Yesterday was an interesting one. Because we were short-staffed Randa and I did three tours. Normally we work mornings (8:30 to about 1:30) but we volunteered for a third tour at 1;40. I had a 9am and a 10:40 so was sitting in the lunchroom deciding whether to go home for a while or stay at the Discovery Center when I heard that there was a problem on Randa's tour. There happened to be two electric scooters being used on her tour and both had quit in the same location. So I went with two rangers, both young ladies and we took two regular wheel chairs up to the location which was halfway through the tour route. We got up there relatively quickly. Found the location of the problem. The scooters have a maximum capacity of 275 pounds. Both of their "riders" exceeded that capacity and the scooters quit going up the hill that section of the cave we call the IP. With great effort I pushed one of the guests up thru most of the rest of the steep portion, finally running out of steam myself. The gentleman could walk a bit so he got out and we continued a short distance to a flat section of the trail. The other guest followed us up to that spot.
The rangers, meanwhile, hit the reset button on the scooters and got them running again. They drove them up to my location and our guests climbed back aboard. From there it is not as steep so the scooters were ok to continue, but our 2 guest were ready to leave the cave, which was fine with the rescue crew. It worked out because we caught Randa's tour at the end and everyone went out together. Problem solved. Happy ending. Wives were appreciative. A discussion will ensue as to why it is not safe to exceed the weight limits of our scooters. Luckily that discussion is for the rangers who have duty at the front desk.
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