All of us have had times in our busy over scheduled lives where we have decided we need a break. For many of us here in Colorado, the idea of a break or an escape means a day on one of our world class tail waters or freestones. Being alone on the river with a fly rod in hand is cathartic. It allows us to stop all the multitasking and juggling of multiple projects that we continually add to already full days.
Tensions at home or work tend to disappear and the constant buzz of the cell phone from text messages and calls goes quiet for the hours we are on the water, because in most locations along the front range and into the mountains, cell phone coverage is sparse at best and in most cases non-existent. These are the days we all dream of. That half mile of pristine water off the grid where it’s just you and the trout. For most of us, the more isolated and alone we are on the river, the better we perceive the experience.
I heard a statistic that 80+% of anglers will not hike a mile to fish. Anglers want to park their truck, wader up, grab their rods, and be in the water. Only 5% of anglers will hike 3 or more miles to fish. For some, the idea of finding water that holds fish in an isolated location is worth the extra effort to get there. The fish tend to be more easily spooked in these locations, but they will not have had thousands of different permutations of 2 and 3 nymph rigs dredged over their noses.
I have school days where I am not working, where I love to go fish on my own. I’ve done it for years, sometimes hiking in to locations where I don’t see another human all day until I’m back to my truck. Some of these hikes are brutal, up and down steep grades on treacherous pea gravel ball bearings, and over large rocks. None of these locations have cell coverage. Typically, I would tell my wife where I might be going the night before, but more than once I’ve called an audible and changed locations.
If anything were to happen to me, I’d be on my own to extricate myself or self-rescue. Over the years, I’ve had some close calls. I’ve slid down hills, turned an ankle, and fallen in the river from a slip on a slick rock. None of these incidents was ever severe enough where I needed anyone else to help me out.
That all changed on a beautiful winter day February 1 of this year. I was fishing at Decker’s near Trumbull, scouting water with another guide buddy for an upcoming client trip. We had covered about a half mile of water by noon that day, and were packing up to move to another area where our permits allow us to guide.
We had been chatting with another angler fishing close to us, for the half hour prior as anglers do. What flies were working, how much weight was right for the 212 CFS flows, etc. My guide buddy was in the run down-river from me, and the other angler was below him.
As we decided to move, I had buttoned up my rods up first, and was walking on one of the gravel river bank trails that run parallel to the river all along the South Platte. I was two feet up off the river and just two feet in from the bank as this trail was very tight to the river. I was chatting as I walked, watching my friend and the other angler fish, as I moved toward them. That’s when my life changed in a nanosecond.
We had 10-12 inches of snow that week prior and snow covered the trail I was hiking on. As I walked toward my friend and the other angler on the bank, I took a step with my left leg. As my wading boot landed on what I thought was the snow-covered trail, the snow gave way and the next thing I knew my left leg dropped 18” into a hole. It was either an erosion hole or animal hole that was precariously located in the middle of the main trail. Because it was snow covered, I had no idea it was there.
So, my left leg drops into this hole at what seemed like terminal velocity, and angles my boot to the left pointing toward river. I then fly over the top of my left leg which is fixed at the knee in this hole, creating a U from my knee joint going forward as I land face first in the river. My Fishpond waist pack flew over my head and landed in the water along with my 2 Scott Radians. My friend in the river saw the whole thing. “Are you alright?” was of course the next question.
No was the answer. My leg was stuck in this hole which I proceeded to extract. My knee was toast and it was already the size of a volley ball. My friend asked me if I could stand up. Again, the answer was no. The pain was so overwhelming that I had to lie on the bank. I tried multiple times over the next 30 minutes to sit up but each time I started to pass out. Fortunately, my guide friend and the other angler stayed with me through all this. Finally, my friend said he was going to go get his truck while the other angler stayed with me.
We had parked our vehicles a half mile away and my friend got back in what seemed liked no time. After 45 minutes of lying on the river bank, I was finally able to sit up without passing out and then my friend and the other angler fireman carried me up the river bank and loaded me into my friend’s truck.
He took me back to my truck and he and others in the parking lot got me out of my boots and waders, and loaded me in my truck. I ended up driving home basically in shock, as we didn’t have cell service and I refused to let them call an ambulance. Not my wisest move, but I figured I could be in an ER much faster than I could get an ambulance to the river and back to town (as long as I didn’t pass out while I drove…..).
I meet my wife that afternoon at the Skyridge Medical Center ER and waited for over an hour to see someone. When the attending saw me, he asked what was up. I said I most likely have a tibial plateau fracture and possibly a fibula and tibial fracture. He said ok and ordered X-rays. The X-rays were read and it was a tibial plateau fracture, but the other bones of the lower leg were intact. The force of driving my femur bone (thigh) bone over the top of my knee into the soft tibial plateau complex completed shattered it. I got an Rx for pain meds and a surgical referral.
I met with a surgeon on the following Tuesday, who ordered a CT scan, and the scan showed the devastation I had caused in brilliant detail. The surgeon and I met again and an emergent surgical reduction of the fractures was planned the Saturday after my accident. It took 2 surgical plates and 7 screws to reduce and repair my fractures. I was told no weight bearing on the leg for 8 weeks to go heal.
I’ve been sequestered at home for the past 7 weeks and I’m going crazy. My wife has had to wait on me and life as I know it was turned upside down in a split second. I’m finally able to put 50 lbs. on my leg at this point but I’m still on crutches. Next week it will be 100 lbs. and one crutch. After that, I can walk again, but I’m destined to have arthritis and most likely a knee replacement in the future.
So why this long-winded blog? The morale of the story is stuff happens when we least expect it. I was walking and didn’t do anything wrong. It was a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was fortunate however, that my friend and fellow guide Floyd Wright was there, along with the other angler. We had chatted with him prior and it proves the point to be nice to people on the water. He stopped fishing and stayed with me for almost an hour.
If you must fish alone, please make sure you let someone know where you are fishing prior to your trip. Also, consider getting a Garmin or Spot device. The Garmin allows you to text via GPS (assuming you can…) where cell service ends, and the Spot device is a GPS beacon that alerts rescue personnel to your location again assuming you can press the button. It’s an annual subscription service and their reviews are mixed.
Finally, get a friend to accompany you or better yet, hire a 5280 professional guide. As a guide, I have 4 goals for my clients on trips, for them to have fun, to catch fish, to learn something new, and most importantly, be safe in and around the water. The 5280 Guides all know locations that are off the beaten path and we have access to private water that can give a client the solitude that they desire. Additionally, each of the men and women of 5280 has current Red Cross first aid training certification and each of us carry a very extensive first aid kit should emergencies arise. We practice safe fishing practices as well in this new era of Covid-19. We have waders that are cleaned and sanitized daily along with rods and reels that are Lysol’d or Clorox wiped before each trip. We will also place you a safe distance from other anglers. So be safe out there, tight lines, and please consider 5280 Angler for your next trip.
