An unexpected end to a bike ride

I had a been off on great trip to see my sister and Kelsey...I even took my sister on a commercial trip going down the Gallitan River. It has some 3's and one 4 but the water was too high to do the 4. It was a lot of fun and Suzan said she understood why I like it. Enjoyed Kelsey too...we went to see Wally which was funand prepared for a surprise birthday party for Logan. On Saturday morning however, I got a call from Ric who was doing the MS century ride in Logan. He had been taken out by a cyclist (of course the cyclist got up and rode away) and Ric had broken his hip. Ric being a guy and a little too macho didn't call 911 for an ambulance and accepted a ride in a truck to the hospital which amazed the ER staff and firemen paramedics alike. A broken hip is really painful. I drove right to the ER in Logan, getting there by 2pm (Ric had gone down about 10:15). The surgeon got there about 3 pm and after looking at the xrays and taking a CT scan, decided to send him to Murray's Intermountain Hospital to a Orthopedist that does more complex injuries. We had to wait 3 hours for a bed to be free before they would transport us then Ric went by ambulance and we arrived about 8:30 pm. We were taken to his room where we waited until 3 am for the doctor. They had a big trauma case and it took him that long to finish, They decided to wait until morning...of course the hospital being a major trauma hospital ended up swamped with traumas and we waited until 6:30 pm for an orderly to wheel Ric to the OR. We were all frustrated by then and worried about the bone staying alive without a blood supply. We didn't see anyone until 6 hours later when the surgeon came out. Good news (I guess) is he was able to put the neck of the femur back together with wire, two screws, and a metal plate. Since the bone ends were splintered and not a clean break there is some chance for it not to heal right or even survive. Recovery will be long and slow probably, but Ric had some good blessings where he was promised to recover completely. A good miracle would be nice about now. This of course changes our summer plans...he will not be doing the Spudman triathlon with the family, doing the Ulcer century ride with Nathan, the boat trip with me or the LotoJa 206 mile bike ride with his buddies among other things. It is pretty disappointing but Ric is such a positive non- whiny guy. He is a real trooper and I am lucky to be nurse and wife to such a great example. We have lots of prayers and well wishs from our friends and family and we really appreciate it. I am all about miracles...our family has had many in the past so I would love Ric to surprise the doctors with an incredible recovery. He does so much for others and he has so much he wants to do especially for his Young Men in our ward. We will keep you updated. I will add pictures soon.

Yampa's Warm Springs Rapid

Yampa River Trip

Ric could not go with me on this trip so my good friend Nancy and I left for the Yampa June 4th. We drove in a rainstorm from Heber to Western Colorado to our put in site at the Deerlodge Park Campground. The river was at flood stage. The campground had to be evacuated the week before due to flooding. The river had dropped but was still licking the banks. The rain let up long enough for us to get our tents up and then went back to raining. The next day was very cool with rain off and on. After shuttling our cars to the take out, we began our trip. The river was really moving fast and we only had 4 miles to go which was nice since it was still raining. Again the rain let up enough to set up tents and then it poured. I thought for sure I would be sleeping in a puddle, but the tent was stayed dry and I slept like a rock. Next morning we awoke to sun and dried out the gear. It stayed sunny but very cool (like in the 50's). The water was colder which I discovered from personal experience later in the day. With the river so full, the flat water had riffles and waves and the two class 3 rapids that day were really big. Teepee Hole had big waves and a big hole but I was able to get through it with only a surge of adrenaline. However at Big Joe, it was really turbulent and big. Valiantly, my ducky (an inflatable kayak) and I paddled forth like David facing Goliath. I made the mistake of not scouting the rapid myself and was told to just stay right of center. I didn't know that the river turned to the right and since I was in the really huge waves, I got too far to the left. There were to big lateral waves breaking off the wall of the gorge. I crashed through the first but there in front of me was a huge rolling wave which just flipped me over like a twig. I hung on to the paddle but there was too much current to get to my boat. Meanwhile, I am not seeing my rescue boat which was caught in the current and couldn't find an eddy so they could rescue me. It was a long, cold, bouncy swim. I was glad I had my hydroskins and drytop on. Dave, my hero and rescuer, said I was in the water about 5 min. which is pretty long in cold water. They finally fished me out. I was pretty cold and drained but otherwise in good condition. No ducky was showing up however. We waited and waited but no boat so being as stubborn as I am, I hiked back up the gorge looking for my boat while Dave and Roland waited at the raft. After offering a prayer of thanks for my safety and plea that I would be able to retrieve my boat, I hiked up about a mile along the steep wall. There down a gentle slope along the bank sat my ducky. Upright with all my gear in place, was my kayak ...just like someone had left it there for me. I hopped in and paddled down to my buddies who were relieved at the happy outcome. I gave everyone a break the next day by not paddling the class 4 which was really huge. I found my true calling...which is ballast (extra weight in the front of the boat which helps it break through the big waves). I was able to run Warm Springs twice acting as ballast in a 14 foot the first day and a second day in a 12 foot raft when the river had dropped slightly. Both rides had their exciting moments. I videoed some of the rafts going through Warm Springs but they don't do justice to how big the waves and holes were. Catherine, a fun gal from Louisiana said she looked down into the hole and saw China. I believed it! It was a great trip, with awesome food in true river trip tradition, and I met some really nice, fun people. I had so much fun I am talking Ric into buying a raft for our fleet. I keep assuring him he will love the Rogue River in Aug.

San Rafael ATV Trip

Our neighbors invited us to go on a two day ATV trip to the San Rafael Swell. They let us ride their bikes and we camped out there one night and rode two days. Ric and I had a great time doing this together. I thought we would be sharing a bike but no.... I had to ride my own ATV. This is scary because my last ride many years ago was up the Logging Road at the cabin . I managed to tip the 3 wheeler backwards on top of little Nathan and myself pinning us. I was pregnant with Clay and the experience made me very leery of going up steep grades. Luckily, they gave me an automatic transmission and 4 wheel drive so there was less to worry about. However, our first ride went up some very steep rocky stuff which Larry later told me was like a Black Diamond trail in skiing. I was scared ( I had just read an article about how most of the accidents out there are due to Atv's) but somehow I managed to get up and over the rise without becoming a statistic. After that trail, I felt like a pro and it all seemed easy so I could relax. The country was beautiful and the weather perfect. We enjoyed hanging out with our neighbors and their friends.