Sunday, May 3, 2015

There's a Body in the Road

It's 4:45 Saturday morning. My goal is to be in the river at King's Bottom, just this side of Moab, river mile marker 60 and get out at Base Camp, river mile marker 45. I thought that the almost full moon would give me that little bit of light I needed to get in the river before the sun came up but I slightly misjudged it and the moon set 20 minutes ago. It's dark and nothing but. As I round the road under the Tombstones I barely see what looks like a black trash bag in the road. I swerve to miss it and do so by about two feet. I pull over to pick up the trash bag and put it in the back of the truck and it's a black rain jacket, with a body in it, not moving. I put a head lamp on the body and speak twice. There's no movement. Would somebody really jump off the Tombstones in the dark? I nudge the body twice with my foot. The body says "What?" I say "You're in the road. I almost ran over you." The body says "What?" I say "Get out of the road. Two feet this way and you'd be dead." The body stands up. Male, maybe 20, tall, drunk. I say "Get in the truck. I'll take you where you need to be." The body tries to get in my side." I send the body around to the passenger side. We drive a few hundred feet and he says "I'm camped in there for sure." I pull into a parking area on the left side. There's no one there. I hit the blacktop and start towards town. The body yells "Stop." I do. He gets out and walks into Pritchet Canyon singing loud. It's 5:30 when I get in the river.

No comments: