[Almost] Left for dead

[Ken Cooke]

My wife Suzanne and I took our yearly trip to the Sierra San Pedro Martir MTNs in Baja, Mexico, and we narrowly escaped being permanently stuck in the Mtn range due to my transmission failing on us there. We were able to hitchhike and catch rides back to the U.S. and we made it home 3 days later. This is pretty fast when you only have $20 in your pocket, don't ya think? I'll be returning to the National Park in Baja on Thursday with my friend Andrew Simpkins (as seen in http://www.timsbaja.com/kencooke.html). Hopefully, the truck and everything in it and our camping equipment are fully intact.

 

[jimbo74]

oh, wow.... glad to hear you were ok... that sucks!!!!! that is worse than my truck!(i think)........ glad to hear you were ok.....good luck... and hopefully the truck is still there....

 

[zensius]

Man that's crazy! What a terrrible time for the ugly Ford tranny to crap out on you. That was amazing resourceful of you guys to get back to the US with only $20. I hope all is well when you find it again.

 

[Ken Cooke]

THE TRUCK IS STILL IN MEXICO!

Nope, the truck is still in Mexico. I'll be returning for it on Thursday morning with my friend Andrew Simpkins - who is driving his fullsize Chevy 2500HD down from San Jose to help me pull it back to the states. My travel insurance would not do this (Zurich International). I would be very apprehensive from now on to travel into the backcountry unless accompanied with another vehicle. -- Let's see if my truck is still there...

 

[mattadams]

that'd be why they say never four-wheel alone, especially in a foreign country. Glad to hear you got back ok though! Was the wife happy with you?

 

[Ken Cooke]

The wife...

Suzanne is an aspiring nature photographer, and the whole time, she was talking about how she feels that she is good enough as everyone else out there. We both agreed that a capable SUV/truck is what is needed to capture those best photos...And then the truck decided to break down. She was really scared for the both of us since being homeless, without your own transportation, and with little food is a very secure feeling. The smart thing is that we were in a National Park with a nice, graded road that is Federally recognized by the Mexican government - not a crazy trail with steep dropoffs.
We just had the truck towed in front of our campsite, and left everything there. I'll be returning to the park Thursday to claim what's left [hopefully everything], but I first need to get down there. Suzanne had to fly back to Michigan to visit her dying Grandfather, and I was supposed to be on that plane with her today so that we could both visit with him, but I was left behind here to deal with the situation that I was tossed into. I'm just hoping for the best right now.

 

[jimbo74]

good luck ken....

 

[Ken Cooke]

Good news from Armando Garcia of U.N.A.M. [Sierra San Pedro Martir Observatory]

Things are definitely looking up for us at this point. Andrew is driving down from San Jose, and Dan [Skysailor] is driving in from Palm Springs to make this multi-vehicle reconnosance work properly. Also, Armando Garcia - Supervisor of the National Park I traveled to had something good to say...

Good evening Ken,

I received your message that you are coming to pick up your belongings
on Thursday.

I hope you are not too worried about your belongings. Every morning and
afternoon, I have checked that they are where you left them, and complete
as best as I can tell. To avoid having things go missing and better protect
them from the elements, I will put the smaller articles that are outside in
your trailer.

Have a nice trip up on Thursday, and I will see you then.


Armando.

 

[tdavis]

Wow ken!

I hope the recovery goes good. Last you thing you guys need is another problem on top of this one!

Good luck!

 

[Robert]

Just don't watch "The Mexican" before you go and recover your Explorer.

 

[rustytr]

Re: Good news from Armando Garcia of U.N.A.M. [Sierra San Pedro Martir Observatory]

Originally posted by Ken Cooke


Good evening Ken,




To avoid having things go missing and better protect
them from the elements, I will put the smaller articles that are outside in
your trailer.



Armando.

Don't tell me you left things laying around when you left.

 

[Ken Cooke]

Sure enough, I left everything behind except for the Nikon cameras and valuables. We had to catch rides back to the U.S., so we had to leave all of the camping gear and my vehicle up on the mountain top. SUre, its a bad situation, but what can you do when you are stranded?

 

[espnfreak]

wow its amazing that you didnt get hurt or anything. i would never take a risk into going into mexico unless its to a popular american tourist place like cancun

 

[rustytr]

Oh from what armando said it sounded like your belonging were just outside of the vehicle or trailer. Hope all is well when you get her back.

 

[Ken Cooke]

We made it back!

It was a killer trip, but after two tire failures, a bent rim, minor electrical glitches, and endless offroad driving, our trip is complete. Perhaps STARSAILOR could post some of his digital photos since my conventional camera film would take days to process. Overall, we had a great time retreiving my truck and belongings. The only things stolen were:
* 1 Coleman stove [it was already not functioning properly]

* 1 Coleman lantern [the filament was blown out already]

* 1 pair of Timberland hiking boots
* 1 used plastic flashlight.

Armando, the park supervisor checked on my truck twice daily. He noticed my things missing as was alarmed at what had happened. He took an inventory of the people camping near my stuff, and concluded that 4 men who came to the mountains to guzzle beer and play their guitars had to have been the ones responsible. We believe that they would be returning to the campground this weekend to unbolt some of my bolt-ons, but by Friday morning, we were in the park and loading my truck.

My Ranger ran in 4 low, but not in 2WD - could that be the transfer case? I'll find out the possible cause of the failure as well as the price for repairs tomorrow when I take my green Ranger to the shop tomorrow.

As for Armando, he stated that he wanted no money or presents for what he referred to as his "Responsiblity to know what is happening in the park at all times." He just mentioned that his family would very much like to see "Big Bear" when there is snow on the ground. You know that I'll be putting his family up in a nice hotel there that weekend!

 

[leenjen]

good to hear you made it back with no major losses. good thing they didnt take more. next time you go to mexico, bring someone along with another vehicle.

 

[tdavis]

Re: We made it back!

Ken, glad your back, and the majority of your stuff was still there!

Originally posted by Ken Cooke
My Ranger ran in 4 low, but not in 2WD - could that be the transfer case? I'll find out the possible cause of the failure as well as the price for repairs tomorrow when I take my green Ranger to the shop tomorrow.

Yup, sounds like you blew the transfer case out.

Been there, done that. $1200 later, fixed. You may want to look around for a used one.