September 29, 2004- I found myself exploring the Inyo mountains again!, heading north on Mazourka Canyon Road, just north of Badger Flat.  It was getting late in the afternoon, and I was looking for a place to camp.  As I was traveling on the Class-2 Forest Service road, suddenly a rabbit jumped out in front of me.  My instincts kicked in and I did the natural thing and swerved to miss it. Wrong move!  Unfortunately in doing so, I wound up off the side of the road.  It happened so fast that I wasn't really aware of anything.  

Boy, was I stuck!  I got out and checked out my predicament and immediately ascertained it was time to get out the winch, as the way the truck was situated, the shovel or the high-lift jack wouldn't work.  I was lucky, as there were many nearby pinyon pine trees that would make excellent winch anchors.  So, out came the winch and the tow strap.  I attached the strap to the base of a nearby tree (so not to hurt the tree) and attached the winch cable the strap and started winching.  The winch started to do it's job and the truck started to move.  Things were going by the book.

Left:  This is what happens in Mazourka Canyon when you swerve to miss a rabbit!  Right:  I'm starting to  winch my way out.

Suddenly, after the truck moved a couple of feet the winch cable snapped!  I have no idea how that happened, as the cable seemed to be in good shape.  Perhaps a "soft" spot in the cable?  Who knows? However I was very fortunate in that I didn't get hit by the cable.  If I had been hit, I would have been killed or seriously injured and you wouldn't be reading about this today.

Now, I had a real problem for the following reasons:

*  The truck was stuck and I had no means to get it out

*  I was 20 miles from the nearest paved road and 25 miles from the nearest telephone

*  Cell phones do not work in Mazourka Canyon

Normally, I would just walk to the pavement, or to an area where my cell phone would work.  However, today it was different, as I neglected to mention that two days before, I had hiked to the top of Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range.  In doing so, I pulled a muscle in my left leg, so hiking 25 miles to Independence was out of the question.

Photo:  Here I sit with a broken winch cable.  Note broken cable on the trail in the foreground.

I was uninjured and had at least of week's worth of food and water, so I was in no real danger.  I contemplated just sitting where I was for a couple of days until my leg got better and then hiking out. By the way, considering how remote this area is, it would be highly unlikely that someone would come along.  I really didn't want to sit around, as I had other plans.

But, "Lady Luck" was with me again, as I am a "ham radio" operator and my truck is equipped with VHF "ham radio" gear.  I was also within range of a VHF repeater located on Mazourka Peak, owned and maintained by the Bishop Amateur Radio Club, also known as B.A.R.C.  C.J., a.k.a. KE6REL was listening, and immediately sent out a distress call.  He was helped by fellow hams Mike, HA6HII, John, NW6C, Val, KG6FCJ and Rich KF6YLW. These folks were gracious, as they reassured me that everything was going to be ok, made phone patches for me, and helped my call my towing buddy, John Miller.  If you 'wheel in remote places, an amateur radio license is something that you should consider obtaining, as it almost saved my life at Badger Flat, and certainly saved me a lot of trouble.  My hat goes off to the fine folks at the B.A.R.C.  Thanks, brothers and sisters!

Photos:  Ouch!  Stuck in Mazourka Canyon, after dodging a rabbit.  In retrosopect, I should have hit the thing, as it would have save me a lot of time, money and grief.

I knew exactly who to call; John Miller of Miller's Towing Service in Lone Pine.  I contacted John and told him where I was, and he said he was on his way to pull me out.  I also called my wife, Sharlene, and my brother Michael, N6TMR, just to let them know what was going on.  I've been stuck many times before, but for some reason, I didn't have a good feeling about this stuck.

It took John Miller about an hour to reach me and about 5 minutes to pull me out.  I was back in camp by about 2200.

Gee, why did my winch cable break?  I guess it just wasn't my day... however, it definitely was the rabbit's day...