our scottsdale atv adventure

The first half of my trip to Phoenix was spent with my dear friends Robin and Ashley. They flew out to Phoenix with me the week before the workshop for a girls weekend. Wasn’t that nice? I have the best friends.

On Saturday we got up early to meet Chad with Stellar Adventures. He hauled us out into the middle of the desert for a two-hour ATV excursion. From the minute Robin posted this: “Desert atv-ing since 8 am…and after a trip to the er and 20+ stitches ashley is ok. WHAT A DAY!!!” as her Facebook status, our ATV trip became the most talked about part of our entire trip. Here is the full story on how it all happened… (P.S. Chad smartly advised me to leave my camera in the van. He had a small “element-proof” camera and took pictures during the whole trip.)

We started the ride with brief instructions on how to run our ATV and basic safety instructions. Chad told us to be careful because the only way out of the desert was on a $14,000 medi-vac helicopter ride. Personally, I wasn’t concerned. Daredevil is not in my resume. I’m more of a paranoid scaredy-cat-chicken girl, and so are my friends… well, maybe not Robin. Robin is brave.

We started out good. I was leading at first until I started slowing down the line with my grandma-ness. Chad led the group single-file line through each trail. We would stop at the end of each section to regroup, drink water and get instructions for the next trail. I wound up swapping positions and bringing up the tail end, while Robin and Ashley took turns in the lead.

Say hello to my used-to-be-white-but-now-dark-dirt-brown shirt. Silly me wore a WHITE shirt on the dusty adventure ride on the planet. On one of the stops I looked over at Robin and giggled about the dirt on her face. Our guide Chad pointed toward me and told me to look at myself. I shrieked at the filth my pure white shirt had absorbed. I took this entire outfit home in a Hazardous Waste bag – no joke.

So, we were cruising along in single file order. Chad led, followed by Ashley, Robin and me. I came around a sharp corner and saw my sweet friend Ashley standing next to her tilted ATV. It was obvious something had happened. Robin and I jumped off our ATVs and took off our gear as we ran over to Ashley. She was scraped up pretty bad and was bleeding through her pants. I couldn’t look at the cut at the time, but saw it later. Trust me when I say… it was BAD. Robin rode off to catch up with our guide and I stayed with Ashley. 

Because we were nearing the end of the trail, we were in the absolute middle of nowhere. Like, the for real middle of nowhere. Chad had to leave to find some cell service and call for help. Robin and I alternated between reassuring Ashley she wasn’t going to die to making her laugh to giving each other oh-crap looks. After what seemed like forever, Chad came back with the Sheriff and a paramedic. They checked her out and wrapped her up in preparation to head to the hospital. Remember that $14K helicopter ride I told you about earlier? This is when talk of it got serious. Ashley basically begged and pleaded and threatened to get up and walk home so they wouldn’t call the chopper. After a lot of negotiation and several more stat checks, they agreed to drive her out in the SUV. And we smiled for a picture.

In the end, we pieced together bits of information to figure out what happened. We think that Ashley hit a deep rut on a sharp corner and lost control. Her ATV went airborne and lost balance when it landed, sending her flying. 

When Ashley was gone, we still had to get the gear back to home base. Robin and I rode our own ATV and Chad towed Ashley’s. That alone was quite an experience! We took it really slowly and stopped once at “The Office” on top of the most beautiful peak to take a quick photo.  

Once back to the van, I grabbed my camera and Robin and I had our own little desert photo shoot while Chad packed up the gear. Although I was really glad I didn’t take my nice camera out on the dusty trail, these photos back at the van just don’t do justice to the amazing things we saw out on the trail. Thanks to Robin for taking a bunch of me too! 

We met back up with Ashley at the Scottsdale ER just in time to give her hugs and be with her while they stitched her up. She really was a trooper through the 20+ stitches and serious road rash, and she later agreed that despite what happened, it was a fun trip.

Our guide Chad went absolutely above and beyond with us. He drove Robin and me to the ER and waited in the waiting room while we were back with Ashley. He was more concerned with Ashley being ok than the fact that she tried to fly his ATV. If you are in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area, and want to go on an excursion, definitely give Stellar Adventures a call.