Canadian Couple found

[quilbilly]

Last night when the news said that Canadian woman was found in NE Elko County after seven weeks lost, I told my wife "Bet we have been there". Yep! Had to go to the Elko Daily Free Press to find out the location though. They went into a ravine just above the Bruneau River no doubt trying to get out of the mess they realized they were in. That steep road out of the canyon must have been slippery as snot with mud overlaying frozen ground. I will bet I know who found them too - one of the hands from the Prunty Ranch. They have the hunting guide concession in that area and were the ones watching me with spotting scopes a couple years back one July morning when I moved a 20-head herd of bedded bull (!) elk during my morning walk on a ridge above the Bruneau.
It may be quite a while before they find the husband who tried to walk out. The nearest ranch is 15 miles, the nearest paved road is 35 miles, and the nearest town is 60 miles. On the map that road only looks like a shortcut to Vegas.
I do love that country but it is "full survival gear" travel even in summer. Can't wait to go back later this year. It is a great area to test your CB loads on varmints (coyotes and ground squirrels) at medium ranges up to 250 yards with excellent camping and fishing. To find it on your map, look for Wild Horse Reservoir then the community of Jarbidge on the Nevada/Idaho border. The location is halfway between.
Tight fishing lines to all - Quilbilly

[troy_mclure]

i take it she wasnt alive?

[ElDorado]

She was alive, thankfully. I wish her the best and hope the find her husband alive, too.

I remember camping in that area when I was a kid, in 1968, I believe. We were on our way to Yellowstone and stopped to camp in a little campground just west of the area those folks were lost. We revisited the area in the early 1980s and I could barely make in up to that campground because of the mucky roads. That was in June of that year, and the ground is a lot flatter than that canyon they were in. I hate to think about what they encountered in March.

[onceabull]

Confused travelers those...anyone that thinks the route that couple took is a shortcut from anywhere in the Okanagan Valley to Las Vegas needs to throw away their car keys,,,They might have made itthrough Fields & Denio in March,but not highly recommended...Maybe getting warm enough to look for the birds to find husband.....Onceabull

[MT Gianni]

My best friend floated the Jarbribge in 69 or 70 and came back with tales of wild country. We have a few roads on the map in MT that are marked seasonal that some folks mis-read every few years. Sadly bodies get found in the Spring.

[ElDorado]

I hate to dredge up an old thread, but I just saw this story about the woman who survived this ordeal and remembered commenting about it. The most interesting thing in the story is that they still haven’t found her husband’s remains, which isn’t surprising.

In case you're interested:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/09/18/woman-who-survived-7-weeks-in-nevada-wilderness-recalls-preparing-to-die/

[foxtrotter]

The key to their problem is the GPS maps. DON'T rely on them in rural areas. The people who generate them have never been where they are directing you to go, they just use a basic road map which quite often won't indicate 4WD or seasonally impassable. A lot of the West is deadly if you get caught in a predicament that would have been no big deal elsewhere.

[DLCTEX]

We had a similar incident a few years back in which a school teacher from Roscoe was traveling to Lubbock during the summer for classes. He decided to take an alternate route to see new country. When paved road quit he continued on dirt roads until he reached the dead end near the river. He got stuck turning around and tried to walk out. 100 degree heat and rough ranch country defeated him, but he found a windmill and was able to survive on the Gippy water until he was found days later. Gip water contains gypsum and is rough to drink, but you can survive a while on it.