mistake-laden, near-miss tragedy trips in my life. I hope with sharing these lessons and experiences it will spawn some "Ah ha" moments, spark some ideas, or at a minimum, start a healthy conversation on trip prep. I'm going to write this the best way I can in the sense of the problem, the prep and/or planning that solved said problem or the lack of each that led to bigger problems. Sometimes, even through all the planning and preparation, we don't know what we don't know. It ends up being reactive instead of proactive.
My trip would begin in Wyoming for Antelope and move on to Colorado for Elk. On day 4 after killing my antelope, I drove around with a friend who was a local, glassing and looking for elk just to pass the time before I got on the road. I left my bino harness which included my rangefinder and binos in his truck. I didn't realize it until I got to Colorado. Thank goodness for my friend. He was able to overnight them to my lodging in Colorado.
Once in Colorado it was smooth sailing..until it wasn't. I made it down a treacherous driveable trail realizing that if something happens to my truck up there, I'm screwed. After 3 days and no elk in spot "x" I decided to head back to the trailhead and resupply before moving on to spot "y" off the same trailhead. Once at the truck, I felt in my pocket for my keys and realized my pocket was inside out and my keys were gone. I was stranded. I was able to reach some family via my Inreach and they overnighted a spare set to some friends in Colorado. They were up for an adventure and personally delivered the keys to me at the trailhead. Talk about good friends.
After those hiccups the trip was fairly normal with the pains of uncontrollable things like weather and other hunters. Pretty typical and expected. After exhausting all my planned spots and being overrun with disrespectful hunters (that's another story in and of itself) I decided to call it a trip. I packed up and headed back to Wyoming to pick up my antelope meat my buddy was keeping in his freezer for me. I was 5 miles from town going 80 mph when I lost power steering. I limped to the berm and popped to hood and had a small fire in the engine compartment. I was able to extinguish it with the ol' thumb over the end of a shaken Monster can technique. Called AAA and had it towed to the nearest Ford dealership. This is where the fun begins.
After contacting my insurance I was told it would take 7-10 days to get an adjuster to where I was. Unacceptable. I don't have that kind of time to sit here in a hotel of which they weren't going to reimburse me for. They would not cover lodging or a rental. So there I sat, 1300 miles from home with very few options. Several thousand dollars later and a uhaul rental, yes a uhaul, I finally made it back.
I already know 100% some of you have slapped your forehead and said to yourself "what a dumbass" or what a "rookie". I honestly don't care. I'm willing to take the role if reading this saves someone what I just went through. The BS does NOT IN ANY WAY overshadow the amazing experience I had.
Lessons
1) Have some sort of assured communication. My Inreach was priceless
2) Not always possible but try to have someone within reasonable distance you can count on
3) I highly recommend AAA Premium. The trip interruption reimbursement is going to help a ton. Assuming they honor it
4) Have a plan for "must have" items. A second set of vehicle keys is one of them.
5) This to me is probably the most important and overlooked one. Contact your insurance with "what if" scenarios. I'd recommend email so you have it writing. Good luck sifting through your policy. Make them spell it out for you. Your agents word isn't necessarily Gospel. For example: My vehicle insurance covers me on rental cars. I assumed that works for Uhaul since, well, it's a RENTAL. Nope. Had to get uhaul's insurance because it's considered commercial. Devil is in the details.
Soooooo, I hope maybe this can help someone. If any questions come up I'll do my best to answer them. Maybe some of these things seem like common sense. They were to me after the fact....
On Aug 15 I set out on what would be one of the longest and mistake-laden, near-miss tragedy trips in my life. I hope with sharing these lessons and experiences it will spawn some "Ah ha" moments, spark some ideas, or at a minimum, start a healthy conversation on trip prep. I'm going to write this the best way I can in the sense of the problem, the prep and/or planning that solved said problem or the lack of each that led to bigger problems. Sometimes, even through all the planning and preparation, we don't know what we don't know. It ends up being reactive instead of proactive.
My trip would begin in Wyoming for Antelope and move on to Colorado for Elk. On day 4 after killing my antelope, I drove around with a friend who was a local, glassing and looking for elk just to pass the time before I got on the road. I left my bino harness which included my rangefinder and binos in his truck. I didn't realize it until I got to Colorado. Thank goodness for my friend. He was able to overnight them to my lodging in Colorado.
Once in Colorado it was smooth sailing..until it wasn't. I made it down a treacherous driveable trail realizing that if something happens to my truck up there, I'm screwed. After 3 days and no elk in spot "x" I decided to head back to the trailhead and resupply before moving on to spot "y" off the same trailhead. Once at the truck, I felt in my pocket for my keys and realized my pocket was inside out and my keys were gone. I was stranded. I was able to reach some family via my Inreach and they overnighted a spare set to some friends in Colorado. They were up for an adventure and personally delivered the keys to me at the trailhead. Talk about good friends.
After those hiccups the trip was fairly normal with the pains of uncontrollable things like weather and other hunters. Pretty typical and expected. After exhausting all my planned spots and being overrun with disrespectful hunters (that's another story in and of itself) I decided to call it a trip. I packed up and headed back to Wyoming to pick up my antelope meat my buddy was keeping in his freezer for me. I was 5 miles from town going 80 mph when I lost power steering. I limped to the berm and popped to hood and had a small fire in the engine compartment. I was able to extinguish it with the ol' thumb over the end of a shaken Monster can technique. Called AAA and had it towed to the nearest Ford dealership. This is where the fun begins.
After contacting my insurance I was told it would take 7-10 days to get an adjuster to where I was. Unacceptable. I don't have that kind of time to sit here in a hotel of which they weren't going to reimburse me for. They would not cover lodging or a rental. So there I sat, 1300 miles from home with very few options. Several thousand dollars later and a uhaul rental, yes a uhaul, I finally made it back.
I already know 100% some of you have slapped your forehead and said to yourself "what a dumbass" or what a "rookie". I honestly don't care. I'm willing to take the role if reading this saves someone what I just went through. The BS does NOT IN ANY WAY overshadow the amazing experience I had.
Lessons
1) Have some sort of assured communication. My Inreach was priceless
2) Not always possible but try to have someone within reasonable distance you can count on
3) I highly recommend AAA Premium. The trip interruption reimbursement is going to help a ton. Assuming they honor it
4) Have a plan for "must have" items. A second set of vehicle keys is one of them.
5) This to me is probably the most important and overlooked one. Contact your insurance with "what if" scenarios. I'd recommend email so you have it writing. Good luck sifting through your policy. Make them spell it out for you. Your agents word isn't necessarily Gospel. For example: My vehicle insurance covers me on rental cars. I assumed that works for Uhaul since, well, it's a RENTAL. Nope. Had to get uhaul's insurance because it's considered commercial. Devil is in the details.
Soooooo, I hope maybe this can help someone. If any questions come up I'll do my best to answer them. Maybe some of these things seem like common sense. They were to me after the fact....
