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Secret Canyon Holds Many Mysteries
Posted: Nov 17 2003 8:49 am
by joebartels
Has anybody been to Secret Canyon in the past 11 days?
1997 Forest Service employee David Miller - gone
2003 Michael Ijams - missing
Unless these guys are being eaten alive by bears it's gotta be foul play.
What's up?
Posted: Nov 17 2003 9:55 am
by montezumawell
The only thing I could find on Google was from a newspaper back east:
http://www.thechamplainchannel.com/wnne ... etail.html
Posted: Nov 17 2003 10:40 am
by Kenny
It was on the news, Friday?, that his rental car was found at the Secret Canyon trail head.
I have heard nothing since???
Kenny
Posted: Nov 17 2003 11:40 am
by Daryl
Anyone know if the ground search started yet? Usually once they find the car they'll call in the troops.
It sure would be a great day to go on a search in Sedona... Praying they call Pinal County SAR to assist...
Posted: Nov 17 2003 12:21 pm
by Rodney
When I saw the news story, either Thursday or Friday, I'm pretty sure I heard them say he had already been missing for 6 days. They had been searching and were calling it off for the day. They also said, around the time he was first missing, the area had received about an inch of rain.
Posted: Nov 17 2003 4:28 pm
by Abe
I have only heard of the latest briefly on our local radio station and made a mental note to avoid Secret Canyon. Like I made a mental note to avoid the Superstition Mountains after reading all the horrible accounts of death, disappearances, and in general, mayhem of that hideous mountain range.
Posted: Nov 17 2003 4:39 pm
by Rodney
Abe wrote:I made a mental note to avoid the Superstition Mountains after reading all the horrible accounts of death, disappearances, and in general, mayhem of that hideous mountain range.
It can be tough in the Wilderness at times...but, when I add up the numbers, I feel safer in the Supes than I do at the local Circle-K!
Posted: Nov 17 2003 4:58 pm
by Daryl
I highly doubt this Secret Canyon incident is foul play. Chances are, the guy got lost and/or hurt himself.
I've heard a lot of people talk about foul play in the supes but I haven't heard anything in the 6 years I've lived here. Reading about the supes, I haven't found much foul play in the last 30 years. Am I missing something, or are the opinions carried over from the stuff that happened in the 70's?
well...
Posted: Nov 17 2003 4:58 pm
by montezumawell
Rodney's statement about going to a metroplex Circle K is well taken. That's a genuine dangerous undertaking, especially at night. We concur that we are probably FAR more paranoid going to a Circle K than hiking in Secret Canyon or anywhere else.
J&S
Posted: Nov 17 2003 4:59 pm
by joebartels
In response to Rodney's reply:
probably because there's less criminals with guns
though I did have a kid hit me up when I started my Superstition hike today, he bribed me to bring back any tequila bottles I found
-----------
seriously though
I still don't get it on this area
Secret Canyon is a pretty well established trail, not a lot of getting lost options
of course I guess it just takes one bad turn or maybe he tried to go off trail for something
Without bodies being found it seems like foul play
Antidote
Posted: Nov 17 2003 5:08 pm
by montezumawell
Well, this whole topic now has us really interested in going to hike Secret Cyn. ASAP--like this week.
Anybody else game to go this week?
J&S
Posted: Nov 17 2003 6:10 pm
by Rodney
It's strange that there's not much info out there on the missing hiker...here's one thing from a Tucson Station:
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?s=%20%201524841
Frustrated rescue crews in Yavapai County learn they may have been working off bad information in their search for a missing hiker with family in Tucson.
Michael Ijams hasn't been heard from since Saturday, and his family is desperate for his return.
Days into the search, rescue teams found out the description of Ijams' rental car was wrong, and his family is afraid that may have meant the difference between life and death.
Ijams is an avid hiker who often hit the tough trails in Arizona, so his family wasn't surprised when he flew into Phoenix from New Hampshire and rented a car -- headed to Sedona's Secret Mountain Wilderness to explore a new trail -- before coming to Tucson for a visit.
Investigators' only clue was Enterprise rent-a-car's description of the car Michael had driven when he was last seen. Not long after investigators got the correct description, the car was found empty at the head of a rugged trail.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Phoenix did not have a manager on call after hours to talk with News 13.
Search and rescue crews were slated to decide Friday if they would put a plane up to look for the missing hiker.
Posted: Nov 17 2003 6:13 pm
by cactuscat
Rodney wrote:Abe wrote:I made a mental note to avoid the Superstition Mountains after reading all the horrible accounts of death, disappearances, and in general, mayhem of that hideous mountain range.
It can be tough in the Wilderness at times...but, when I add up the numbers, I feel safer in the Supes than I do at the local Circle-K!
Nicely put, Rodney! I feel the same. I'm headed out into the Supes tomorrow, solo, and I can't wait.
Only once have I ever gotten a creepy, hair raising feeling out there like something or someone was watching me and I'll never forget it. Oh well, at least if something gets me in the Supes I'll die in my favorite place!
Posted: Nov 17 2003 6:18 pm
by Abe
cactuscat wrote:Rodney wrote:Abe wrote:I made a mental note to avoid the Superstition Mountains after reading all the horrible accounts of death, disappearances, and in general, mayhem of that hideous mountain range.
It can be tough in the Wilderness at times...but, when I add up the numbers, I feel safer in the Supes than I do at the local Circle-K!
Nicely put, Rodney! I feel the same. I'm headed out into the Supes tomorrow, solo, and I can't wait.
Only once have I ever gotten a creepy, hair raising feeling out there like something or someone was watching me and I'll never forget it. Oh well, at least if something gets me in the Supes I'll die in my favorite place!
Guys and gals, I do not even go to Circle K.
Posted: Nov 17 2003 6:41 pm
by Rodney
Abe wrote: Guys and gals, I do not even go to Circle K.
See...you already knew the dangers there!
Posted: Nov 18 2003 6:00 am
by Wiz
I think this is a clear case of alien abduction.
Posted: Nov 18 2003 6:17 am
by HikerInGilbert
Wiz wrote:I think this is a clear case of alien abduction.
I'll check with Arizonaheat and JW63. They should know...
Posted: Nov 18 2003 10:58 am
by Dschur
Saw a thing on the news about it and they were calling off the search. They are giving up on it..
Posted: Nov 18 2003 11:25 am
by pfredricks
I read about this the day they found his car. It was on KPHO.com
He left Tucson on Thursday the 6th. Reported missing Sat 8th. No search was initiated until they found his car, which was Thursday the 13th.
As of this thursday, he will be missing for two weeks.
I guess this guy had been hiking in Sedona area for years.
-Pete
Posted: Nov 18 2003 11:29 am
by Rodney
Wiz wrote:I think this is a clear case of alien abduction.
That's not likely...last time we did an overnighter in Secret Canyon, the Aliens told us they didn't want anymore humans and were about to return all the ones they had picked up because they were defective!