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| Davenport Trail Maintenance, AZ | |
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| | Davenport Trail Maintenance, AZ | | | |
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Davenport Trail Maintenance, AZ
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| Backpack | 29.00 Miles |
4,500 AEG |
| | Backpack | 29.00 Miles | 5 Days | | |
| 4,500 ft AEG | | | | |
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[ show ]
| no partners | | Back in December Alex and I cleared more of Davenport Trail but ran out of time clearing the brushiest section of trail. So, my plan was to come back where we left off and finish the section. I hiked out from Barnhardt trailhead 13 miles to within a tenth of mile of where we stopped in December. Setup camp Saturday night and settled in. Was treated to a cool SpaceX launch tracer across the sky just after sunset.
Next morning I needed to get 3 days of water for trail work. With all the rain and snow everything is flowing in the Mazatzal and had water about ½ mile back up trail. I filled everything I had about 15 liters of water and took it back to camp. Then grabbed my gear and tools to start the trail work.
As I was approaching the spot where we stopped work back in December I stopped and in my tracks. I looked down and right next to the trail I saw a very dead body. A bit shocked at first after a few minutes I fired up my Garmin InReach and texted my wife to contact the Yavapai County Sheriff and let them know I have a dead body situation.
After about 20 minutes she texted me the Sheriff’s number and we started texting the information and coordinating a landing zone for the recovery. About two and a half hours later they were able to land ¼ mile up trail from the body. We hiked down to the site and the pilot mentioned that the body had probably been there a month possibly longer with the recent cold weather. Pilot and Sheriff then bagged up the body and hauled it back to the helicopter.
[ youtube video ]
At this point we were not able to find any gear and the body had no ID. The Sherrif said if you find anything like gear or campsite to please let them know. After they left it was late afternoon but decided to scout my trail work for the next day. As I was returning and passing the body site there was still a lingering smell. Wondering if there was possibly something else, so I checked in the thick brush and there I discovered his backpack.
Texted the Sheriff that I found his backpack and he asked me to check for ID. I found a wallet in the backpack with driver’s license and various cards. Driver’s license said he was from Nevada, so I texted them his name, date of birth etc. The Sheriff said they would pick up the backpack the next day and asked me to carry it up to the landing zone.
It was an eventful day with everything that happened, but I was still there to do trail work and wanted to finish the job. Spent next 2 days clearing trail and was able to finish off the really brushy section and break through to the clearing. I was able to continue clearing for another 1/2 mile before the 5 day stint was done. Of course, there is still more trail to clear but the brushy section where the trail was non existent is now completed. I’ll be back again to continue the work but let’s hope I only come across manzanita and scrub oak next time. |
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