I was headed to Tahoe City for Mother’s Day, riding my dual sport motorcycle. Based upon online research and some feedback from a local dirt bike shop I decided to take the back roads (dirt) out of Auburn to Soda Springs/Norden on Donner Summit. The information on the roads was not accurate and I encountered numerous obstacles including downed trees and snowfields in the roadway.

I was expected at my mother’s house at about 3:30 pm. The weather turned at about 1:30, temperatures dropped between 32 34 degrees and it began to snow quite a bit. As I rode I continued to encounter obstacles, dumping the bike fairly often and generally exhausting myself. I had gone through some terrain which was impassable in reverse, so I had to continue on, I had crossed the point of no return.

At 4 pm and after encountering more downed trees blocking the path I gave it one last try on the bike to get around the obstacles and hope to get through to my destination. It wasn’t to be and I abandon the bike just west of the Granite Chief Wilderness. From there I began to hike on foot, in full motorcycle gear, with a survival bag of extra clothes, minimal food and water, gps, and my ACR ResqLink+.

I hiked up and down hills in a NE direction until 8 pm. With no sign of human life and no sounds from 1-8, I knew I was still too far in to make it out on my own. It was then I activated the ACR and settled in for the night on the side of a hill at about 7,500 ft. Once it got dark it really got cold. At about 10 pm I was thrilled to see that a CHP helicopter located me. I was surprised to see them as it was so steep I just assumed rescue would come by foot or quad, but there they were. After 30 mins of looking they found a place which they could drop a guy off to lead me back to the “LZ” even though they didn’t land, just hovered really low so we could get in.

It turns out I was another 10-15 miles from civilization, I thought I was much closer. Soaking wet, in sub-freezing temps and strong winds, is a recipe for disaster. Getting out without the rescue facilitated by the ACR would have been questionable at best. I just bought the thing in Feb at the urging of my family and it really paid off. I’ll need to listen to them more often.