TheSamba.com :: View topic

Thu Jul 07, 2005 12:05 pm

The girlfriend and I decide to go wheeling in Holy Jim Canyon one evening. I'm just about all the way back in the canyon when I feel a weird vibration, then a ring and a clunk. I look down and see the generator light on. "Oh shit." Not a single tool, 30 miles from home and dusk is approaching quickly. Walk to the back of the baja and notice the alt. pulley and belt are gone. DOH! I back track and find the missing parts but forget about the proximity of my tri-mill exhaust to the alt pulley. Seared fingers are a bitch. I tried to re-attach the pulley as best as I could but most of my shims and the alternator key were missing in action. Just then, two dudes pulled up in a black pathfinder. "you need some help?" one asked. "Thanks, no. I was just about to leave." "What’s your hurry?" he replied. Uh oh! Things are starting to look bad. My girlfriend gets back in the car and tries to call anyone but there's no reception in the canyon. Both the guys open the doors and get out. F*%ck! I thought to myself. So this is how I go out? "What’s wrong with your car?" his friend asked. I politely explain the belt issue. "What are you too doing back here? you up to no good?" He asked. "Nope, just out for a leisurely ride." Now I'm looking for a rock or something. "You know, the cops never come back here. God made this canyon with his great power and even they know not to F--k with a power like that." ......Houston, we have a problem. This guy is six inches away from me and his buddy is circling to the other side of my car. I'm franticly trying to remember any of the self defense I was taught a decade or so ago. "Hey man. You seem pretty cool. wanna smoke a joint with us?" Creepy, drug smoking lunatics....not what I had in mind for today’s events. I politely decline and hop in the car. The battery is pretty fresh and according to the bajas and buggies book, I can make it quite a few miles as long as I don’t use any lights, but it's starting to get really dark. "sorry guy, I gotta get back. Nice to meet you though." I hop in the car and bolt out with a quickness. The girlfriend is keeping an eye out for the two as we depart. I make it maybe an eighth of a mile before the motor starts to overheat. DAMN! Forgot about the lack of a cooling fan. There I sit in the dark waiting for the motor to cool down when lights peek around the mountain behind us. "god dammit!" I exclaimed. The girlfriend is sure it’s them coming after us. I'm not about to stick around and find out. Back in the bug and off I go again. The motor is still hot and I can smell that 'about to seize soon' smell. I pull the lights on just long enough to see what is immediately ahead of me, then shut them off to save juice. WHAM! While the lights are off I must have hit a good sized boulder that rolled down the mountain. This tossed us around a bit and took out my driver’s side headlight. I'm now cyclopsing my way thru a canyon at full speed. If I can just make it to the main road, theres a bar with a payphone near by. The motor is sputtering and I can faintly see the headlights in the rear view mirror. I must have begged god to keep the motor together a half a dozen times. I finally got to the paved road and hauled ass to the bar. "I have cell phone reception!" The girlfriend exclaimed. She franticly called a friend we know in Mission Viejo, not too far away. "You have to meet us at the bar by Holy Jims, It’s a matter of life and death!" The friend promised to be there as soon as she could. I felt a bit safer. There were several people coming in and out of the bar. I quickly surveyed the damage to the baja. Missing a headlight, both fog lights gone, tube bumper bent down from the impact and most importantly, a smoldering stock 1600 that was surely burned to a crisp. "Damn, that was intense!" I said to the girlfriend. We both laughed.

Twenty minutes or so later, we are sitting in the baja waiting when a black pathfinder pulls in behind us. The windows roll down and lo and behold, there are the two men. "you guys need help?" he asked. "No, were cool. I got a friend on the way." "Come on, I'll give you a ride." He persisted. "No thanks." I replied. The passenger started to open his door. "Get in." he demanded. Just then, our friend from Mission Viejo pulled up behind us. The pathfinder door closed and they sped away. The timing couldn't have been better.
The girlfriend and I seldom speak of the event. I for one have sworn never to go off roading in Holy Jim Canyon since. The moral I learned from the story is to always be prepared, for no matter what. :twisted:

Thu Jul 07, 2005 12:25 pm

Wow. My daughter and I were up in Holy Jim Canyon last Sunday and we saw some scary folk kinda camping along the stream. Whenever I go offroading without someone else I keep a .357 inch implement with a speed loader in my tool box. You never know - better safe than sorry. BTW. The tool box is locked.

Did you get the license number of these characters. The local O.C. Sherif might be interested.

Thu Jul 07, 2005 12:38 pm

I always come "prepared" now. I didnt get the plate. You know how it is. Your so panicked in the moment that your lucky to be able to speak. This was a couple years back too.

Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:56 pm

Fri Jul 08, 2005 11:20 am

I just carry a Colt model 1991 45. Wife carries a Glock Model 17 9mm. I carry about 90% of the time I am home. Wife always carries if we go out in the woods on the rail, but she rarely carries besides that. We have lots of Bear where we ride. There are also too many unstable people in this world. I couldnt imagine being that far out in the wilderness without a gun.

As for the courts. My permit clearly states it is for protection.

Fri Jul 08, 2005 4:21 pm

Your permit can state that its a "ham sandwich", just try defending that when you pop somebody in the ass.....lol

SHMO

Fri Jul 08, 2005 5:46 pm

Debating gun laws is not a good thing to do. It's like discussing religion. Fear of a lawsuit still isn't going to stop me from using a gun to defend myself or my family.

Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:59 pm

Jowlz wrote: Debating gun laws is not a good thing to do. It's like discussing religion. Fear of a lawsuit still isn't going to stop me from using a gun to defend myself or my family.
Thanks for the post. I'm a life member of the NRA and live
here in Corruptfornia. Try getting a CCW to legally have
a firearm on you while out in public to protect you and
yours from dangerous situations just like this.

I get pretty worked up over Cal's moronic gun laws and bills pending.
You saved me from hitting the blood press meds again. Thanks Jowlz. :wink:

And thank the good Lord the author and his lady friend are
safe from those two creeps..

Fri Jul 08, 2005 10:57 pm

Goddamn Americans are paranoid...

Sat Jul 09, 2005 6:15 am

I keep a flare gun in my go-kit. Good dual-purpose tool for protection and rescue if needed. Luckily, I've never needed to use it.

Also fantastic for starting campfires. And forest fires, if you are stupid, so be responsible if you decide to carry one.

Sat Jul 09, 2005 8:11 am

bljones Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 6:15 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I keep a flare gun in my go-kit. Good dual-purpose tool for protection and rescue if needed. Luckily, I've never needed to use it.

Also fantastic for starting campfires. And forest fires, if you are stupid, so be responsible if you decide to carry one.
How far back do you have to stand when starting a Campfire?
A 3 pound sledge, or other hammer is another handy "multi-purpose" tool to have. Those helping hand tools also make a nasty improvised weapon.

Sat Jul 09, 2005 11:34 pm

That is one intense story man. I had visions of deliverance all over again.

It's all about the tools man. A gun is is tool too when used correcly.

_=VWBaja70=_

Sun Jul 10, 2005 8:01 am

No offense Chewie but out here in the "wild west", when you encounter characters like that, you have every reason to be paranoid. I don't know about Australia but here in Southern California, we have more wackos, rapists, murderers, religious cultists, satanists and generally mentally unstable people per capita than just about anywhere on the planet. Maybe second to Pakistan but you get my drift. It may sound too "cowboy" but this story was just one of many I've encountered over the years that required me to reach for a gat. As the rapper "Ice Cube" put so appropriately. "I'd rather be judged by twelve than buried by six." 8)