After two days of driving, combined with a two-hour ferry ride, our course boarded float planes, four at a time, to be flown to the Bute Inlet where our bipedal travel would begin.
The next four days were spent negotiating every vegetative barrier the coastal mountain ranges have to offer. Here, we look back upon the Slide Alder that consumed over half of a day.
July 4th brought on the blue! And, our first day of travel on glacier. Up until this point, we'd seen only rain, rain, and more rain.
After a particularly long day we rolled into camp at 9:00 p.m. just as the sun was setting over Mount Waddington, the highest peak in the Coast Mountains of B.C.. Magnificent!
Remoteness in full swing, our re-supply of groceries arrived by helicopter. This day also brought about a highlight for me as I went on my first helicopter ride to install a cache of food and fuel for our future progress.
Which brings us to June seventh, the day following our re-ration. In the afternoon, we were teaching our students a rescue technique for retrieving a fallen member from a glacial crevasse. I was over the edge of a steep snow wall as the fallen member of a rope team. My co-instructor was at the edge directing the students. As the teams started to haul me out, the rope cut down through the snow, creating a straight line through the snow wall from me to my rescue team. As I watched the line cut in, I tried to free the rope but it wouldn't budge. Not being able to do this meant that instead of being hauled up and out, I was hauled directly into the wall itself, by six people. Despite both my co-instructor and I yelling for the students to stop pulling, my body was bent backwards into a u-ish shape. Our collective yelling finally stopped any forward progress from the group. Once motion had stopped, I tried to free my line which slowly worked but despite a call of zero, our students continued to pull in any slack they felt in the line. Eventually, my co-instructor and I were able to free the rope and I was able to crawl up and over the edge. Standing on the surface of the snow again, I could immediately tell that something wasn't right in my mid-to-lower back.
I stayed in the field for another three days trying to gauge just how "injured" I actually was. On June 8th, we climbed the peak above. The morning of June 9th, we walked six miles to another camp. That same evening, I post-holed into the snow with my left leg and my back completely locked. It was incredibly painful. The morning of June 10th brought no signs of improvement. At noon, I decided this was an injury I could not manage in the field and initiated to process of evacuating myself.
At 8:10 p.m., I hopped into the same helicopter that had brought us our groceries and headed north to Tatla Lake, B.C., population 123. The landscape resembled Wyoming perfectly and a room at the Tatla Lake Manor was a welcome sight for my weary eyes. Here I am after seventy-two hours without sleep. Without those sunglasses on, I'd probably look like "Large Marge" from PeeWee's Big Adventure.
The next morning, I hobbled down to the lone medical center in hopes of anything that would allow my muscles to relax. I was treated by an incredibly nice care provider who didn't seem the least bit phased by my lack of cleanliness. A shot of pain-killer in the hip, a three-day supply of muscle relaxants, and orders to either lay or stand, I returned to my room to mentally prepare for the 11 hour car ride my back would endure the following day.
Which, more or less, brings us to the present. I'd like to think that I'm on the mend, though I still haven't slept through the night and can't seem to sit, stand, or lay comfortably for much longer than 15 minutes. Only time will tell I suppose, that and a whole slew of physical therapy.
Evacuating myself was an incredibly difficult decision. But, for the sake of my own health and how my body is feeling presently, I don't regret it.
As for the Waddington Range... I've merely scratched the surface.
Riley
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