Hiking Dangers

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while, but things have been crazy. And I wanted to be able to give you the end of the story. So here it is: the family hiking drama.

A few weeks ago Nate's dad, Rocky, went hiking on Three Fingers mountain with three of his friends. He'd been on this hike many, many times, as had his friend Larry. His two other friends, Gary and John had never been. They left on Friday morning, with plans to hike to the top on Saturday and return home on Sunday. That didn't happen.

They did, indeed, leave on Friday and start hiking up to the top on Saturday. Three Fingers has several ice fields that you have to cross in order to get to the top. (Ice fields are exactly what they sound like: fields of ice and snow). Obviously, they are very slippery and you have be very careful crossing them. Just in case someone does slip, it's wise to carry an ice-pick type tool that you can stick into the ice to stop yourself from sliding down the ice field into the rocks.

Now, this always seemed a little strange to me. If you're sliding down the side of the mountain, are you really going to be able to stop yourself safely with a pick? I had asked this question before and everyone always assured me that it works well. Hmmm...

So, on Saturday about noon, the four of them were hiking across an ice field and John started to slip. For some reason, Rocky started to catch him. Not a good idea. He ended up slipping himself and started sliding down the mountain toward the rocks. He tried to get his pick in the ice but couldn't. He slid down feet first about 200 feet and when he hit the rocks, he did a somersault and landed on his back between some rocks. Luckily, he had on an old-school backpack with the metal frame and that saved him from hitting as hard as he could  have.

Needless to say, he couldn't hike out. He knew he injured his leg somehow. He thought it was his knee but it turns out it was a severe break right below his knee. His friends eventually got down to him. Gary and John were sent to get help at the ranger's station and Larry stayed with Rocky. Because Gary and John weren't as experienced and it was already late in the day, they didn't get off the mountain before dark. So they had to stop and sleep on the trail in the cold and wet. Rocky and Larry thought they'd be able to make it off the mountain before dark and so were very worried the next morning when no one came to rescue them. They thought something had happened to the other two. It turns out that they were fine and they made it to the ranger's station.

For some reason, it took forever for the rescue team to get organized and get up on the mountain. They finally got up there Sunday afternoon and were considering a helicopter rescue. But of course since this is western Washington, it was cloudy and rainy so they couldn't do that. The other plan was to carry him off the mountain. They sent about 50 guys up there and they were going to carry him on a stretcher, taking turns. By the time they decided to do that, it was too late in the day so they were going to do it on Monday.

So, he'd already been stuck in the rocks since Saturday without being able to move. Luckily, he was dry due to a tent they'd set up and he had food and water. Monday turned out to be a better day weather-wise so they attempted another helicopter rescue. First, they had to haul him out of the rocks and up the mountain a ways to a place where the helicopter could land. When it dropped down, they had to quickly shove him on board and send him away on his own.

They took him to the hospital in Everett where he was inspected and given a room. He had to have surgery to repair the break and he won't be able to put any weight on it for 12 weeks. That's three months! Anyone who knows him knows that his may be harder for him than landing on the rocks.

He's back home now recovering. He's pretty tired and I'm sure he'll be getting bored pretty quickly. But honestly, we're just lucky he's still here. He could have easily landed a different way and seriously, or fatally, hurt himself. We truly have a God who watches out for us and protects us.

As for the rest of us, we're doing alright. Due to poor communication, we didn't get much information until he was off the mountain. Because of that, we thought that it was just a minor injury. Maybe a broken ankle that prevented him from walking. Wrong. I'm actually kind of glad we didn't know. I think it made it easier. 

So if you think about it, shoot up a little prayer for Rocky. Pray his healing...and his sanity.