News and Views

While coming down from 12,000 foot Mather Pass, I was hiking behind Dr. Suuz, and noticed that she seemed to be limping a little. She admitted that her knee was bothering her a little, but she didn’t think it was serious. Just as we were almost off the steep part, she suddenly stumbled and almost fell, clutching her right leg and exclaiming in pain. I rushed forward to support her pack and take the weight off, and help hold her up. A minute later she said she was OK, didn’t know what had happened, but hopefully it was a one-off.

But a minute or so later it happened again, and then again. I think at that time we all realized that her hike was over, and we found a place for her to sit down so we could all figure out what to do. Fortunately this had happened at the bottom of the climb down from the pass on a flat meadow with lots of rocks to sit on.

We pondered what to do. We were several miles from any civilization. We considered if she could hobble 10 miles over the closest pass to a road, but quickly abandoned that idea. We thought about hiring mules to come in and carry her out, but that would take a couple of days to organize. We thought about contacting the King’s Canyon National Park rescue service, but how to contact them? Maybe if someone had a satellite phone…?

Wonderfully, the first person passing by did have a satellite phone and made the call for us. The 15 minute call cost about $30, but it was well worth it.

About 3 hours later we heard the “thump-thump-thump” of a helicopter in the distance, slowly approaching. They weren’t sure exactly where we were, so they were following the trail up from several miles away. They later said that finding the right people was made more difficult because many people on the ground would wave at them, out of curiosity and interest, so how to tell when they had found the right ones? But eventually they did find us, and after flying in a circle around us came to land on a flat place nearby with the tail hanging over the trail. The wind blew dust everywhere and tipped over my backpack, but the landing was made safely.

We thought we would walk Dr. Suuz right over, she would get in, and they would be off, but instead they shut off the helicopter and a couple of paramedics came out and examined her. They concluded that she did indeed merit and require an evacuation, so off she went.

They buckled her in, and she went for the ride of her life through the canyons and over the peaks of the Sierra.

I was almost wishing my knee would fail, so I could go for a helicopter ride too…

Since coming out we have heard a little more, but we still don’t know the details of the injury. She is scheduled for an MRI that will probably explain it. For now she is back in Mississippi getting around on crutches.

Next time I go into the backcountry, I am going to look into taking a satellite phone. They are heavy and expensive but could be a life saver.