(Cliff Notes Version) Some friends of Scotty's, Richard and Neil wanted to go camping Sunday to Monday. Scotty really didn't want to go cause we had tons to get done around the house. I will also add Neil didn't really want to go either, but after persistent begging, rationalizing, and negotiations they gave in. Mind you against his better judgement. 5:30 am Sunday Scotty loaded up his gear and Bumble Bee (his enduro motorcycle) and they were off. As always hugs and kisses and told him to be safe. As he left I asked "At what point Monday if you are not home should I start to worry" He said "dark". So off he went. Where he went was Dusy Eshom Trail that has NO CELL SERVICE. Neils wife Andrea and I had exchanged phone numbers the day prior.
Monday at 5pm still had no word from any of them. I called Andrea and asked if she had heard anything. Her response " no and I'm starting to get worried they should have been home or in cell phone range by now." We decided to give it an hour. 6pm still no word. So Andrea said she would call the sheriff because she knew more precise of their whereabouts than I did. Sheriff said they had two units headed up there. Approximately 6:30 pm Richard calls Andrea and lets her know cause he had gotten out and was at the truck: Monday morning when they awoke to a freak storm that dropped 2 ft of snow and all they had was the motorcycles. The truck was 9 miles away in hella treacherous terrain and then add snow on top of that. They had not packed or been prepared for snow or more than 2 days up there. There was no way they were going to be able to get out of there. Luckily for them some hard core jeep 4X4 guys were camped next to them and they offered to help get them out. They started out by trying to ride the bikes out but it just was not possible. So it came down to keep trying to get the bikes out or their lives. The temperatures has severely plummeted, down to 7 degrees to be precise. So the bikes were left and they proceeded to ride/hike out. Richard was in the lead jeep and Scotty and Neil were in another jeep. They were cold and hungry but ok. The Sheriff Dept contacted Richard and he canceled them said they would be fine. Richard was the only one that made it out Monday night. The rest were still trapped.
By some miracle Scotty got cell service and called @8pm Monday night. The kids were all crying cause they were so worried about him. He said they had to stop for the night and that they would continue trying to head out in the morning. Come to find out Richard (who was already out) had all of Scotty's gear and tent. Scotty did at least have his sleeping bag. The cold and complete exhaustion from trying to get out of there was taking its toll on the guys. Scotty was weak, frozen, and dehydrated. The conditions were so bad Scotty was scared for their lives. The poor kids cried themselves to sleep that night. Tuesday rolls around and they started heading out @ 9am. They hoped to be back to the truck by noon. Noon comes and goes with no word. Around 1pm Neil calls Andrea and to say they are still working there way out but were fixing a blowout on one of the jeeps. He hoped they would be out by 3pm. They did ultimately make it out barely and headed home. Unfortunately the eduro will most likely not be recovered until spring and i'm sure will be a total loss, but all I cared is that Scotty got out.
The kids sat by the window and the second they saw Neils truck the kids flew out the door and tears streaming down there little faces they wrapped their arms around there dad. Scotty in turn melted back into them. To see him was a huge sigh of relief and my heart just was overwhelmed. I had prepared a fire and hot meal cause he hadn't eaten in 2 days.
Scotty said that they barely made it out of there and all he could think about was me and the kids. He was so fearful he would never see us again. If they hadn't made it out of there by Tuesday they would have had to have them all rescued. Cause they would not have had the strength to continue. He has some frost bite and severe dehydration but is making a full recovery.
I almost lost my husband this week. I counted my blessings to have my husband returned to me. I could not imagine my life without him. He is my best friend. I am very blessed to have such a wonderful family. We have worked very hard and have come so far. I never will ever take my family for grantant. Through this tragedy I really saw the overwhelming love these kids have for Scotty and how important he is to them. He is their dad is every way but blood. They were beyond devastated when he was not home when he said and knew he was stranded in the snow. All they could do was cry, and say how much they missed him and if he was going to be ok and come home to us.
I can say with great certainty that Scotty will never go camping with Richard again. This was the 2nd trip with him and the first was not great either. I will probably never get Scotty to go to the snow again at least not for some time. All that matters is he is safe and he is home where he belongs. With his family!
