Oh boy..............
What a trip. 2 days of driving one way, 8 hours of paddling, one dislocated knee, one helicopter ride and one floatplane ride and then another 2 day ride home.

That is my trip in a nutshell. Go ahead and pile it on. Nobody can call me anything that I haven't already called myself. And I deserve every bit of it. A bit arrogant and stubborn I decieved myself by thinking that because I have always done it in the past I could darn well do it again.

On the fourth portage I went to put my pack on and since it was 1k I decided to double to save time since it was getting late. Down I went. Fortunately there was a little beach I could crawl to and set up camp for the night. This was worse than any other time as it wouldn't go back in place. 4 hours later I decided to press the issue and straightened the leg and it popped back in place under considerable pain. At least it was back in place and I would likely be able to at least walk.

I tossed things around in my mind that night. I might could wait a week or so and perhaps I could get out especially if I could find someone who would help but my truck was no longer at my E.P.. (Yes, another dopey decision). That was my determinate factor in deciding to use the spot S.O.S.. Believe it or not I never had even contemplated having to use it. In other words I didn't do what I did with the understanding that the spot would bail me out. The concept that I wouldn't make it around was a totally foreign thought that never really occurred to me.

I activated the SOS at about 7 A.M.. About 3 hours later I also sent the "send help" message to my wife. Little did I realize they had already called her. I also failed to understand that the spot would continue to send her emails. She recieved 9 emails although I had sent only 1. Naturally she thought the worst. AHHHHH!!

The helicopter pilot and the 2 OPP search and rescue guys were about as cool as they come. Guys you had immediate confidence in. The pilot was able to land in the bit of beach and they dropped out and asked if I needed any painkillers. "No" I responded,"Maybe just a swift kick in the rear..........."Well, there are 3 of us and we could do a good job of it if it's what you really want" quipped one of the OPP. These guys were first class, I can't really express how impressed I was with them. We gathered up my gear and loaded in the chopper with the troubling and notable exception of my boat. They let me ride in the front and it was an incredible ride back to Red Lake.

Harlan picked me up at the OPP headquarters and facilitated what I thought to be a reasonable rate to charter a floatplane to go and retrieve my canoe. My first ride in a floatplane was an awesome experience.

I had no business going. I said as much to the search and rescue folk but they said don't worry about it as they were glad to have something different to do. It is what they are trained to do and I suppose my extraction could be looked at as training of sorts. On the other hand my stupidity had the potential to put their well being in jeopardy as who knows what can go wrong on a resue. That concept does not elude me. I suppose I deserved to hang out on that sandbar for a week or two but I had a way out and took it after condsidering my options.

Back to Florida tomorrow and then to the orthopedic guy. I just know I don't want to hear replacement. That would be a bummer.