Last weekend (Feb 9 thru 11) we were camped at Gordon's Well. It was very late Friday night, around 11pm or so, and we were helping friends get unpacked and set up.

We heard a lady screaming "Travis, Travis!" and crying frantically while walking on the ridge above the canal. At first, most of us thought she was just drunk and had gotten into a fight with "Travis" and he had bailed on her. (That sort of thing happens from time to time out there)

One of the women from our party decided to go up and check on her. Turns out Joanna was soaking wet and freezing. We knew right away what had happened. We tried to find out if Travis was still in the vehicle. It was hard to get an answer from her. My worst fear was that Travis was her son and that he was still in the canal.

She finally convinced us that she was alone when she went into the water. We took her to our camp and tried to warm her by the fire. I headed up over the ridge to the canal to see if the cart was still there, or if it had washed away. (The current is very strong) When I came over the ridge, there was a group of people and vehicles next to the canal, and I heard a guy (Travis) screaming frantically... "Where is she?!?!". He was in the water, looking for Joanna. I started running up to the group, yelling to them that Joanna was at our camp and was OK.

As I got closer, I could see something that I'll never forget... the cart was completely submerged, and all I could see were the lights, still on, shining through the water, and there was Travis, swimming around the lights looking for Joanna.

It was very eery and shocking. That's when the severity of the situation sank in, and the questions and "what if's" started coming to mind: How did she get out by herself? The walls of the canal are very steep and the water moves rapidly. What if she was strapped in? What if Travis really was her son and he was stuck under water? How did Travis find the cart? The lights, or the tracks leading to the edge of the water? (See hi-res images of the tracks leading into the canal here and here.)

How did she end up in the water? (She said she was riding along, then all of a sudden, she was wet). If she had used basic ridge crossing techniques, would she have seen the canal? How come there are no fences next to the canal? How many other people have gone into the canal and not made it out?

My biggest question is, why do I continue to camp next to the canal with my children, especially now that the eldest (just turned 4), can ride well enough to easily make it over the hill and into the canal?

I think it's time to start camping someplace else. There's a million things that can go wrong with kids riding at the desert, I don't need one more thing to worry about.