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except
to decide on which days we were going to have the smoked oysters, and
which the kipper fllets for hors d’oeuvres). I dunno where ms Winter
got the idea about “low water” in her letter. We had plenty in the
vehicle for drinking as well.
But
if you break down in sight of the pub, are you going to wait for
rescue. No, and why not - because you can make it. I have hiked 17
miles (and longer) innumerable times, and I was reasonably comfortable
that, with my experience and precautions, I would make it too. And if i
didn’t make it, I have long come to terms with the ultimate consequence
of my actions, in my own quiet way.
Thanks
Jeff Woods, aka Reggie Gubbins
Somewhere in Montana
EDITOR’S
NOTE: I can attest to Mr, Gubbins’ walking skills; as an eye witness to
the event, however, however I am convinced he spent more time measuring
his stride than it took for Reg to reach his destination. To see the
letter that got him all riled up to begin with, follow this link:
Feedback (continued)
Mind
you, I didn’t do this hike lightheartedly. We discussed it for quite a
while, recognising the dangers inherent in the situation. Of course I
was concerned about hiking across 27 kilometres of desert!! 27
kilometers is almost 17 miles after all. The only option was to sit
there with Stiles until rescue. Those of you who know this character
may well have joined me in my quest for salvation!! However, if a
vehicle came from the east, it would have to pass Jim sitting by the
truck, and if it came from the west it would pass me strolling along
the Gunbarrel Highway. While this is not a freeway, it is a
well-de-fned set of wheel ruts and is easy to follow. So, if a vehicle
was to have come, we were covered. It had also been raining
substantially - that’s why we got stuck. As it turned out there was
plenty of water en route (not that I had to drink it).
Any
account of a six week journey has to leave out some details. Let me fll
the readers in on some of them relevant to this episode that Jim
wouldn’t have had the space to include. These details are still etched
in my memory.
After
failing to dislodge the truck, I slept through the afternoon in my
Omnipotent, then at 4pm I got up and packed my pack - sleeping bag,
one-person tent, thermarest, food and snacks, 8 litres of water (2
gallons), MSR stove (to make my tea), a tiny clock and a fashlight. The
frst thing I did was to draw a line in the sand and then came at the
line in my walking pace with the pack on, and took fve paces beyond it.
I drew a second line and then measured the distance with my body. My
pace worked out at 2 foot 6 inches. Then I started. I counted off the
frst 1000 paces and timed it. 8 and a half minutes. So I multiplied the
time and distance by two. 5000 feet in 17 minutes. That’s 1 mile (5280
feet) in 20 minutes (or close enough). Three miles an hour. So I set my
pace at walking by the clock for an hour, taking a 20 minute rest, and
then another hour’s walking. The reason for this was psychological. I
knew how far I had to go and I wanted to know when I was half way. From
then on it’s downhill. Psychologically it was very important to me to
know the end was nigh (so to speak).
It
got dark around 7pm and I walked in the cool of the evening for another
2 hours (with a break) and then set up my tent, ate and got a good
night’s sleep. I got up at 5am, packed my stuff and headed off. The sun
came up at 6am and I had only walked another half an hour when the
truck came along. I was about a mile from the cattle station. I still
had half my water with me.
The
rest is history, as it were. Well, actually not. All traffc on the
Gunbarrel had stopped because all the rivers that occasionally fow
across it were in food and there was no way to traverse the Gunbarrel -
the storm had been that bad. We never saw a single vehicle (except for
our saviour’s one) until we eventually got almost to the end of the
Gunbarrel at Wiluna. I had telephoned the police at Wiluna before
setting off, giving them details of the vehicle, Stiles and myself, and
the colour of the tents etc. It was actually a long and expensive
call. They told me to be sure to call in when we came out before a
particular date, and that if we didn’t, they could start making
enquiries. So, in I went to the police station (just before that fnal
date) to let them know we had made it. They said they had no record of
my call, and no idea that we were out on the Gunbarrel. So much for
endangering the police that Ms Winter refers to.
Jim,
please assure ms Winter that I am not an “adventurist lunatic”. Lunatic
I have no problem with, but “adventurist” is about a million miles from
describing me, as far as I am aware. She should fnd out a bit more
about the particular circumstances of the case before opening up about
this particular situation. I know people die out in the desert. I’ve
read lots of accounts of it. (I’ve even rescued someone.) I’m actually
quite well read up on Australian history and politics. To compare our
situation to that of Burke and Wills is ludicrous. The comparison with
the two teenagers is not particularly apposite either.
I
can admit to bad driving (as you Jim will vouchsafe, and did, if I
remember rightly - my ears are still burning) and being underprepared
(not having a high-lift jack for example), and had the distance been
much greater I certainly wouldn’t have attempted the walk, because I
couldn’t have walked the distance safely. I those circumstances I’d
have stayed with the vehicle, Stiles and all!!! We had loads of food
and a small lake of water surrounding the vehicle (and plenty of books
so we wouldn’t have to converse too much,
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