We like the amended plan to meet up with help at Ute park. Its only a few miles down and before the rapids get nasty. There is evidently a Teepee there that doubles as a BLM ranger station in the summer. I've never run this river before so I have no idea. That'll do. We'll take all the help we can get. There is likely a road or path or something at the least, but we are praying for a helicopter landing zone there.

​

     With Robby at the oars, Adam laid out across the back of the boat, and me straddling the back of the right hand tube so I can talk to Adam while staying in his line of sight, we finally get moving down river. Ben stays with us through the rapids we encounter and I do my best to shield Adam from any splashes with the extra rubber from Logan's boat that is hanging beyond where his head lays. It works to some extent, but its likely more Robby running the rapids with a right handed cant to the raft. He's not only expertly running the river, he's taking any hits he can't avoid on the left front side of the boat to shield his passenger. This has to be a little hard on the inner Robby. Normally he'd be plunging headlong into the deepest drops and hitting the biggest waves head-on. I'm thankful for his thoughtfulness, and if Adam could sit up enough to realize it, I'm sure he would be too. Laying down through all this has to be disorienting. Disorienting and a sign of just how much trust we have garnered from the man we met less than an hour ago.

​

     In order to hold on as the boat jumps and drops, I've got to use my legs. There just isn't a great place to hold onto and to fend off the waves with the nose of Logan's boat, I've got to use one hand not to fall right on top of our patient. Unfortunately, using my legs means my feet are in the water a good bit of the time. I honestly haven't noticed yet, but they are getting cold.

​

     As we pass by the bank of the river where Duncan trail comes in from the canyon rim, there appears to be a moderately sized flat spot. Robby and Ben evidently have the same idea and migrate to the left to survey it.

​

"Could be a decent LZ…" Robby says, too quietly for Ben to hear but Adam and I do.

​

"Looks big enough to land a Heli, don't you think?" Ben says right after.

​

"Lets check it out." I say to Rob as he paddles closer.

​

We didn't notice that there is a man standing on the bank until we were quite close, and he called out to us. "No, you're expected at Ute park. This is Duncan trail. "

​

"We know," I respond, thinking 'duh, we're expected at Ute park… that was our plan. "This just looks like a possible landing zone for a chopper."

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"No, its not a good place. Trust me. I'm a local. I sent my wife back up to get help down to Ute for you. You should keep going."

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     Assuming that from his vantage point, he could see something up there that we couldn't or perhaps he did have some local knowledge that getting a heli in here would be tough, we accepted his advice. It also resonated with me that we should be where we said we would be. Countless search and rescue stories are playing back in my head about people who somehow miscommunicated with their loved ones back home as they embarked on a trip or with searchers- and it only prolonged or hindered the efforts. Adam can't afford to have this prolonged, I'm starting to realize.

​

     He'd reported to us just before getting him on the boat that he was feeling 'a little woozy.' Not something we wanted to hear. It’s the kind of nonspecific, but clearly not good type of symptom that can be quite a challenge to treat. Its part of the reason I'm keeping him talking while we ride along on the boat, assessing his neurological function. I'm intentionally asking him some of the same questions he's already answered not too long ago for two reasons. One, to verify the answer isn't changing as his status changes, but also to see if it will irritate him. Increasing (uncharacteristic) irritability is an early sign of increasing pressure in the brain. Sometimes this can be hard to suss out from the regular irritability of a stranger looming over you asking annoying questions when you are cold and in pain from the bones protruding from your arms.

​

     Despite all he's dealing with, its largely the cold he's reporting back to me as his 'chief complaint'. I'm reminded of all the layers of high tech gear I've got on that only keep this trip in the survivable range, not the comfortable range. How is he fairing? We've layered him from the top down with piled on fleece and down, and wrapped the excess rubber of Logan's boat around him. I made sure not to use all of the warm gear, in order to ensure we'll have something dry for him once we do find a suitable spot to pull over. We're risking soaking all of this stuff that’s out at the moment. There isn't much underneath him other than the boats. That's likely a heat suck. Gotta move.

​

     We thank the man and continue down river. I voice my concern about stopping before reaching Ute park, even if that would have made a decent LZ (landing zone). Ben shares with us -I'm assuming from his EMT training- that if a helicopter arrived at the Ute park TeePee and we weren't there, they'd then buzz the canyon looking for us. He says it with comforting confidence. That sounds plausible to me and although it may delay them finding us a bit, it wouldn't take too much longer. A helicopter quickly covers much more ground than our raft can. I still feel better getting closer to the agreed upon spot, even if we do stop early.

​

     With some concern that he may eventually pass out on us, I ask him his wife's name one more time.

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    "Ok, got it. And do you know her cell number off the top of your head?" I ask. I'm so bad at remembering numbers myself, I assume he'll say no. I know his phone is safe in the dry bag, but I'm not sure how much charge is on it and he's already told me he isn't carrying a charger. It’s a blackberry too. I have no idea what kind of charger those use. Who still uses a blackberry? I want to give him shit for it, but he's having a rough day already.

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"Yes, I know it. Its…"

​

     Robby and I recite it back to him and then repeat it again. Robbie agrees he can remember the first part if I can remember the last. Evidently he's just as bad at remembering numbers. We play the "what's Catherine's number" game a few more times throughout the day. I'll never forget that number now. 867-5309. (some details of the story have been altered to protect the innocent)

 

     We splash through a couple more moderate rapids. These are a little more demanding, so our captain isn't able to keep the back of the boat totally dry. Sometimes the rapid dictates he can’t enter at a rightward angle and the drop into buttermilk rapid and its following waves are just too big to totally shield us. I'm confident that he's doing his best. Luckily for us, Robby's best is pretty damn good. Adam has been reporting he's worried he's losing feeling in his fingertips. I check his CSM's (circulation, sensation, movement) again. He thinks the splint is on too tight. It certainly could be, or his fractures could be impinging on his blood flow. I reason that I cannot do much about the latter, but I can certainly loosen the former. The "splint" was more for transporting him onto the boat anyway. I work at finding the end of the ace bandage, but its buried and knotted. Damn. I ask Robby for his river knife off his PFD, which he carefully hands back to me. Then another section of rapids hits. Great timing. I can only imagine stabbing Adam in the belly, or popping the damn raft. I palm the knife to protect the blade and ride out the rapid. That could've been stupid. Once through, I quickly cut the ace wrap, hand the knife back to Robby and loosen things up. Adam reports that it feels better. Well, that’s a good sign at least.

​

      We're getting the occasional drenching in sunlight as well. I'm not sure of the time, but the sun overhead is finding some angles that penetrate down into our canyon. The canyon also seems to be widening out a bit. I know that won’t last, as the final stretch with the largest rapids is narrow and contains rapids like “the squeeze” (not to mention “cable”, and “Grand Finale”). But for now, we've got a bit of sun. Adam's upturned face eagerly soaks up the heat as I try to make sure not to let my shadow fall across him. Any bit of comfort for this poor guy. He's been the perfect patient. I've had countless people in my care at the hospital absolutely inconsolable over a broken finger. Adam was a champ. Even when he was asking about pain medications, he was able to be reasonable. We informed him we did have some over the counter stuff, but we were reluctant to give it to him. Likely, it would only serve to make the bleeding worse and wouldn't be quite strong enough to actually touch his pain. He accepted that and we moved on. Like I said, he’s a champ.

 

As we come around another bend in the river, the is a large flat bank on the left. Technically, we are likely within the area called Ute park, just not quite to the agreed upon spot.

 

"You could surely land a helicopter there…" one of us said.

 

"You sure could." The other two replied.

 

     Without much discussion, we decide to check it out. From the shore it looks good. It's large, flat and even has some sunlight. We can't be too far upriver from our destination. They could find us here. We decide this is where we pull over and wait it out. We leave Adam on the back of the boat and just haul the whole damn thing up onto land. We de-rig the gear bags and start seeing what else we've got. I pull some of the splash damp clothing out of the gear burrito we've wrapped Adam in and replace it in a more orderly fashion with the last of our dry stuff. Robby is cracking open some chemical hand warmer packets to start strategically sticking in the burrito.
 

     We chat idly for a bit until someone brings up the fact that we aren't exactly where we said we'd be. But, how can we even get the word out about that? That’s when I remembered Logan's SPOT beacon. We had considered using it when we first found Adam, but the kayakers and hikers came along and we decided they can get help mobilized more specifically, and likely just as quickly. But, in an effort to add some clarity to the search effort about where we've stopped, we decide to set it off.

 

     Little do I realize, it has triggered a whirlwind of worry among the combined families of Logan and Robby. It's Logan's device, so they contact the people on his list initially. Logan and Chris haven't made it home yet by the time his phone rings. They end up circling back to delta and trying to make some sense of and coordinate the search. The SPOT people initially contact him

 

"Sir,we are contacting you because your SPOT beacon has been activated. Are you aware it has been set off?"

 

"No, I was not."

​
 

"Well, I’m glad to hear you are ok, and this was an accidental activation."

​
 

"No I am decidedly NOT OK. My friends are on the river with my device."

 

"It likely is an accidental activation sir."

​
 

"You’re telling me that my friends got my SPOT out of my dry bag, out of its dry box, opened the safety catch and pressed the distress button… ON ACCIDENT?"

​
 

He can check the GPS location that the device is transmitting every 3 minutes, so shortly after this conversation with them, he knows that because it isn't moving, this isn't an accidental button push.

 

 

​
 

"You guys have this under control, I'm going to paddle across the river and climb that mountain to check for cell service," Ben announces.

 

"Sounds good." I say.

 

 "I'm going to set up a signal fire up over there in case we need it." Robby adds.

 

     "I'll keep working here…" I reply, thinking about the possible fire. Its nothing but dry grass right here. Hopefully there's a better spot where he's planning. I also hope it doesn't get Adam fixated on the idea. A cold man could easily get his mind set on sitting next to a fire. Something we may not be able to easily offer. I'd really rather the damn helicopter get here soon and transport him out instead of hunkering down for an extended period of time.

 

"Why don't you come over and check this area out?" Robby asks.

 

     I can tell he's wanting to talk to me. Although I'd like to have a chance to talk all this out with him and not have to keep censoring ourselves for Adam's sake, I'm hesitant to leave his side. We've avoided discussing some of the more grim possibilities in front of him, but there are a few possibilities that it would be good to work up a plan for. Especially since the light is fading and all our extra gear is on top of Adam.

 

"Ya know, I'm going to stick with Adam. Holler if you need me, but I think I'm going to stay here." I say, seeing recognition in his face. Good, he gets what I'm thinking. He trots off to gather fire building supplies.

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