I woke up late that morning after feeling the hot sun already baking me in my tent. I said goodbye to the boy scouts that had staved off the bears for the night and allowed me to get a good night's rest. Today was my last full day on the Continental divide trail before I'd meet up with a friend and start my fifth thru hike of the Pacific Northwest Trail. The morning dragged by slowly and I was frustrated by the lack of defined trail and the near constant trees that had blown down onto it. My legs were bloody from climbing over them, no matter how careful I was to avoid the sharp branches. Scrapping the back of my leg for the umpteenth time, I screamed as loud as I could to get my annoyance with the situation out. 'You've got a Friend' by Carole King came on and I remember thinking that maybe things were gonna turn around for the day. I got off trail, again, found a faint route and started down the small dip in a ravine. My left leg began to slip off trail and I knew my whole body was going to hit the ground. It seems my right foot didnt move but unfortunately my leg did, folding my ankle in half. I heard a loud snap and looked around for the branch I must have broken, nothing. Then my whole body felt weak, my vision started to go, and I had to lie back on the ground to keep from throwing up. I stayed like that for a while, unable to sit up without the nausea returning. I knew I was in big trouble but I was calm. I reached for my GPS and got a message out to a friend and my parents, hoping they'd get back to me soon. I decided not to hit my SOS button thinking it was not an emergency situation. I was sure I would be off trail and on my way to help in a few hours. I was in sporadic contact with my parents and they let me know that search and rescue were on their way. A small hummingbird came and landed on a nearby branch, checking me out. I'm not sure why, but the hummingbird would stick around until the rescuers showed up, keeping me company. I tried to get more comfortable but I was on a steep slope covered in loose dirt, downed trees, and spikey plants.
I was in the shade at the time but I knew that wouldn't last long and I'd soon be completely exposed to the sun. I tried to eat something but it wasnt helping. Someone at the station told my parents that they'd be out to me in an hour. After sitting in the ravine for seven hours, I decided that this was probably not happening. I couldn't understand how they couldn't find me. They had my GPS coordinates and knew that I was on the continental divide trail. The sun was killing me, l laid my ground sheet over me creating some artificial shade. I was running out of water. I started to get irritated and scared as the time creeped closer to sunset. There had been no sign of anyone looking for me for nine hours when I heard the faint whirl of a helicopter. I tried to stand up on my one good leg and wave my ground sheet as hard as I could do he would see me but he was too far and I was in a bad spot covered by trees. Yelling as hard as I could I hoped someone would be close enough to hear me. The helicopter came closer and I tried to look as obvious as possible, nearly breaking my leg again in the effort. He flew over again tilted down towards me an I was sure he saw me. I started to cry with relief, knowing I would be found soon. I heard some motorbikes in the distance and when they shut off a loud "hello" boomed through the ravine. I yelled back and after ten hours since I broke my leg, I saw my first human climbing down to me. A few more followed and before I knew it they grabbed my backpack and slung me over a shoulder before powering back up the hill. It took a few bursts of effort before we got to the first motorbike. They threw me on the back and brought me to the top of the ridge. By then the sun had completely gone behind the mountains and it was dark and getting cold. We waited up there for an hour before five large horses arrived. They splinted up my leg and threw me up on a horse, named Cleetus, working fast to get off the ridge. It would take us over two and a half hours of jostling and making sure my leg didn't smack into trees before we made it to the trailhead. From there I was transferred from Cleetus to the ambulance waiting and it finally felt like my troubles were over. The ambulance would take over an hour but finally I'd make it to the hospital. It only took 16 hours...
At the hospital they would tell me that I broke my fibula and may need surgery. My dreams of the pacific northwest trail would have to be postponed. I go home now to rest and recover and to hopefully come back better than before. I want to thank everyone for the well wishes and healing thoughts! And a huge appreciation to the search and rescue team of Clark county Idaho who worked tirelessly to get me out! Thanks for reading!
