Rescue

 

A few miles out of Big Water you get a choice: Smokey MOUNTAIN Rd or Smokey HOLLOW Canyon Rd. I chose Smokey Hollow Canyon.

The road has had A LOT of work done on it. ALL the rocks, boulders really, have grooves showing where they've been ground away and made smooth. I've been coming to Utah for years and have traveled some of these roads before they've been worked on. Even AFTER the work, top speed is barely more than a crawl. At the end of the 3rd day I realized I'd set a new record: 7 miles in three and a half hours. 

It was hot too. The day before I'd sat in the shade of a large pinyon for three hours waiting for the heat to abate. I'd found a campspot nearby but with no shade I'd have have had to set up an awning. And it was too hot.

While waiting, one car came by, going toward Big Water. We had a nice conversation about the small herd of mountain sheep I'd seen, livestock depredation in the west (not the mountain sheep) and they were kind enough to accept a Western Watersheds Project newsletter.

Yesterday, the 9th, was my 4th day and I was lovin' it! But as I reached the top of a hill in 4wd low, something told me to check under the hood. Doing so, I saw the power-steering belt was gone and the waterpump belt was frayed to a thin thread.

As I was leaning on the radiator thinking about the 15-mile walk (hike?) to Escalante three BLM range management guys in a side-by-side showed up. 

After some discussion it was decided a wrecker was needed. Before I could say Jack Sprat, one of 'em was on the phone (there was SERVICE!) to their office where Janalee, another BLM employee, called the tow-truck company.

After the BLM guys left I thought it might be good to clean up a bit. I hadn't had a bath in 4 or 5  days and it'd been over 100 degrees each day. It wasn't long after my baahth that Klane showed up with a trailer. We loaded her up, he strapped her in, and off we went.

When the subject of cats came up Klane said they have three. He told how two years ago his wife'd found a tiny kitten up under the front fender of a truck. Its whiskers and the pads of its feet had been burned off. He surmised it'd been done intentionally. The kitten, a Smirket (black cat) took to him and mostly ignores his wife except -- every morning at 2 a.m -- when it comes in it steps on her neck....just to let her know he's thinking of her. Then, after greeting (waking!) Klane's wife, he curls up under Klanes chin for the rest of the night.

He also told about their two Jack Russell cross-breeds, both of which are rescue dogs.

By this time we were traveling through some beautiful canyons and I was realizing how far 15 miles is. When I mentioned how quickly he'd gotten to me he said he'd have been sooner, but the hitch on the company truck was too big for the trailer and he'd had to steal a 2-inch ball from his wife's.  

It's the meds that're keeping me alive. But even with them stress can make things painful...and possibly deadly. HeIp arrived so quickly there wasn't a hint of pain. 

Thank you to everyone! And an extra thanks to Klane "& Company" for rescuing the cats & dogs.