You know what's worse than being stranded on a mountain with no food?

Uh, listening to ads when you're trying to escape reality? Exactly. That's why we've got

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get ad-free listening plus early access to our disaster strikes episodes.

Because when disaster hits in the middle of nowhere, you'll want the story first.

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Your future survival depends on it.

Okay, maybe not literally, but your listening experience definitely will.

Hello, survivalists. This is the Crux True Survival Story podcast. I'm Casey McIntosh. And I'm

Julie Henningson. And we are medical professionals with a passion for wilderness survival.

Join us as we explore real life survival stories and the critical moments that determine their outcomes.

Buckle up. Adventure awaits. Let's dive into this week's story.

The scraper makes a rhythmic scratching sound against the sand.

You're kneeling in a hole you've been digging for the past two hours, pulling out crystals

and interesting minerals, your fingers dusty and warm.

The December sun feels perfect on your back, 65 degrees, in the eastern California desert.

Behind you, the enormous boulder sits slightly uphill,

ancient and immovable, casting a shadow across the excavation site. You sit up to catch your

breath, turning away from your work just for a moment. You turn back. The boulder is moving,

not slowly, lurching. In a fraction of a second, it takes

your brain to register what's happening. Four thousand kilos of stone crashes into you like a

semi-truck, driving your legs into the sand, crushing them, pinning you to the ground up to your

...