This weekend I fled to the desert to think and cry some place different than my apartment and office. Due to an unfortunate deer encounter, I've been given a bonus day of thinking. It's been thankfully free from crying and given my a lot of perspective into things I'm grateful for.
I always seem to visit Capitol Reef when I'm fleeing. The first time I visited the park was in 2008 after a misguided winter camping trip to Bryce Canyon (too cold in December). I fled again in 2010 following the deer encounter in the Henry Mountains and a failed summit bid for Mt. Hilliers. Just this summer I found myself desperately racing for Capitol Reef after a successful bid at Mt. Ellens, hoping to beat a thunderstorm. But this weekend's trip was just to enjoy Capitol Reef and I did. I hiked new trails and spent all day in an entirely new-to-me part of the park: the Cathedral District. When I rolled into my camp site Saturday afternoon I noticed the in the orchard next to my site did not care about me at all. I took it as a sign that the deer knew they had a good source of food (apples) and no threats, as there is no hunting in the Park. But I see now it was an inauspicious sign of bad things to come.
I always seem to visit Capitol Reef when I'm fleeing. The first time I visited the park was in 2008 after a misguided winter camping trip to Bryce Canyon (too cold in December). I fled again in 2010 following the deer encounter in the Henry Mountains and a failed summit bid for Mt. Hilliers. Just this summer I found myself desperately racing for Capitol Reef after a successful bid at Mt. Ellens, hoping to beat a thunderstorm. But this weekend's trip was just to enjoy Capitol Reef and I did. I hiked new trails and spent all day in an entirely new-to-me part of the park: the Cathedral District. When I rolled into my camp site Saturday afternoon I noticed the in the orchard next to my site did not care about me at all. I took it as a sign that the deer knew they had a good source of food (apples) and no threats, as there is no hunting in the Park. But I see now it was an inauspicious sign of bad things to come.
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| Vacation Success! |
By 4:00 pm Sunday I declared the trip a success - I did a lot of thinking and some crying and I was ready to go home. Getting back to the freeway I was about half way between Hanksville and Torrey, thus halfway between taking the Fishlake route west to I-15 or the Highway 191-6 route east to the freeway. I hate the drive between Green River and Spanish Fork, so I opted for the Fishlake Forest Route. Things were going well for an hour -I got back into cell service and let my dad know I was safe, Florence and the Machine and Bright Eyes kept coming up on my iPod, I was alert, the 4 hour drive was going to be alright. I love driving through the Wayne County towns outside Capitol Reef, they're small but seemingly vibrant. I could really see myself happy in Bicknell or Torrey.
The climb out of Loa into Fish Lake was alright until there were deer everywhere! I hit the breaks and swerved around one... Maybe clipped another... Why were they always in groups of three? Why were they hanging out in the middle of the highway, people were driving 65 mph down that road?!?! I slowed, wondering how fast I could safely go when a big deer came up and just stood there. I honked and hit the breaks, but was still going upwards of 45 mph. There were so many thunks and popping noises. It was just awful.
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| Happy at the Temple of the Moon |
The climb out of Loa into Fish Lake was alright until there were deer everywhere! I hit the breaks and swerved around one... Maybe clipped another... Why were they always in groups of three? Why were they hanging out in the middle of the highway, people were driving 65 mph down that road?!?! I slowed, wondering how fast I could safely go when a big deer came up and just stood there. I honked and hit the breaks, but was still going upwards of 45 mph. There were so many thunks and popping noises. It was just awful.
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| So much carnage. |
I pulled over to assess the damage, thinking maybe I could just call Highway Patrol and keep driving because it looked like just my headlight was out. Then I noticed the hood was pretty bent. And there was steam coming out of the bend in the hood. And there was blood. Oh, Phyllis! Oh, deer! I called my dad to make sure I was supposed to call 911 about such things (my life wasn't in danger....) - yes, call emergency services after you demolish a deer and your car. I didn't know it, but the dispatcher put a call out to a tow truck and to the Highway Patrol. I got all my cries out walking down Highway 24 in search of any big pieces of my car (there were mostly small pieces). I called my dad, who found the number for my insurance company (because it seems I've used all of my insurance ID cards as kindling), I called the insurance company and got a claim started (a first for me, I've never had a collision I could cover with my insurance), then the tow truck showed up and started putting Phyllis up on the truck. Things went astonishingly smooth given the number of times I said "I don't know, I've never done this before. Am I calling the right person?"
Do you know what was happening during the 30-45 minutes between impact and Phyllis getting on the truck? Everyone driving down Highway 24 stopped to make sure I was alright. It was a little frustrating in the middle of it all, when I was just trying to explain to the insurance company what had happened. But mostly it was so nice. The tow truck guy took me to a hotel near their shop, the hotel clerk was super nice, even though I was filing a report with UHP while trying to check in.
I had a nice warm place to get cleaned up and sleep. Monday morning I called the insurance company and against all odds, found a rental car place in the next county over and there's an adjustor coming out to Bicknell to survey the damage. I put a call out on Facebook for help and ended up scheduling a ride out of town within an hour. (Well, the ride was scheduled, but I had 5 hours to kill in the meantime.) I got an office set up at the library and a place to store all my stuff.
It sucks that I hit a deer, but I've undoubtedly got more to be grateful for. I know, Thanksgiving is just a few days away, do we really need one more gratitude post? Yeah, I just demolished a deer in the one of the more remote parts of the state and everything turned out alright - I should be grateful. So here is everything that fell into place today -
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| The Aquarius Motel - not bad at all. |
I had a nice warm place to get cleaned up and sleep. Monday morning I called the insurance company and against all odds, found a rental car place in the next county over and there's an adjustor coming out to Bicknell to survey the damage. I put a call out on Facebook for help and ended up scheduling a ride out of town within an hour. (Well, the ride was scheduled, but I had 5 hours to kill in the meantime.) I got an office set up at the library and a place to store all my stuff.
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| Maggie the Bike and my cooler of snacks have a whole auditorium. |
It sucks that I hit a deer, but I've undoubtedly got more to be grateful for. I know, Thanksgiving is just a few days away, do we really need one more gratitude post? Yeah, I just demolished a deer in the one of the more remote parts of the state and everything turned out alright - I should be grateful. So here is everything that fell into place today -
- I hit a deer within a mile or so of losing cell service. I was close enough to Loa to be able to call my dad, 911 and my insurance company. (It seems so many people pulled over because everyone in that part of Wayne County has hit a deer during the winter and knew it was possible I was freezing in my car with no cell service.
- I spent all day today out of cell service on dirt roads or winding highways with no shoulder. I hit a deer during the 8 miles of driving that were safe for me to pull off the road.
- Hopefully I just damaged the radiator and the body. My airbags didn't deploy (which could be a problem, but I'm happy about it), my tires and windshield are ok, and I'm just fine.
- I got immediate offers from my family to come get me and tow my car home. At 7:00 on a Sunday night.
- I have adequate insurance on my car.
- I always pack an extra pair of underwear when I go camping (I afraid I'll fall into a stream and get hypothermic due to wet underwear) and plenty of munchies. So I've got clean clothes to change into and food to eat, despite the fact that Bicknell was shut down for the day (or season) when we rolled back in.
- There's a hotel open during the shoulder season in Bicknell and it's pretty nice. Deep bathtub, doors that lock, a little coffee maker.
- I have really, really great friends who helped me out in a pinch and did so quickly.
- Strangers are also great. Everyone has been helpful. People are just good and it's nice to remember that.
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| Gypsum Sinkhole is cool. But you and I are stronger than gypsum. When the pressure of life (or sandstone) bear down, we don't collapse! |
Should anyone of you wonder what to do when the local road conditions are "Deer Storms," here's what I learned tonight:
- Slow way down. You can't stop on a dime and those deer aren't going to move. Something about "Deer in the headlights."
- -Don't try catching up to that car 0.5 miles ahead and hope they will flush all the deer away, just slow down.
- After colliding, pull your car safely out of the roadway. Maybe make sure the deer is also off the side of the road (or let the generous locals help you with that)
- Call 911. They can dispatch a tow truck and get Highway Patrol involved, you'll need to file an incident report.
- Keep your current insurance cards in your car. They make handy kindling when car camping, but their more important function is proving you've got insurance and keeping important information, like your policy number and important phone numbers, at your finger tips.
- Think about avoiding driving through the forest at night. Deer seem to come out in the roadway more often then and it's harder to see them.
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