Fallen Heroes
Last week during our visit to Arizona I got to mark something off my bucket list.
On June 30, 2013 nineteen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots were killed while combating a fire near Yarnell, Arizona. In 2016 the state of Arizona opened a memorial park in their honor. I knew at that time that someday I would make the journey to pay tribute to these fallen heroes. This desire was only deepened by this summer's movie "Only the Brave". Being a Forest Service brat I have great respect for these wild land firefighters.
The journey to the memorial is not for the weak of heart. The parking lot is located on highway 89 a couple miles from Yarnell. The lot only has 13 parking spots so get there early. Up until October or so the city of Yarnell runs a shuttle bus out to the trail head. Luckily for us, it's a slow time of year and we had no trouble getting a spot.
The trail head starts at 4,300 feet and has an elevation climb to 5,500 feet to reach the observation deck. I'm not going to lie, it was possibly the most difficult climb I've done and many times I wondered if I was going to be able to make it all the way. The state did a marvelous job of carving a trail through the boulder fields. This is very rough terrain--those hotshots hiked up here carrying 50 pounds of gear.
During the climb there are plaques posted on boulders approximately every 600 feet that pay tribute to each hotshot. They start with the most senior guy and end with the rookies. They were all so young. Each and every tribute was incredibly sad. These men had families and friends who loved them dearly.
We stopped at the observation deck and had our lunch and considered turning back without visiting the fatality site. It's a 400 foot elevation descent to go down there and that means it's a 400 foot ascent to get back out. The trail is an in and out trail which means there's only one way in and it's the same way back.
The memorial consists of 19 gabions which are linked with chains to show the unity of the team. Inside the circle there are markers where the 19 bodies were found.
When the fire initially started acting up the hotshots moved to a safe area that had already been burnt. They waited there for about an hour, ate some lunch, and texted with their loved ones. When the conditions improved they moved out of that safe spot to re-engage the fire. Unbeknownst to them or their lookout, the fire changed direction and they were trapped in that saddle with no way out. The fire moved 4 miles in a mere 20 minutes. The men deployed their emergency shelters, but the heat was too intense and none of them survived. Their lookout made it to safety and survived. I cannot even imagine the pain and survivor's guilt that this young guy must feel being the only survivor of a 20 man hotshot team.
After spending several solemn minutes to pay our respects it was time to hike out. Like I said before, those 400 feet back to the observation deck were torturous but from there it was downhill all the way.
We pushed all the way down without a single stop. The entire trip took us about six hours, but that's only because we are old and I need to stop to breathe a lot on the way up.
Thank you Granite Mountain Hotshots and families. There's no words to express how grateful we are for your service and ultimate sacrifice. You are our heroes!
On June 30, 2013 nineteen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots were killed while combating a fire near Yarnell, Arizona. In 2016 the state of Arizona opened a memorial park in their honor. I knew at that time that someday I would make the journey to pay tribute to these fallen heroes. This desire was only deepened by this summer's movie "Only the Brave". Being a Forest Service brat I have great respect for these wild land firefighters.
The journey to the memorial is not for the weak of heart. The parking lot is located on highway 89 a couple miles from Yarnell. The lot only has 13 parking spots so get there early. Up until October or so the city of Yarnell runs a shuttle bus out to the trail head. Luckily for us, it's a slow time of year and we had no trouble getting a spot.
The trail head starts at 4,300 feet and has an elevation climb to 5,500 feet to reach the observation deck. I'm not going to lie, it was possibly the most difficult climb I've done and many times I wondered if I was going to be able to make it all the way. The state did a marvelous job of carving a trail through the boulder fields. This is very rough terrain--those hotshots hiked up here carrying 50 pounds of gear.
During the climb there are plaques posted on boulders approximately every 600 feet that pay tribute to each hotshot. They start with the most senior guy and end with the rookies. They were all so young. Each and every tribute was incredibly sad. These men had families and friends who loved them dearly.
We stopped and read every plaque.
After climbing for what seemed like forever we finally reached the ridge of the mountain. From here you can see the town of Yarnell to the west. In the picture below you will see the fatality site as a circle near the bottom of the picture. This perspective also shows you how close they were to the "safe zone" which is the ranch located about half a mile to the west.
At the observation deck they posted pictures of what the area looked like a couple weeks after the fire.
We stopped at the observation deck and had our lunch and considered turning back without visiting the fatality site. It's a 400 foot elevation descent to go down there and that means it's a 400 foot ascent to get back out. The trail is an in and out trail which means there's only one way in and it's the same way back.
After resting we decided we had to continue or we would always regret not going all the way. I will admit though that when it came to the steep climb back up the mountain we regretted having gone down there. It was definitely the toughest part of the hike.
The memorial consists of 19 gabions which are linked with chains to show the unity of the team. Inside the circle there are markers where the 19 bodies were found.
When the fire initially started acting up the hotshots moved to a safe area that had already been burnt. They waited there for about an hour, ate some lunch, and texted with their loved ones. When the conditions improved they moved out of that safe spot to re-engage the fire. Unbeknownst to them or their lookout, the fire changed direction and they were trapped in that saddle with no way out. The fire moved 4 miles in a mere 20 minutes. The men deployed their emergency shelters, but the heat was too intense and none of them survived. Their lookout made it to safety and survived. I cannot even imagine the pain and survivor's guilt that this young guy must feel being the only survivor of a 20 man hotshot team.
A beautiful memorial!
After spending several solemn minutes to pay our respects it was time to hike out. Like I said before, those 400 feet back to the observation deck were torturous but from there it was downhill all the way.
We pushed all the way down without a single stop. The entire trip took us about six hours, but that's only because we are old and I need to stop to breathe a lot on the way up.
Thank you Granite Mountain Hotshots and families. There's no words to express how grateful we are for your service and ultimate sacrifice. You are our heroes!
Comments
The movie about the hot shots was good and from what I read, the survivors that it was mainly accurate. There is some eerie footage on on youtube of the guys watching the fire not long before they died.
The memorial is on my bucket list.