Valley man stranded in desert for 3 days with only water & beer
CROWN KING, Ariz. (KSAZ) - A Valley man wanted to go on an adventure and visit a new town up north, but he ended up getting lost and stuck in the desert for just about 72 hours.
"It was a series of small, little mistakes that added up to the perfect storm that ended up getting me in my situation," said Mick Ohman.
Ohman captured parts of his journey on his cell phone.
He went to have lunch for fun in Crown King near Prescott. While on his way home, he says he took a different route and ended up in the middle of nowhere.
"The problem is, the road got more narrow, steeper and rougher and there was a sheer drop off on one side and I didn't have time to maneuver until it was too late," said Ohman.
He says eventually he stopped driving his truck. He had no cell phone signal. He tried walking up a hill to get service, but came down with nothing.
"My car still ran, so I could use my air conditioner. When I came back down the hill, I was drenched and I was very, very thirsty," said Ohman.
Thankfully, he had some carbonated water and beer in the backseat. However, that quickly ran out. The next morning he says he got lucky after walking for a mile.
"I noticed there was a tiny, little, beautiful four inch crystal clear trickle of water and I managed to get some water going out of that," said Ohman.
He says he filled up the bottles with water and survived on that while trying to think of ways to become noticed.
He tried to start a fire, but that didn't work. Then, during the afternoon of his third day stranded in the desert, he saw someone.
"He had the full helmet, the gloves, the boots, the leathers and everything and he saw me and it was funny. He stopped and I startled him and he startled me," said Ohman.
Ohman was taken to Lake Pleasant's Regional Park and got his vitals checked.
He says he lost 14 pounds in three days, but is doing ok.
And so far, Ohman says he hasn't had to pay any kind of fine to the Sheriff's office or county for helping him get his truck out of the desert, which is now in the repair shop.