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.

Hey, you tried MT... Ya got a cool Helicopter ride and a float plane ride. Being a First Responder myself I know those guys were probably happy to have a call to go to. You train and train, but it's the real life stuff that builds your confidence. Not to many people get into rescueing and complain when they have to do it. As far as your knee... straightening it out is how we were trained to put it back in place, so you did good there. Usually your supposed to feel relief, but it sounded like it was worse. Get it fixed! Now you have to go back to WCPP... Get it fixed and get on back up there. You'll do it.

some interesting stuff to talk about..............
I could tell from the start that my motive for going was wrong. I set out with a rather grim determination that my route was an obstacle to overcome rather than a time set aside for enjoyment.

1/2 way through my first and only day my back started reminding me it wasn't very happy and that only added to my misgivings about the whole venture. The wondering when it would rebel from the constant paddle stroking ensued. That immediately stole some of my joy. That's not to say I wouldn't of eventually settled in but I look back to see that I had hoped to recreate the feeling I had when I did the hunters Island route my first time in the Q.

This has caused a serious shift in my thinking. In the future I will be more introspective about reconciling goals and desires. I will spend more time evaluating my motives and how to acheive a desirable outcome. For example my reduced time frame would of left precious little time to fish. In all probability I overestimated my capabilities to cover ground AND fish. I want it all but everyone knows you can't have it all. Looking back a shorter trip based on fishing and little short moves would of fit the bill considering my newly acquired responsibilities on the homefront (work).

Trouble is, this is not a new mistake on my part and I have oft repeated it. Plan a big trip, cover a lot of ground and lug a lot of fishing stuff that I don't have time to use . Perhaps I finally learned my lesson!?!

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If you want to beat yourself up about it be my guest. But, at the same time, remember that shit happens and when push came to shove, you were able to affect your own rescue w/o putting out anyone who was simply out there enjoying their own vacation. That's the reason I like hearing about tough times in trip reports. It makes people think about what COULD happen.

I do have a couple questions:
Did the chopper flight cost you?
You went back to get your boat?

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What does double mean in that context?

Here's the big question:
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No business? So, I gotta ask. In retrospect, did you take the spot as a crutch or a fancy new toy and if you didn't it what if anything do you think may have occurred differently?

I don't know the routes or logistics but it coulda been worse. At one point I was afraid you end up being a crispy critter.

DB the rescue was free. I had, however, purchased optional evac insurance as it was only $12 additional along with the SPOT basic plan. The helicopter pilot, when asked, informed me that the chopper was $4.5 million. They said they had an uptick in rescues since the introduction of the SPOT (2 this year). The last guy had snapped his paddle and had lost his spare and had been blown into a swamp and activated his.

My intent with the SPOT was to give my wife peace of mind that I was fine. Perhaps in the back of my mind it could of been a crutch of sorts but I likely would of went in without it. So complete was my self deception that I disregarded the rather serious injury that happened only a month prior. I had set up and tore down 4 shows in that interval and had just come off an 11 day trip feeling good (except for the immediate aftermath when some celebratory horsing around put me down). Some folk seen this coming as KF took the liberty to PM me to bluntly suggest that I "wasn't ready". I replied with my usual bravado (Woodland Caribou is after all a "park" is it not  ).

I found it surprising that the chopper and the floatplane that I chartered to retrieve my boat were both equipped with a SPOT. That tells me a lot about their reliability.

In retrospect I failed to use the SPOT to its full capabilities. I could of used the pre-set text messaging mode to better effect. A simple "send floatplane" message to my wife would of been the ticket.