Happy Trails.....LOL

I always thought about writing a book.  Then the thought would occur to me.....what the heck would I write a book about?  ...Really.... makes no sense and you need characters, a theme, plot, storyline, publishers.....all that stuff and not really my style anyhow.

So when when my recent mishap - AKA - broken ankle while on a day hike in the mountains with my husband- occurred and I began posting updates on Facebook, there was a lot of interest and chatter around "how did it happen?" "how did you make it down?" "hope you are OK...." and as I shared answers, the whole story became more interesting, scary, hilarious, and an experience with search and rescue that deserves to be shared with those who are willing to read about it. Happy Trails....lol is my story to share with those who would like to read it and hopefully appreciate the difficulty of making good decisions..we hope they are at the time..... this blog will keep humor above all else in the story because at the end of it I am still laughing it was just  that ridiculous.

Set the stage:

Larry - my husband is an outdoors fanatic and hiking maniac in a good way and wanted to get in a hike to see the fall colors in the Alpine Meadows while the weather was still good

Madison & Emily - our teen aged daughters who had Homecoming that weekend....having the pre-dinner dress up and post sleepover at our house that day.

me- Just got back from 5 intense days of business travel...

Weather- Spectacular!

Mountains- calling our names -to at least get out of the house while the girls were prepping with their friends for homecoming.

7:30 AM- we are on the road early and headed to a favorite hike a few times that has it all... old growth trees, high alpine meadows, a bunch of wild blueberries, views and even a side trail to the top of 3 Fingers Peak if we wanted to venture further.  (this is where Larry usually goes to the top and I pick blueberries) We planned to be at the trail head by 9:30 so we could have lunch at the top and get back home to make appetisers for the girls and their friends before they went for the Homecoming dinner and festivities.

8:30 AM - stopped off to pick up the trail pass in Granite Falls where it was noticeably cold at 32 degrees.  aaakkkkk. glad I grabbed my hat and gloves on my way out the door.

9:15 AM - 22 miles in on forest service roads-10 miles short of the trail head and not getting any closer....why?  because the frickin road washed out! Nuts!

10:30 AM- the Forest Service center where we were redirected to a hike that is similar in distance, views, meadows and vegetation but a bit more challenging in elevation gain as the trail head parking area is right off the main road compared to the 30 mile drive via dirt roads to the other hike....OK. maybe a lot more in elevation gain now that I think about it....

11:00 AM -  Really? we are starting now?  OK. Let's run up have lunch and hustle back down. Still a little chilly but not too bad so I will start out with my hat and gloves.  Larry leaves his behind and puts on the shorts. 

 1:00 PM hike along the way to the top

Views at the top 2:30 PM

Getting kind of late.....at this point we are just eating lunch and have resolved that we will be missing the pre-homecoming festivities and pictures so we hung out for another hour....

Parched and filter water for final few miles

there are not too many pictures of me and this is pretty ironic that within 30 min of this moment I would be snapping my ankle.....funny thing is...I actually like this pic.  it was a great spot to rest and rehydrate with the creek just to the left of the picture.

4:30 PM - the decision making and escapades begin. somehow a a misstep with a bad counter leads to a broken ankle in the middle of the trail.

I must confess, I have never heard Larry refer to me as 'hon' ever...let alone endearingly and with compassion.   a lot of of 'oh hon's and quiet voice.  in the meantime, all I could think of was how-in-hell-am-I-going-to-get-down-this-f____-mountain????!!!!!

we tried the following: 

•  hop on my good leg while leaning on him....you see those rocks in the above pic right? and that is a flat spot!
• Larry carry me and the backpacks-seriously, you all know I am no petite princess
• I did well walking backwards like a crab with my hands in front and using one leg.
• at one point I told him I could get down with crutches....and his reply was 'you want crutches? I can make you some crutches.. total laugh out loud moment there for me. let's be realistic on how you are going to make those crutches in the wilderness.

while he was looking for wood to make a split, he said he turned around and i was all contorted with my leg in the air and yanking hard on my foot and ankle-  I remember saying 'there that's better'- and it looked a lot better-I reset my ankle because I did not like looking at my foot out of alignment.

6:30PM- a hiker appears on his way down and we get him to get help for us at the bottom blah, blah, blah, whew!

now comes the decision making:

• we really are not prepared as per usual with the 10 essentials so how the hell are we going to keep warm all night when it is going to be 30 degrees? no idea
• will help come tomorrow in the morning? no idea.  tonight? no idea
• will this guy really get to the bottom and call for help like he said he would? no idea
• how far down the mountain to the trail head still? no idea

I encouraged Larry to go to car and at least gather up everything warm from the car. what is the risk? oh I don't know,  leave me alone for the mountain varmints to eat...cougars, bears, you know...the fattening up prior to hibernating.... or hypothermia from the fear of being alone and going into shock from the reality of the situation sinking in.....

7:30 pm- Decision time- Larry goes down and I stay...where the hell else am I going to go?  oh by the way..did I mention it is now a 12 hour hike day and at 7:30 it is dark already?  HA!

BYE-----

My only defense mechanism is a camera where the pic below is an example of how i used the flash to keep the animals at bay....LOL.....
never mind.  I did not load that pic.

Stars, Stars and lots of Stars.... they move pretty darned slowly along the horizon in these situations....

11:00 PM-  head lamps appear along with voices- finally!

Snohomish Search and Rescue arrives with the first team member on the scene with Larry!

Tony was his name and he had a Cliff Bar and a blanket- how great is that?  this guy gave up his Saturday night to answer a 911 call for me! total volunteer. 

it is also 3.1 miles to the trail head.

11:45 PM  the next 3 teams arrive and Joe was my First Aide care taker-checked my vitals etc. and put a softer splint than the pieces of wood via Larry from earlier in the evening

Midnight- the balance of the rescuers arrive with the litter- that is what they strapped me into and carried me down in- I kept calling it a Kitter (kitty litter combined)- the litter went on a wheel and had belays at the front and back for controlled lifting and dropping ....

here i am in the letter before I am strapped into it

 

the rescue- each light in the top pic is a headlamp of a rescuer facing backward down the trail guiding the Litter with me in it.  AMAZING!

4:30 AM finally at the party in the parking lot on a Saturday night with the generators and cooks to feed all of the volunteer rescuers who showed. 

5:00 AM - emergency room and the pain of the broke ankle finally kicked in- Joe kept asking on the mountain from 1-10 how bad is it? i kept saying 3.  yep...now it is a 12...

 7:30 AM pulling into the driveway back home-24 hr all-niter at its best!

we did reach the girls and there was a sleepover without the parents....search and rescue calling the kids about mom during homecoming.....priceless!