afton canyon water crossing — or not
Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:47 am
https://www.desertusa.com/dusablog/cars ... -swim.html
i went to afton canyon friday to shoot the cliffside mine and other parts of the canyon for a new DUSA story.
my friend and i had made it through the first mojave river crossing dozens of times. this time the water looked deeper than usual and i wanted to get out and check it more thoroughly - i dunno, throw a rock or wade out with a stick or something.
she said, "nah, we can make it through no problem."
as she was plowing through, this giant wave built up in front of us. she yelled - "look at the tidal wave!" while i am yelling "go beth, go!" hoping we could make it to the other side. never have i seen anything like that wave coming at us. holy sh*t.
car bogged down stalling us in the middle of the bloody mojave river. the cattail rushes on both sides of the road have pretty much stopped a good flow of water over the crossing making for a pond in the middle of the road. if i had been driving i think i would have said, "hey, the amount of water here is too high" and i have better clearance than she has in her jeep grand cherokee.
thank heavens for cell phones. her brother and a friend came out to our resuce, hooked three tow straps and a chain together and got us out using a toyota tacoma. what a disaster.
in retrospect, always get out of the car to check the depth. she said she wasn't worried about the depth but what might be under the water, like a big rock or something. i mean, it's the mojave river - usually a trickle.
we were not expecting the water to swamp the car, the water was almost to the top of the wheel rim and was over the lower edge of the doors. i don't know if we had crept through it would have been better, but now one side of her car is up on blocks draining out the water. hopefully the engine is not ruined.
thank heavens it was warm, if it had been as chilly in the late afternoon as it had been for the previous few days, we would have been cold with water over our feet. over our ankles. i sat and photographed dragonflies out the window and the river in front of us.
first look by her mechanics - the car is toast. water in places where water is not supposed to go. sigh.
good news is we are going back today - i still have photos to shoot, but in the tacoma - and not over the big crossing.
i went to afton canyon friday to shoot the cliffside mine and other parts of the canyon for a new DUSA story.
my friend and i had made it through the first mojave river crossing dozens of times. this time the water looked deeper than usual and i wanted to get out and check it more thoroughly - i dunno, throw a rock or wade out with a stick or something.
she said, "nah, we can make it through no problem."
as she was plowing through, this giant wave built up in front of us. she yelled - "look at the tidal wave!" while i am yelling "go beth, go!" hoping we could make it to the other side. never have i seen anything like that wave coming at us. holy sh*t.
car bogged down stalling us in the middle of the bloody mojave river. the cattail rushes on both sides of the road have pretty much stopped a good flow of water over the crossing making for a pond in the middle of the road. if i had been driving i think i would have said, "hey, the amount of water here is too high" and i have better clearance than she has in her jeep grand cherokee.
thank heavens for cell phones. her brother and a friend came out to our resuce, hooked three tow straps and a chain together and got us out using a toyota tacoma. what a disaster.
in retrospect, always get out of the car to check the depth. she said she wasn't worried about the depth but what might be under the water, like a big rock or something. i mean, it's the mojave river - usually a trickle.
we were not expecting the water to swamp the car, the water was almost to the top of the wheel rim and was over the lower edge of the doors. i don't know if we had crept through it would have been better, but now one side of her car is up on blocks draining out the water. hopefully the engine is not ruined.
thank heavens it was warm, if it had been as chilly in the late afternoon as it had been for the previous few days, we would have been cold with water over our feet. over our ankles. i sat and photographed dragonflies out the window and the river in front of us.
first look by her mechanics - the car is toast. water in places where water is not supposed to go. sigh.
good news is we are going back today - i still have photos to shoot, but in the tacoma - and not over the big crossing.
