After a long day of photography in late October, my wife and I were watching the last rays of the setting sun cast long-long shadows from the White Pocket monolith some 3-4 miles to the east of our ridgeline in the South Coyote Buttes. Unbeknownst to us at the time, a photographer was wandering away from an organized group at White Pocket to take some additional photographs. His friends began to look for him, but were unable to locate him. Sheriff’s offices from Arizona and Utah, AZ Dept of Public Safety air rescue helicopter, BLM and NPS personnel joined forces to conduct an extensive search operation. They found him a day and a half later.
The story according to a Sheriff's office official we met during the search:
"Mike, yes we finally caught up to him about 0230 in the morning, he left White pocket got turned around and headed south, it was dark and he could not see any land marks when he headed out, he said one rock looked like another, he followed the road all the way to Bush Head, saw the lights of Page and tried to figure out how he was going get across the Pariah canyon when we finally tracked him down. He stated that he kept panicking and kept moving not knowing what direction he was going. He did find some water and a can of peaches in one of the buildings he passed, he was a little dehydrated but in good shape. Twenty-two and a half miles he covered, we had about 30 searchers in the area, and thanks again for the use of your map."
Planning a photographic expedition to an exotic/remote/wilderness location we tend to concentrate on photo gear, carbon fiber this, extra memory that, location and lighting details.......but little or no attention to wilderness survival. In the Mountain West, the spectacularly photogenic locations are not typically at the edge of paved roads. They are often in the wilderness, and we go there too often unprepared.
The Paria Plateau is a quarter million acres of sand and sandstone with the famous Coyote Buttes (The Wave) at the northwest corner. The White Pocket is at the end of a long four-wheel drive across sand hills. It's in the middle of a wilderness. It's still in the middle of a wilderness even if you were guided there. As we have camped on the Plateau, it was common to never meet another person for a week.
OK, you say, that's really wilderness, but you just snagged a permit to The Wave in the North Coyote Buttes. It's popular, there should be at least 19 other people on the trail, we'll all meet and greet at The Wave. Plenty of companionship if I have a problem. Well, they typically all leave by mid afternoon, and you've heard about the "Second Wave" a quarter of a mile south along the slick rock...that is just fabulous with the end-of-day light. And it is, and you get some great shots. Now it's 15 minutes from really dark and you have a two hour hike back across slick rock with no flashlight, no GPS, no anything. It's 200 feet over the edge to the bottom of Sand Cove if you misstep. That's how it happens.
Our own ethic is to always carry in our pocket: a detailed topo map, a compass, a GPS (landmarked!); and always on our belt, a "survival bag" containing the essential things to: 1) help us find our way out of the situation; 2) help them find us; and 3) keep us hydrated and temperature regulated until they find us. Think of the survival bag as a big lens bag with ingredients you customize to your expedition, medical and personal needs, the terrain, etc. The wilderness survival bible for the bag is: 98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive, by Cody Lundin.
The principal motivation for this post is to suggest that our preparedness is linked to our future access to these locations. As the understaffed and underfunded governmental agencies respond to "lost photographers" their logical reaction is to close those locations to independent access. They may restrict access only to licensed guides (privatizing the responsibility). Unlike ranchers, hunters and mining/oil, we photographers have no lobby voice to speak for our access. It's our thoughtful preparedness that will ensure our continued welcome exploration and enjoyment of these unique landscapes.
Mike Coffey
Prescott, Arizona
