My son and I played cat and mouse with a Tom opening weekend but four times in 3 hours he wouldn't commit and we never got a glimpse of him. I named him Mr No. We tried again this morning for almost 6 hours and walked almost 3 miles but never crossed him. When we set camp yesterday we found this little guy.
My son took ho 4 Runner and I took my F-250, stopped in Strawberry for some empanadas and had camp setup by about 4pm after the 100 mile drive from Mesa. About 6:30 the two of us were sitting around when we heard a sound almost like a cat screech. I looked in the direction of it and saw movement through the trees about 100 yards down a little two track. I told my son I see something white moving and heard what sounded like a kid. Sure enough now I see a girl running towards us yelling. Help Me, Help Me, I'm Lost. She was about 8-9 years old crying in full panic mode. She was wearing a pair of shorts, tank top undershirt and a hoodie wrapped around her waist.
We told her she was safe and asked her how long she has been lost, two or three hours she said. I asked her if she was cold and she replied no. I had her sit down and asked he if she wanted a bottle of water. She said yes and started to calm down. I asked her if she knew how far from the main road, 87 she was and being a child really didn't know. She said her family had a white truck with a black camper. We were about a 10 minutes south of Clints Well and maybe a 1/4 mile in off the main road. Quick thinking on my son part he asks her if she knows her Mom's phones number. Well she did and my son called the number and after a few rings it went to voicemail. We gave her the phone and she left a message and my son and I added to it. Now we can hear a slow whoop whoop coming from what sounded like an ambulance or police car driving slow on 87. I told her to get into my sons truck and told him when you get to 87 call 911. They leave and a few minutes later her mother calls him. He says he isn't sure of the exact road he is on but will send her a pin. As he gets to 87 a Sheriff drives past and sees him then hangs a U Turn. He talks to my son looks at his ID and leaves with the child. Seems the girl had an argument with an older sister and ran off getting very lost. It was her lucky day and her mother got an early Mothers Day present.
We broke camp and came back today as he needs to go to NM for work all week and spend some time with his mother tomorrow. His head is in the clouds after helping that little girl. We had a pack of yotes yipping and carrying on for almost two hours just after dark last night about 200 yards away. No place for a child for sure.
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