Date: 2010-03-15
From: Rice Field Shelter

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It stopped raining a little before dawn although I'm not totally sure about that. The shelter is under trees and it could have stopped earlier and the dripping off the trees may have made me think it was still raining. Sometime during the night a skunk let loose somewhere. We could smell it but the aroma did not linger very long so we figured it was passing through on the breeze from some distant location. I tried to see if it was outside the shelter but the lightbeam bounced back off the dense cloud in which we were still engulfed, and I could not see outside at all.I should have mentioned the privy yesterday when describing the shelter area. It is a mouldering privy. Built up off the ground and the frame enclosed with chicken wire to allow the air to help decompose the waste. Bugs, worms, and other items are introduced and all combine to keep things under control. All in all I like this type of privy and have not encountered many that were over ripe. I am mentioning this one as memorable because, other than the raised platform, this one had no walls or roof. Just a platform with a lidded stool on top. Great views, by the way, off the mountainside, if we could have seen it through the cloud. We packed up, had breakfast and were ready to head out. Trees still dripping, still in the cloud, and holding at 30 degrees. Despite the limitations of privacy at the privy we decided to use it one last time before setting out. From the shelter I heard Bill yell my name and I went to find him thinking he had seen a bear or some other interesting creature. I found him on the ground beside the privy and unable to get up. Ok, my heart is picked up a few beats per minute now and lots of first aid training began to kick in. Initially I thought it was something age related , heart, stroke, the usual suspects. Bill told me it was his left leg and in particular his knee. After using the privy he began down the stairs and the next thing he new he was airborn and then on the ground. We both examined and quized each other on the signs and symptoms we found. There didn't appear to be any broken bones and the intense pain from the beginning was not as severe. He could not, however, bend his leg. Once, we determined he was not life threatened from the injury, other thoughts began nagging me. Lightly dressed, just below freezing temperature, wet ground, dripping trees, I didn't like where this was potentially headed. I told Bill that even though it may hurt his leg I was going to have to somehow get him back into the shelter to avoid shock and hypothermia. Okay, way bigger than me, one good leg and 30 yards to go. With his good leg under him and me lifting from the left side we got him upright. I got under his left shoulder, kind of like a human crutch and ever so slowly we headed toward the shelter. It was a long trip and I could tell he was in pain but he was stoic about it as he realized it was very important to get out of the weather.We got to the shelter which has a floor height just above standing waist height if standing on the ground. With me lifting his leg and keeping it straight we muscled him inside. He pulled himself to the side of the shelter and we put his pack behind him as a cushion. There was no ice in the water bottles but they were filled with water as cold as you can get without being frozen. I packed his knee with the bottles. Now about that shivering. Rain gear, and extra clothes, both his and mine warmed him back up. I was on the verge of dragging out the sleeping bags but it never got to that point. He did a great job fending off shock and that was never a problem, fortunately. He was stabilized and out of the weather.I called 911 and reached the Giles County Sheriff's emergency operations center and told them our story. Now we wait to see if anyone can get to us. The cloud was still on us and I thought that precluded a helocopter landing on the very flat and open portion of our ridge. That leaves some kind of vehicle or several stout men and a stretcher. Lastly, we were sheltered and had five days food and water a half mile away. Not a dire situation but troublesome none the less. After two hours we got a call from the sheriff's office wanting an update and to tell us that emergency personnel were on the way and estimating 45 minutes to our location but they were encountering lots of downed trees so it was slow going.Eventually we began hearing chain saws and vehicle noise and it was beginning to sound closer. Bill fell off the wet, slippery privy platform at 9:00 AM and the rescue team showed up at 12:30 PM just about three and a half hours later. They were sweat soaked and covered with wood chips from sawing through many obstacles but they were in good spirits despite their ordeal. There were two EMT/Paramedics, one representative from the sheriff's office, and one forest service ranger. They arrived in two ATVs, one a six wheeler with a short bed in the back to hold gear, and one ATV with one seat. The Forest Service fellow had walked the last half mile but had driven his Big Ford Expedition SUV most of the way. These guys had worked their butts off to get to us as fast as they could.I got out of the way and let the Paramedics check out Bill. Eventually they came to the same no broken bones conclusion and determined that they could move him into the back of the ATV. Eventually we were able to get Privy Lizard into the back of the 6 wheeler along with all of their gear and all of our gear. What you think that just because he fell and injured his knee that he is not deserving of a trail name. We look for people to distinguish themselves and then you get your name. Privy Lizard seemed like a good fit.I rode on the back of the single ATV. At the power lines a half mile from the shelter the Expedition was parked, running, and warm. We got Privy Lizard into the back with an EMT and I transferred to the front seat of the 6 wheeler with the sheriff rep. 20 minutes later we got off the mountain and transferred Privy Lizard to an ambulance. Packed the ATVs on trailers and headed to, you guessed it, Pearisburg. Again in Pearisburg. Not complainng, just ironic. The Lizard went directly to the hospital emergency room while I went to a motel and got a room and stored all our gear. I was then driven to the emergency room to see how things were going. These guys couldn't do enough for us. They really, really deserve a lot of kudos.Xrays, poking and prodding accomplished, knee brace attached and crutches instructed I was allowed in to see him. They thought it was a bad sprain but he was to see his own doctors as soon as possible for additional testing. Now its 5:00 and He is being discharged, one of the nurses was going to drive us to the motel, are these guys great or what. We were instructed to go to the lobby and the nurse would get her car. OK, now we are in the lobby. Oatmeal at 8:00 this morning and not enough liquid combined with the pain killer administered got the best of him and he passed out in the lobby.Back into the emergency room, a bag of IV liquid and a cheeseburger later and he is being discharged again at 7:00. Same nurse stayed after her shift and took us to the motel with a stop at the pharmacy to get a prescription filled for pain relief during the night.All this was bad enough but now we had to call his wife to see if she would drive the five hours back to Pearisburg to pick us up. After the initial blast hit her between the eyes and we assured her that death was not iminent, other than from her, she let us know that she would be in Pearisburg at lunchtime the next day, and there had better be a DQ blizzard waiting for her.Sleep was good except for the several trips Bill had to make to the bathroom to get rid of the IV fluid and the large soda he had in the room. He could get to the edge of the bed, but couldn't get his leg off the bed and become upright without me helping to support his leg and lifting it off the bed.It was a long day. I have had trouble forcing myself to sit down and tell the story. Hope I have properly conveyed the ordeal. By the way, Bill has approved and accepted the Privy Lizard trail name. He won't get to use it soon though.I will finish his story with his doctors, our ride back north with Jane, and what I am up to now in the next day or two.See you on the trailJohn