So New Years Day was a bit of an adventure.
Nightcrawler, his dog, my son Tristan, and I took a ride out the Camp Wood Road north of Prescott, and I figured we'd follow the road all the way from Williamson Valley down to Bagdad.
Things went well enough until we got into the vicinity of the YOLO Ranch. The road was mud as bad as ever saw around here. I
really should have turned around. We slipped all over the place and a couple times I really thought we were going to be stuck.
Got through the worst of the mud though and onto some rockier ground, but when we stopped to go through a gate I noticed trouble. Seems I slid into a rock at some point and the factory "skid plate" on the 4Runner folded up and bashed a hole in the bottom of the radiator
So, here we are 15 miles north of Bagdad. Haven't seen another vehicle in hours. Vehicle isn't going anywhere. And it's starting to sprinkle.
Fortunately I had some cell signal. I made a call to let family know about the situation, my Dad would drive down to Bagdad to pick us up and we'd start walking so he could avoid traversing too much mud.
So we walk.
It rains on us and gets dark, but we know help is on the way.
7 miles down the road I see headlights coming from the opposite side of the canyon we've been descending. I flash my light to signal that we're here. Soon we'll have a ride.
But the ride doesn't come as soon as expected. A siren lets out a couple whoops.
7.8 miles from where we left the vehicle we get to a flooded creek, 50 yards wide. And there's my Dad and a Sheriff's Deputy standing on the other side.
Mike and I briefly ponder wading across and discard the idea. The water is cold and deceptively fast.
So Yavapai Fire has a swift water rescue team come out with an inflatable raft and a couple guys in dry suits to ferry us across. Takes about an hour for them to set up and it's getting cold. My son and the dog go first, then me, then Mike.
Finally, we're all on the opposite side packed into the back of the Deputy's vehicle trying to get warm. We all got wet on the boat ride and that pushed us into borderline hypothermia. Rode back down to the Sheriff's station in Bagadad and from there home to Prescott.
It was a week before I could get back out to the 4Runner with tools and a new radiator to bring it home.
The poor dog was exhausted, Tristan got some character building, and I may have also learned a lesson or two.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Prescott,+Arizona/Camp+Wood+Rd,+Prescott,+AZ+86305/Bagdad,+AZ/@34.5579377,-113.1043371,10z/data=!4m25!4m24!1m10!1m1!1s0x872d28d400717ceb:0x9a43de752eefedd!2m2!1d-112.4685025!2d34.5400242!3m4!1m2!1d-112.5498288!2d34.7209522!3s0x872d346cdb94faa5:0xf93bcc5f1ed3ef88!1m5!1m1!1s0x80d2955290868877:0x448d0b7d82ec9c86!2m2!1d-113.0432179!2d34.7016332!1m5!1m1!1s0x80d2e63e3e46f32b:0xf35a06f021c31358!2m2!1d-113.1764033!2d34.5768849!3e0