About a month ago, I was very excited to hear that a friend of mine, whom I had met at Officer Basic Course in Gaithersberg, MD was going to apply for the pharmacy residency position at my hospital and needed a place to stay. I have always admired the art of being a good host, and jumped on the opportunity.
It was the end of January in the southwest, and while Gallup had clear skies, she told me that it had been snowing out in Kayenta, AZ where she was working. At around 8:45 p.m. she texted me that she would be arriving in Gallup in an hour and a half.
No worries, but I'll probably be going to bed shortly after you arrive. Work at 6:45 am... ugh... I'm not THAT much of a morning person...
Only about a half hour later, her name popped up on my phone. I answered and she was crying on the other line. Her car had started spinning out of control, hit a rock, and rolled over.
Are you ok?
Physically yes, mentally... very shaken up
Is anyone with you?
She had the "good luck" to get into an accident near someone's home on the reservation. They helped her out, gave her blankets, and called the Navajo police. The Navajo people live spread out from each other across the reservation. When driving across, you'll see houses here and there but for the most part, the reservation looks vast and empty.
Where are you and do you need me to come get you?
I'm on Indian Route 12 at mile marker 80
... O Jesus Christ
I'll wait for the Navajo cops, then call you.
Alright. I started going through my head what I needed to do... ok tell someone I'm leaving, bring water, food, a sleeping bag, warm clothes...
Sure enough 15 minutes later she said that she would need a ride into Gallup. How else would she get here? Her car was clearly not drivable. I threw my stuff in the car and set off. In retrospect, I'm really thankful that I did bring supplies and that I texted my coworker what was going on. She offered me to switch for her 10am shift, but I was sure I would be back in time. Tired, but back.
As soon as I passed into Arizona, it started snowing. There was very little snow sticking to the ground, but it made me uneasy and decreased visibility. There were some other drivers on the road, the majority of which having only one working headlight so as I drove through the night I kept seeing lone headlights approaching, pretty ridiculous as I couldn't tell exactly where the car would be.
After missing a turn (no street signs) I found Indian Route 12 and tried to pay close attention to the mile markers, which would be my only indication of how close I was to finding my friend. Naturally, all of them were graffitied and with the snow, were damn near impossible to read. I finally was able to make out mile marker 50 and decided to text my friend.
No cell service. Naturally, this is the reservation, what was I expecting? I had texted her when I left my house, but aside from that, she had no idea where I was. Fantastic.
I kept glancing down at my phone but service not found.
At about mile marker 60, I came over a small hill, I was going at 30-40 miles per hour which had been fine for most of the trip, but on the other side of the hill, there was suddenly a couple inches of snow on the ground. As I came down the hill I could feel my little Hyundai accent, Regina, slipping from side to side. 90 degrees to the left, then 90 degrees to the right, and so on. It was obvious that I was spinning more and more out of control, I finally turned the wheel in the the turn, spun around a few times and landed neatly just off the road.
After my futile efforts of trying to drive out of the ditch, then push Regina out, my first thought was that the night pharmacist would kill me when I didn't show up in the morning, then of course of sting of thoughts on what I could have done better... text my friend sooner, bring a friend with me, not have been hasty in setting out in this weather when I know for a damn fact that I can't drive in snow... I can barely drive under optimal driving conditions so knew this would be a disaster from the start.
Yet I also knew that I had had to try. What was I supposed to do? Say good luck and hop into bed while my friend was stranded and shaken up in the middle of the reservation?
And of course, I still had no cell service. There was no one in sight, no sign of civilization, the last houses I'd seen were just before mile marker 50 and I wasn't about to leave my car and walk back to them in the snow at 11:30 at night. I flipped on my hazard lights and crawled into my sleeping bag. My hope was my friend would eventually come this way with the Navajo cops when I didn't arrive.
While I am able to sleep in almost any conditions (a blessing, really), nearly everything woke me up. At 1am, I woke up thinking I had seen headlights approaching. At this point, Regina was completely covered in snow, I could barely make out lights in the distance. Sure enough, I could see a truck coming over the peak moving at about 10 miles per hour. I jumped outside and waved my hands frantically. As they approached, they almost seemed to stop, then kept going. I kept waiting for them to stop and when they didn't, I chased after the car;
You assholes ASSHOLES!!! I yelled
but they didn't seem to care, just kept driving away at about 10 miles an hour with a crazy white girl screaming and running behind their truck.
The good thing about this situation was 1. I realized that it had stopped snowing and 2. I found cell services. A string of worried texts came through from my friend who knew it shouldn't have taken me that long to get to her. I gave her my location, and she immediately left to come save me with the Navajo cops. I also texted my coworker and asked... actually... on second thought, can I switch you for that 10 am shift? In retrospect it was a bit of an asshole move on my part to be texting anyone at 1 am on a work night, but she replied and agreed right away.
The Navajo cops helped pull my car out of the ditch, my friend and I jumped in and set off towards home. We didn't make it back until 4:30 am, but we made it back. Neither of us were hurt. At the end of the day, I have to say, things could have gone better, things could have gone worse. A reminder of how quickly you can be humbled before nature. Without the protection of my car, my sleeping bag, and my water I would have been helpless on the reservation in temperatures dropping well below freezing. While I will always feel a connection to all of the Public Health Service officers who went through Officer Basic Course with me, this friend and I will always share the bond of having survived the blizzard. The extraordinary is not so distant from the ordinary.
At the end of the day, I live for this shit.
It was the end of January in the southwest, and while Gallup had clear skies, she told me that it had been snowing out in Kayenta, AZ where she was working. At around 8:45 p.m. she texted me that she would be arriving in Gallup in an hour and a half.
No worries, but I'll probably be going to bed shortly after you arrive. Work at 6:45 am... ugh... I'm not THAT much of a morning person...
Only about a half hour later, her name popped up on my phone. I answered and she was crying on the other line. Her car had started spinning out of control, hit a rock, and rolled over.
Are you ok?
Physically yes, mentally... very shaken up
Is anyone with you?
She had the "good luck" to get into an accident near someone's home on the reservation. They helped her out, gave her blankets, and called the Navajo police. The Navajo people live spread out from each other across the reservation. When driving across, you'll see houses here and there but for the most part, the reservation looks vast and empty.
Where are you and do you need me to come get you?
I'm on Indian Route 12 at mile marker 80
... O Jesus Christ
I'll wait for the Navajo cops, then call you.
Alright. I started going through my head what I needed to do... ok tell someone I'm leaving, bring water, food, a sleeping bag, warm clothes...
Sure enough 15 minutes later she said that she would need a ride into Gallup. How else would she get here? Her car was clearly not drivable. I threw my stuff in the car and set off. In retrospect, I'm really thankful that I did bring supplies and that I texted my coworker what was going on. She offered me to switch for her 10am shift, but I was sure I would be back in time. Tired, but back.
As soon as I passed into Arizona, it started snowing. There was very little snow sticking to the ground, but it made me uneasy and decreased visibility. There were some other drivers on the road, the majority of which having only one working headlight so as I drove through the night I kept seeing lone headlights approaching, pretty ridiculous as I couldn't tell exactly where the car would be.
After missing a turn (no street signs) I found Indian Route 12 and tried to pay close attention to the mile markers, which would be my only indication of how close I was to finding my friend. Naturally, all of them were graffitied and with the snow, were damn near impossible to read. I finally was able to make out mile marker 50 and decided to text my friend.
No cell service. Naturally, this is the reservation, what was I expecting? I had texted her when I left my house, but aside from that, she had no idea where I was. Fantastic.
I kept glancing down at my phone but service not found.
At about mile marker 60, I came over a small hill, I was going at 30-40 miles per hour which had been fine for most of the trip, but on the other side of the hill, there was suddenly a couple inches of snow on the ground. As I came down the hill I could feel my little Hyundai accent, Regina, slipping from side to side. 90 degrees to the left, then 90 degrees to the right, and so on. It was obvious that I was spinning more and more out of control, I finally turned the wheel in the the turn, spun around a few times and landed neatly just off the road.
After my futile efforts of trying to drive out of the ditch, then push Regina out, my first thought was that the night pharmacist would kill me when I didn't show up in the morning, then of course of sting of thoughts on what I could have done better... text my friend sooner, bring a friend with me, not have been hasty in setting out in this weather when I know for a damn fact that I can't drive in snow... I can barely drive under optimal driving conditions so knew this would be a disaster from the start.
Yet I also knew that I had had to try. What was I supposed to do? Say good luck and hop into bed while my friend was stranded and shaken up in the middle of the reservation?
And of course, I still had no cell service. There was no one in sight, no sign of civilization, the last houses I'd seen were just before mile marker 50 and I wasn't about to leave my car and walk back to them in the snow at 11:30 at night. I flipped on my hazard lights and crawled into my sleeping bag. My hope was my friend would eventually come this way with the Navajo cops when I didn't arrive.
While I am able to sleep in almost any conditions (a blessing, really), nearly everything woke me up. At 1am, I woke up thinking I had seen headlights approaching. At this point, Regina was completely covered in snow, I could barely make out lights in the distance. Sure enough, I could see a truck coming over the peak moving at about 10 miles per hour. I jumped outside and waved my hands frantically. As they approached, they almost seemed to stop, then kept going. I kept waiting for them to stop and when they didn't, I chased after the car;
You assholes ASSHOLES!!! I yelled
but they didn't seem to care, just kept driving away at about 10 miles an hour with a crazy white girl screaming and running behind their truck.
The good thing about this situation was 1. I realized that it had stopped snowing and 2. I found cell services. A string of worried texts came through from my friend who knew it shouldn't have taken me that long to get to her. I gave her my location, and she immediately left to come save me with the Navajo cops. I also texted my coworker and asked... actually... on second thought, can I switch you for that 10 am shift? In retrospect it was a bit of an asshole move on my part to be texting anyone at 1 am on a work night, but she replied and agreed right away.
The Navajo cops helped pull my car out of the ditch, my friend and I jumped in and set off towards home. We didn't make it back until 4:30 am, but we made it back. Neither of us were hurt. At the end of the day, I have to say, things could have gone better, things could have gone worse. A reminder of how quickly you can be humbled before nature. Without the protection of my car, my sleeping bag, and my water I would have been helpless on the reservation in temperatures dropping well below freezing. While I will always feel a connection to all of the Public Health Service officers who went through Officer Basic Course with me, this friend and I will always share the bond of having survived the blizzard. The extraordinary is not so distant from the ordinary.
At the end of the day, I live for this shit.
