Amy's Adventure: A Lesson Learned That Can Help Others By Toni Thayer ESCALANTE Amy Rike of Escalante says it started out as a beautiful day and ended as a beautiful night, but what transpired tran-spired between the two and continued con-tinued through the next day took her totally off-guard. She's founded in her belief it was a gentle message from God to be more prepared in the future and maybe not so lackadaisical about having those things it takes to survive. New to the area, and marveling mar-veling over the availability of wide-open country", Amy uses her time off from Turnabout Ranch for day excursions into the Grand Staircase Escalante. Wednesday, January 8th began just like her previous adventures packing her 2-wheel 2-wheel drive truck with "quite a bit" of water, a lunch, coat, hat and gloves and her purse. She didn't need much, because she would only be gone for a few hours. As a lone explorer, she generally gener-ally abided by the locals' warnings warn-ings to stay off the side roads during the inclement winter months and out of running washes. On this day, she decided decid-ed she would stay "close" to home and drive the Harris Wash Road. One mile before her destined trailhead, a sign cautioned that the road changed to "4-wheel drive only". Amy heeded the warning, parked her truck, and hiked for several hours further down the road. She decided the ;ond wasn't in too bad of shape and that her little Toyota could easily make it. Back in the truck, and four miles later, she encountered deep sand, forcing her to turn back. She accomplished the turnaround maneuver and proceeded pro-ceeded to pull onto the shoulder for parking. This was Amy's downfall. Two tires slipped in the soft sand, and her efforts to free them only dug the truck in deeper, deep-er, all the way up to its rear axle. By 6 p.m., with darkness settling set-tling in, and not a soul in sight, Amy realized she wouldn't be making it home that night. She remembers, "I freaked out for a split second, and then thought, so what?" She decided to "live for the moment, right here and right now" and to appreciate what she did have nearly a half tank of gas, her favorite CDs, a clear sky with a moon, plenty of stars, and warmer than usual temperatures. tempera-tures. She was outfitted fairly well by her parents' recent gifts of a brand new insulated coat with hood, a hat, gloves, and boots. They didn't usually buy such practical gifts for Amy, but they were concerned about her staying stay-ing warm in the wilds of Escalante. She was also wearing wear-ing heavy socks sent by an aunt. Amy made it through the night, dozing off and on as she was awakened by the cold and warmed by the occasional use of her truck's heater. The next morning, she began her 25-mile walk back to town and knew that she'd be missed when she didn't show up for work. Sure enough, as Amy walked, Turnabout put their employees in vehicles and called others to join in the search. An entire army of locals drove the back- i roads all day from Boulder to Kanab. Even though Amy stayed on the roads, rescuers missed her. She ultimately flagged down a tourist who gave her a ride for the last 5 miles. "I was so hungry hun-gry and thirsty, it was affecting my mind and reasoning." She wants others to beware that the best-laid plans can change quickly and that some everyday items can be awfully handy in an emergency. Here's a list of the basics that . should always be in your vehicle: vehi-cle: Non-perishable foods, dried fruits, nuts, canned products, dehydrated meals. Several gallons of water. First aid kit. Blanket or sleeping bag. Auto tools, come-along, shovel, multi-purpose knife tool. Flares,' matches, fire starters, electric lighters, flashlight. Duct tape, electrical tape, rope. Cellular phone or 2-way radio. . Change of clothing, including includ-ing hat, gloves and snow boots in the winter. Fix-a-flat or small auto air compressor, motor oil, transmission transmis-sion fluid, brake fluid. The rescue Incident Team Commander, Garfield County Sheriff Deputy Dave Jones, said, "The single biggest mistake mis-take that Amy made was not letting let-ting someone know where she was going and what time she would return. If that information informa-tion were available to us, we could have driven right to her location early in the morning." He had a few other suggestions sugges-tions for planning for the unexpected: unex-pected: Bring an alternate mode of transportation, like a dirt bike, 4 wheeler, or a mountain bike. Start the day with a full tank of gas. And, last, but certainly not least, Deputy Jones reminds us to obey the road signs. "If it says 4-wheel drive only and you've got a 2-wheel drive vehicle, vehi-cle, don't take the road." The (See LOST on page 4A) Lost From Front Page sign is there for a reason!" As for Turnabout Ranch, they now have an "Amy Board" to post where she's going and when - she'll be back. Independent Amy doesn't mind this intrusion to her privacy at all. In fact, she's very appreciative apprecia-tive of the concerns and efforts -by many area residents.