The morning CSUSA session ended about 12:30 and after a quick bite with the group I retreated to my room for a long chat with an old friend, we reminisced about the final Saparano's and life since last week met. He wanted to go for a sail but i was not up to any activity due to a massive oak bloom (allergies). I decided to lay down for a nap, but could not sleep.
After not being able to sleep i went to a local store bought some Benadryl and then headed north (my favorite direction), to a primeval spruce & fur tract. I arrowed down the dirt road, for ~ 8 - 9 miles of bumps, past the fork in the road, dead ends and spin outs to a pull off. I was just going to "look at the water" but i've learned to rig up (just in case) so armed with my 5' - 3 wt a cigar and some bug dope i set off for a walk int he woods...
It was hot, dry and the fishing was typical mid summer poor. Only this was early - mid June in the north country. The water was low and clear as the air. The spruce forest revived me of my oak bloom and i felt refreshed enough to take a wet walk up the brook. I had done this a hundred times before on other brooks and several times on this particular one, and planned to continue do this for the next 50 or 60 years....
The first mile of so is easy going and a gentile start to the late afternoon. The casting was easy the cigar was working to keep me relatively free of flying pests. I bypassed much of the lower water as it looked to thin or i had always wanted to see the water beyond the big cascade (don't we always want to see what is beyond the falls or try the other side?). The first 2 fish came as they do with bold strikes and enthusiastic attempts at flight, one 6"er is pictured below.
All seemed right with the world - my boots with good felt soles, dry moss free rocks and a canopy as dense as you could imagine. As i worked my way up to the cascade it sparked the memory of my last trip (a fine brace of 10 & 11") and the low water today held the promise of easier access to plumb the depths of this fine pool.
The lower water allowed me to bolder the tricky erratic and navigate the still full flowing cascade above with relative ease. This is one of the few small water outings which combines bouldering and fishing. Above the cascade the fishing petered out and i had planned to turn back at the outlet to the pond atop the ridge. This was about 3 miles from the car and as far as i would go this late in the day. I would save the pond for another day and then one day to aspire to the water above the inlet. There is always one more place to go...
20 yards below this point, on a 20 degree incline of dry solid rock my footing went wrong and i felt myself going down. I had a choice between the water with mixed rocks on my left or the near hillside which i went for but could not get my arm up & out in time. The fall it self was minor perhaps only 3' - 4' but the aftermath was not...
The first realization was some was radically wrong came as i raised myself my right arm it swung out in an unnatural, uncontrolled and totally revolting manner. It was all i could do to not get sick at the site of this now foreign appendage swinging loosely away from my body. As usual there is no cell coverage deep in the north woods. So it came down to fight or flight which once it takes hold, the adrenalin kicks in the mind shifts into a sharp focus. I must collect my thoughts, I must not pass out from the gross factor, I must not rest or sleep here for if so, I will not get up or got out of this - period.
With my left hand / arm I reached out for and pulled in the alien appendage in, hooking the thumb on my vest. I grabbed some 5x and tied a loop around my wrist and secured it and then my arm close to my body to prevent further movement or another nausea inducing freak show. At this point i chucked my cigar into the river with the band still attached (the only time in my life i did not peal it off & carry it out), i simply could not take a chance on anything going wrong at this point.
In all the years of reading the AAJ Accident reports one thing came to mind that the initial fall is not the only thing to be weary of, you must redouble your efforts to protect the injury at all costs to avoid a second fall. I chose the difficult task of ascending to the ridge line knowing it would be easier to descend than to follow the brook back down to the car. Also I now realize i would never have been able to "bolder" around the erratic with only one arm.
The loose talus slope up to the ridge would have been trenchers enough with both hands, but i made my way slowly and carefully and once on the ridge breathed my first sigh since the fall. The ridge line was well defined and mostly clear of the loose debris below. Once i reached the car i could not get my vest off nor could i get cell coverage.
I managed to get into the car and activated the GPS which knew exactly where i was and with my car's bread crumb feature... where specifically "off rode" i was. Now i have been mostly adverse to tech in the woods but thanks to this I was a lot safer than any other possible circumstance. I entered "Hospital" and the car asked if i would like to go to the nearest hospital and i said yes i would...
End result more than 1 month later looked like this...
Final tally a spiral break on the arm, fractured shoulder, bruised ribs, sprained wrist & fore arm and as of a few days a go visit to the DDS 3 broken teeth which until that visit 2 months after the fall i was unaware of ....
The Scar is 3" longer than any of the fish that day...
This was extremely hard on my family, my daughter & wife know what i do and where i go. This was my refuge from the city and now i can only wonder - - - -
Was it worth it???
Will i ever go out again?
Next time the aftermath both family and rehab...
Posts
