|
This photo was taken on a cloudy October day from atop the rimrocks at the
top of the ridge, the area where Maclean thinks the crevice must be. It shows the "turn around point' (#6 on the map in Maclean's book) near the bottom of the gulch. The "drop tools point" (#7 on the map) would be about half-way between. Although "a picture is worth a thousand words," visitors who have only seen pictures are amazed by the tremendous slope and ruggedness of the terrain. Photographs tend to soften both of these. One interesting and confusing aspect of the rimrocks (sometimes called "reefs" by Maclean) is that along much of the ridge there are actually two distinct levels of rimrocks. I was standing between the two when I snapped the photo below. It seems important, but Maclean doesn't mention the two levels. He does write that, "They (Rumsey and Sallee) ran upgulch on top of the ridge for a hundred yards or so and staggered down the slope on the other side of the ridge." If you were to visit the gulch, you would see that it is impossible to run "on top of the ridge". Maybe they were running between the two rimrocks, in the area I was standing when I took the photo. Another photo on page 13 of this virtual field trip shows the two rimrocks and a more gently-sloped area in between where it would have been possible to run upgulch.  Below: Crosses were erected where each of the fallen firefighters died. Here, a hiker stands in the place where one of the "Four Horsemen" fell.  |
