I wanted to take my son Tristan and my Dad for a hike last weekend, so the boy and I (and my dogs Lilly and Thorby) picked up Dad and headed out of town.
At the new traffic circle on Highway 89 a lady got confused and attempted a Pit maneuver on me. No new damage to the 4Runner, so I got her insurance info and headed on. I thought that was going to be the bad luck for the day.
We got to the trailhead and hiked down to the Verde River. Tristan went skinny dipping with the dogs and had a great time.
http://www.google.com/maps/@34.867977,-112.2891137,184m/data=!3m1!1e3Hiking out, we hit the rough and steep part of the trail and Dad starts having trouble. His legs are giving out and he ends up collapsing. He was in and out of consciousness for a few minutes but some rest in the shade and more water had him to the point where I didn't expect he'd die right away. Clearly he wasn't up for hiking the rest of the way out. Tristan and I, along with the dogs hightailed it back to where we could get a cell signal. Took about an hour and we were almost back in Chino Valley before a call would go through.
I called 911 and tried to give directions for an ambulance. Due to the area, I told them I'd meet the ambulance where they need to turn off of Perkinsville road and lead them out there. I tried to shoot a quick text to my wife to let her know the situation but it didn't go through.
We headed back to Forest Road 164 to meet the ambulance and lead them out to the trailhead. Good driving on the part of the ambulance driver negotiating the road.
We all got to the trailhead and headed back toward Dad. The paramedics are hauling a ton of gear through some rough terrain and didn't have any water for themselves.
Halfway back down the trail Lily was too footsore to go on so I left her tied up in the shade.
We got to Dad and he was awake and alert, vitals seemed okay, so they started an IV to get him hydrated.
Meanwhile, helicopters were inbound and I provide coordinates with the Backcountry Navigator app on my phone. Getting communications was difficult due to being in a canyon and a SNAFU with the programmed frequencies on the paramedics radios.
Dad was recovered enough to walk, so we got him to the top of the canyon where we meet a search and rescue guy. He'd been led to the right trail by Lilly. He arranges for the helicopter to pick up Dad and possibly me, Tristan, and the the paramedics. I've got the dogs though, so I hike back to the trailhead with Thorby and Lilly.
At the trailhead there's a sheriff's deputy, search and rescue people, and another paramedic with lots of water.
Dad gets airlifted back to the trailhead in a sling below the helicopter but it's getting dark so the paramedics and Tristan have to hike the rest of the way. One of the search and rescue guys goes to assist them.
Eventually everyone gets back to the trailhead, Dad was feeling better so he refused further attention and we headed back to civilization.
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Obviously there were some hard lessons here about not pushing one's self further than they ought to, not hiking in the middle of the day in July, getting plenty of electrolytes, etc. Hopefully some of that soaked in on my son.
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