Trip Report

“Hello

I've been around this site for many years now and usually do not contribute to trip reports but posting this trip report will help me recover from the experience.

This is a story of what happen one summer day recently. To some it was just another warm pleasant summer day in the mountains but what happen to Jack and I on this day was far from anything pleasant. I think no one should have to experience what happen this day, but for some reason this happen to Jack and I. This story is what happen and what I was thinking at the time. It has made me look at life in a different way.

It was the week of the Death Ride in the Sierra Nevada’s and the day started out wonderful. Jack and I had been backpacking for days and were going to drive up 395 to Tahoe where I was to meet my family (wife & kids) for 2-3 days of relaxing and enjoyment. We just came out from a multi-day backpacking trip and got some things to eat (hamburgers, shakes, Mexican food, etc.) it was real good food. Man I stuffed myself... one was an all you can eat type place. I love those places. Two days later, we started the trip home. The real story of my life event did not happen until we were well on our way home that afternoon.
It was later in the afternoon, I think around 5 or so. We had just started down the other side of the Sierras you know what I’m talking about if you have drove 50 from Tahoe. The road was winding and real narrow near Echo. Cars were whizzing by just inches from us heading east toward Tahoe, some were going faster than others. Traffic heading west was light because it was a Saturday afternoon and most people don’t head home until Sunday. Jack was sitting back with his eyes closed, man he was tired. I was just content driving, my mind was wondering on the things that were going on in my life. You know what I mean when you have to drive for long periods of time, you are kind of in a daze driving. I was really not thinking to hard on any one thing and kind of enjoying the forest as I was driving. I think there were maybe one or two cars in front of us but they were a ways ahead. The weather was clear and warm and the sun felt good on my face. Then it happen!!!!
At first I did not pay to much attention to it but is got my attention real fast! This Ford Explorer had been going a little to fast around the turn and the tires on the right side went off the road a little. At first I though no big deal, he will just come back on the pavement. Well he did,,, but he over corrected and he was headed right at me head on!!! In that split second there was a plethora of things that ran through my mind. How was I going to get out of this guys way? I have a side of a mountain to my right and had no where to go. Who will take care of my kids if I die? Crap! Jack does not have his seatbelt on. Will the wife be ok if I die, and do I have enough life insurance that will take care of her and the kids? I yelled “Oh Sh**” Then it happened. I got a glimpse of the man’s face. He had a look of shear terror and surprise on his face and I’m sure I had the same look. Oh my God he is going to hit me! At the last moment he whipped the wheel of his SUV to the right to avoid hitting me head on.

I was real surprised how fast that Ford Explorer flipped over!!!! Jack opened his eyes just in time to see it flip over and fly off the cliff into the trees. In that moment I don’t think I have ever experienced such a rush of adrenalin and fear in my life. I don’t think Jack knows how close we were to dying or at the very least hurt real bad. I had to pull up the road about 50 more yards or so. I had a shear rock wall on my right and I did not want to leave my Jeep in the middle of the highway and cause more accidents. When I pulled off the road, I think Jack was out of the Jeep even before it stopped. I would have too but I did not have any shoes on, so I had to stop and put them on. I finally got my boots on and ran across the highway.

When I got to the edge of the cliff, I was not ready to see what lay before me. The red Ford was smashed in every way you could think of and laying on its side wedged up against the base of some big pine trees. If I had not seen it before the wreck I would have no idea what kind of car it was. The scene was just like something out of the move, the horn was going off, smoke was coming from the SUV, and the contents of the guys belongings laid all over the place. But this was real!!! The smell of gas was real heavy in the air mixed in with the sweet pine trees and I could taste all the dust that had been stirred up by the SUV plowing down the side of the mountain and bouncing off the trees. Jack was about half way to the SUV, it was about 30 yards off the side of the road. I started my way down; I was kind of surprised that Jack and I were the only ones heading down. A few other people were standing on the side of the road just looking. I though to myself, either help or go!

I was about half way down to the SUV when Jack finally got to it. I can remember him yelling, “hey are you ok…are you ok?”. Jack was looking into the SUV with frantic movements, then he stop and looked up at me with a real bewildered look on his face and said “were is he?” “Were the hell is all the people?” “I know someone had to be driving”. I was still on my way down. It was hard going as the hill was steep and the ground was real soft dirt. I was using the trees to brace myself so I would not tumble down the side of the hill. I was yelling at Jack to be careful, with all the gas leaking out of that thing it could blow up at any moment, or even worst start rolling right on top of him. The horn was still going off and the noise of that made it hard to hear what Jack was saying but he started heading away from the SUV. I figured out what he said and start looking too.

I finally made it to the SUV and started looking around to see if we could find this guy. By that time there was about twenty or so people standing on the side of the road just looking at Jack and I and the SUV. One other guy started on his way down at this point. And then I saw him! Right at the same moment my eyes caught something that did not look right another person yelled, “There he is!” and I was looking right at him. He was about 30 yards away laying face down on some rocks. I was looking at were he was and I thought to myself “How the hell did you get there?” He must have had to hit a dozen trees or so to have landed there. At that point Jack was the closest to him and other guy that had started his way down. I started to make my way over to him; it was a little further down from the SUV through a bunch of trees. I had to use the trees to keep from falling over.
Jack got to him first, and started to yell “Hey man you ok?” and nothing. He put his hand on the guy’s neck to see if he had a pulse and the other on his back to see if he was breathing. I remember looking at this man’s lifeless body and thinking “That could be me or Jack if we were to of hit this guy head on.” The man had no pulse and was not breathing, man what the hell can we do to help this guy, Jack and I both knew first aid because we both were XNavy. I thought it was strange at first that the man’s pants were around his knees but then I realized the trees must have pulled them down as he was flying threw them. I know at that point he must be dead. I was about ten feet from him and Jack, the other guy was standing over the body helping Jack. I froze; I was not going to get any closer. I knew he was dead and I did not want to see the horror of this guy’s broken body up close. Jack asked the other guy “should we start CPR or something” the guy said he was trained in first aid and he was not going to do it because he did not have any thing to protect himself from the blood.
At that point I remember people talking up on the road asking each other if someone had called the police or something. The problem was we were in the middle of nowhere and none of our cell phones worked. Jack and I just stood there not knowing what to do. Man I have never felt such a feeling of helplessness in my life. We might have been able to save this guys life if only……. At that point a few other guys came down to see if they could help, one of them some how disconnected the horn, it had been going off all this time. It is weird now that I think about it, I did not even notice it was going off once we found this guy. I had tunnel vision, everything around me was moving in slow motion and all I could see was this guy laying on the rocks.
Jack and the other guy helping him decided to try and turn the guy over and maybe start CPR. They rolled him over but the way he was laying on the rocks, his head was up higher than his feet and he was on a hill. He was kind of laying on a big rock, so when they tried to roll him over he fell backwards and his legs folded up under him. Seeing that reminded me of something I had seen on T.V. one time. It was on the Nazi, it was when they were throwing all the dead bodies into a big pit, how they just rolled and flopped around, lifeless like jello, DEAD!
At that point I could see this guys face again. Jack found the guys bag lying near by and slip it under his head. He was a middle-aged guy I would say around 45 or 50. He had graying hair but not to gray. He looked a little over weight but not real fat. Just a normal white middle-age guy, the kind you would see walking around the mall. As I looked at this guys face again, I realized he was someone’s father, husband, or grandfather. He had a family that is never going to see him alive again or hear him laugh, cry, talk, feel his hug or anything else like that. I was the last person on earth to see him alive. Man that hit me like a ton of bricks and I just wanted to cry. How sad….but then I also realized his last action on this earth saved my life as well as Jack. I thank him for that but it was a high price to pay on his part. He paid with his life. I had more thoughts run throw my mind, how stupid can you be, not wearing your seatbelt on a road like this. I think Jack even said that as he was standing over the guy’s body, but he did not have his on either. Maybe he was talking to himself?
After they rolled him over Jack told me later, that when he went to straighten out his legs because they were all folded up under him, he could hear and feel the bones cracking inside. Man this guy must have had some real major internal injuries; I don’t think we could have done anything for him. He had some scrapes and gashes that I could see. He had a real big hole in his stomach which was filled up with blood, he was in bad shape. At that point I wanted to throw up but I could not for some reason. I was just glad when Jack rolled him over, he had not hit a tree with his face. I don’t think I could have handled seeing his face all smashed in. We just stood there, we pulled up his eyelid to see if maybe his eye would dilate and he might be alive, but there was nothing.
At that point an off duty CHP came about half way down to were Jack and I were. He started to ask questions on the situation, how the driver is doing, if we where ok you know cop stuff. We told him that the driver was laying over there as we pointed to him and he had no pulse and was not breathing and had been like that for at lest 10 min or so. He said the guy was dead and he was calling it in so and asked us to come up to the road and give him all our info, name, age, phone number etc. I did not know what to feel at that point. I guess I needed someone to tell me he was really dead before it sunk in that he was really gone. At that point Jack and I started up the hill. On the way up the hill I found a business card that belonged to the guy, he was a real estate agent from Nevada, he worked for Prudential real estate. The card had his picture on it. He looked so alive in the picture, not that lifeless body we just walked away from. I did not look at the name so I have no idea what his name was.
We stood up on the road for some time giving this off duty CHP all our info. I handed him the guy’s card and said I think that was him. The police or ambulance still had not showed up yet. Man I hope I never get into an accident up in the mountains. It was at this point I looked at my hands….I had blood all over them. How did I get blood on my hands? I did not touch that guy, but then I realized I had been using the trees to brace myself. The same trees this guy had hit so violently with his body, oh my god his blood is all over my hands and I had no way to wash them off.
Jack and I walked back to my jeep real slow, still in shock and disbelieve at what just happen. I was so happy to be alive. I think at that point it really sunk in how close we were to being killed and how fast life can be taken away. At this point my hands started to shake and I almost threw up. We stopped at the first little place we could find, it was about five miles up the road. I wanted so badly to wash this blood off my hands, I know what happen was not my fault but if I had not been coming the other way head on with this guy maybe, just maybe he might not have whipped the wheel so hard and flipped over and flew off the cliff and all this would have just given him a scare.
Jack and I just sat at this little hole in the wall place, my hands were still shaking and my stomach in knots. We talked a little but mostly just sat there looking at the river. We had a few beers and water. I have learned a few things from this.
Life is so short, enjoy every minute of it because you never know when it is gone.
Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Tell your love one you love them and hug them because you might not get a chance to do it later (even if they piss you off).
Don’t leave things unsaid, you might not be able to do it later.

I’m sure I could think of a few other things. I’m writing all this down for therapy for myself, the more I talk about it the better I feel. So ask me about this whole thing the next time you see, I might get a little chocked up and it might be hard to talk but it is good for me.”

“Wow.
Peace be with you.

I'm glad you guys are ok.”

“WOW! I'm speechless.......



I'm glad you are OK. Death is not an easy thing to look at. I've seen it and I never want to see it again.”

“Wow, that leaves me speechless, except to reiterate what HPM just said. Talk about a taste of reality hitting you in the face. May that man's soul rest in peace...”

“My brush with death on the highway last weekend was a lot less close than that. Glad you and your friend are okay, flip. This may sound a little callous, but be glad he didn't take you two with him.

This reminds me of what a friend of mine who used to be part of the local Rescue Squad says: Always wear your seatbelt.”

“wow, i am also speechless.

try to find inner peace.
maybe head back to the mountians. they say if you fall of a horse, the best thing to do is get right back on it.

sorry you had to even go throught that.”

“I know how you feel. I was the first person at an accident at which the 2 young nem inside the car had been drinking. I watched in my rear view mirror as they approached me at a very high rate of speed from behind. Just as I hit my brakes (an instinct) the driver swirved to miss me and lost control. He hit a ditch in the middle of the road and cleared the oncoming traffic heading west on the road. I dropped my grilfriend off at a gas station to call the police and I headed over to the scene. I had reciently finished an advanced swimming course in high school in which I have to pass a CPR test. When I arrived, I found one of the two men about 75 feet from what was left of the car. He was not breathing and was not a pleasant site. Let's just say he was missing pieces.

The driver was wearing his seat belt and was still alive. When I reached him he starting to go into shock. I stayed with him until paramatics arrived.

I was haunted some 2 years after the accident. I could not get the images of the first guy out of my head.

I am glad to hear you are ok. Pray for the family of this man. Your prayers will help you heal from this tragic ordeal!”

“shockingly incredible. nothing to really say, i'm glad the two of your are ok- what a price to pay. you should always be appreciative because you never know when life will end.”

“very sad that his life had to end that way, in that condition. all the years of his life came down to a sequence of events that lasted a few seconds. at the very least, he had people like you around at the end. i feel for his family, very sad.”

“flip - Wow. What an ordeal. I agree that there was no amount of CPR that would have brought him back. You were very lucky and it is normal to feel like you do.

In 1973 I was not too far from where you were on Hwy 395 (near Bridgeport) headed for Lake Tahoe. We came across an accident that happened less than a minute before we got there. One person died and two were seriously injured. I won't go into the details, but IMHO had they all been wearing seat belts they probably would have survived much better. Ever since then I have been adamant about seat belts.

Glad you felt like sharing and hope it helped a little.”

“Don't know what to say?

8|”

“Hey thanks ya all. It feels better to get it out and talk about it. It'll wear off with time. My brother-in-law is a perimed firefighter and the family feels he holds these type of events in. His common action is to laugh and joke about things....but that merely keeps it well hidden within.”

“I am so sorry, but I am glad you guys are okay.”

“for once I am speechless. May the force of the great spirit walk with you and the family of the victim.”

“man....like everyone else, i'm stunned.....poor guy...

reminds me of the movie saving private ryan, the last thing tom hanks says before he dies....he tells private ryan "earn it".

God is with you, flip.”

“Wow! I'm speechless too and hung on to every word of your report. Glad you guys are okay. Death is never easy in any shape or form.”

“not to be in bad taste flip, but, ever think of changing your trailname?”

“The Flip-I know very much how you feel. 2 years ago I watched a man on a motorcycle lose control in heavy traffic. He fell over the low barricade and into my lane and the path of the truck in front of me. I honestly believe that if he had stayed flat on the ground he would have survived. Instead he popped up and his head was on level with the steel bumper. I slammed on my brakes just short of all the bits in the road. The truck that hit him was going nowhere; the impact practically ripped off the front left wheel. I think the guy was 40 to 43, heading home from work.
People who are already dead I can handle no problem. It's the death in process that always gets you. I will not ever forget the look of suprise on that mans' face.”

“I am thankful you and your friend are ok. Things like this are never easy to deal with, especially when you are involved like you were. Please don't hesitate to talk this out if you need to.
I have seen professionals "stuff their feelings" because they thought it came with the territory, it doesn't. My team and I went through trauma counseling after recovering the body's from an airplane crash. We all thought we were handling it well....well, we weren't. Our wives, husbands and friends knew we weren't. We were in a room with counselors for 4/5 hours and they wouldn't let us leave until we talked.....we broke down and cried like baby's, Lieutenants, EMT's and ground pounders, all of us. Talk to your brother-in-law if you need to, but talk.

Peace be with you.”

“"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, said the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."”

“Wow! Intense stuff, flip. I had an accident happen in front of me a few years ago and ended up taking the pulse of a woman while she died. It took a while to get over it.

I'm with mtnsteve. Find someone and talk about it. That's the best therapy. Best of luck to you.”

“flip - was thinking about you some more since I posted. Was going to suggest something for you to consider. If you believe that the man deliberate cut his wheel and chanced his life to avoid harming you, that may be something his family would appreciate knowing. It could bring closure for them and maybe even you. Anyway, it is just something to consider.

The second thing I thought of was all the fishing we did on our llama trip to Wrights Lake Basin. I just spent four days camping at South Lake outside of Bishop with a group of people. We caught fish like crazy. If you are ever looking for a place to camp with your family and have some good fishing, it is something to consider. We actually camped on the island at South Lake. If you have a boat you can do that.”

“Phil-
Thanks for the ideas. I think I may attempt to make contact with the victims family. I don't know.
Yea Wright's Lakes basin is where it's at. Have you been back there since? I have once. This last trip was the Sierras including Bench Lake. I met the family at Tahoe and hiked DL Bliss Rubicon trail. We all love that hike as a family.
stratdude-
Flip has been my nickname ever since I was knee high to a grasshopper. I grew up in Ozark county Missouri where the nickname originated. My real name is Phil and that trailname was already taken when I went to create one. So Flip it is.
Thanks to everyone else for letting me share this experience. I'll try to post some real fun backpacking trip reports from now on. Just takes sooo much time. I am constantly going on trips and simply cannot quit drinking beer and killing fish.”

“Wow, Flip! All I can say is you're doing the best thing ...just keep talking it out. Talk to anyone who will listen. And it's okay to cry (and even laugh) too. Whatever it takes ...don't keep it inside. And if you believe in a personal God, share it with Him too. I agree about contacting that man's family ...it will benefit everyone.

Take care of yourself, man.

And always remember the truth... It was not your fault.”

“Flip - I haven't been to Wrights Lake Basin since, but had good fishing at Guitar Lake before going over Whitney two years ago.

We had good fishing at South Lake. I just posted some pictures on Webshots.com. Here is a picture of what one family caught.”

“I will say prayers for you. And good job sharing, you are smart to recognize that you need to get it out.”

“Dang that's a lot of fish!”

“i'm in NW arkansas flip, just around the corner.”

“Flip I am an EMT and volunteer for a local rescue squad. I know exactly what you are going through. I know how it is to see someones face when you close your eyes at night. Trust me it does get better in time. The best way I can get over a experiance like that is realize that I did my best. No amount of CPR would of saved that guy, but you did your best. You went to the man when most folks just watched from the road. I always try to think of the persons family. If no one like yourself had of been around he would have died in vain. You will from now on be a differant person. You will look at things differantly. This tragic accident will be in the back of your memory forever. I know I am a better person today because of some of the things I have seen. I agree with Phil. In time you should contact the mans family. They will feel better knowing he gave his life to save yours. They will also feel better knowing there were people like yourself that made the unselfish venture down the side of the mountain in hopes of rendering aid. The more you talk about it the faster you will get over it. Peace and prayers be with you.


P.S. Of all the car wrecks I have seen I have only unbuckled one dead man. Most people that die in a wreck are not wearing their seatbelts. Seatbelts do save lives.

BAMA”

“Hi... just read your thread here, Flip, and I have to say that I can relate to your story. I had a man literally die in my arms, not too long ago.

Something told me that I needed to go to work early, one morning, so I did. It was still dark out at 6 am or so in the morning, when I heard a sound that reminded me of a semi-truck turning a corner.. the sound of wrenching metal on metal. Moments later, a man came running into the gas station I helped manage, and said, "Call 911! There's been an accident!" I told my employee to do just that, and ran outside to see if I could help. I only saw 1 vehicle on the road at a dead stop. I looked around, and could NOT find the other! I heard music coming from a distance, only to find a large van in the ditch/gulley in front of the station. The van had JUST missed a guard rail of the bridge and a utility pole, NARROWLY! There were about 6-7 large men just standing around, when I decided that I needed to get down to that van to see if I could help the person in there. I started shouting.."Is there someone in there? Can you hear me?" etc. Nothing. When I made it down, ignoring the fairly deep water, I looked inside. At first, I couldn't see anyone. Then, my eyes found him: he was wrapped around the base of the passenger side bucket seat. I made the quick decision to open the door and try to see if this man was breathing, and how badly he was hurt. When I did, I noticed that he was slipping into the water that was quickly rising inside the van, on the floor. Remembering my CPR courses and various emergency training classes, I called up to a man up top to help me pull him out. I told him that I needed to immobilze his head first (using my arms, I did the best that I could), and I needed him to help me pull him out. We managed to do all that, and I used my body as his stretcher/body board, and laid "Bob" (his name on his shirt) on my chest. I waited for what seemed like eternity for the EMS and such to arrive. While laying there, I talked to Bob, telling him he was going to be fine, ... listening to his breathing becoming more and more shallow. Because it was pitch black out still, I saw something white out of the corner of my right eye. (I'll explain that in a moment.) When the paramedic's arrived, they carried Bob off, and did all they could. Later, I was told by my manager that he had died. That he never even had a pulse when they took him off of me, and he never got one back afterwards. I was in shock for about 5 hours afterwards.

(The white light I saw, I later realized was what some may call his "guardian angel". I met with his family later (they had been wanting to meet me, but my manager told me to take a few days off to recoup), and told them of the whole experience. When I felt safe enough with his wife, I asked her how she viewed God and "his ways"? She replied that she knew He has his plans and may not always agree with them, but has respect for them. I asked her if she believed in "guardian angels". She said "yes". It was then that I told her that I believed I saw her husbands, just before he died. She hugged me tightly, told me "thank you" over and over again, and said how wonderful it was to know that her husband went somewhere peaceful. She, and the rest of her family, thanked me for being there for Bob. I told her, "I did what I would think someone else would've done for me.")

Good luck on your recovery of this life altering experience. Mine was quite an "eye opener", too. Just remember how life can change in an instant, and NEVER take ANYTHING for granted.”

“stratdewd-
Yea, I lived in Ozark County MO from birth until 24 years old. I have lived in California ever since(first Redding and now live close to Yosemite).
I could tell some TT people were from the ozark area. I still have all my family there and we go back every even year to visit. My family comes here to visit on the odd years. Next year when we go maybe I'll see if we can all hike or canoe trip or something.”

“cool flip, it'd be a pleasure to meet you.

i saw a wreck today. a semi chicken feed truck ran head on into a pickup in an intersection. no one was seriously hurt thank goodness. i called 911 on my cell phone and helped the driver of the pickup calm down untill the ambulance came. i think he soiled his britches, lol!”