Husband Leaves Injured Wife In Grizzly Country to Go for Help
BY Herschel Smith
2 years, 5 months ago
It’s a hiker’s nightmare: you’re on a remote trail with no cell service when your ankle rolls and breaks. You have no way to contact anyone for help, and no real hope that someone will happen to hike along and find you. As a bonus, you’re surrounded by bear scat.
That’s the position one hiker found herself in during a hike with her husband through Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness Area. They were seven miles away from the trailhead—too far for the injured woman to hike out. So her husband made the tough call to leave his injured wife behind.
When he made it back to the trailhead, he made contact with authorities. As there were no local search and rescue organizations for this remote corner of the state, Two Bear Air Rescue attempted to send a helicopter to her location, near the Swift Dam along a fork of Birch Creek. But strong winds prevented the rescuers from landing near the injured hiker, and the copter was instead forced to drop off rescuers a mile and a half away.
When they hiked to the injured woman’s location, rescuers noticed bear scat all around her.
“There was grizzly bear poop everywhere,” they told the Idaho Statesman. After tending to the hiker’s injuries—her leg was broken in two places above the ankle—the rescuers then carried her piggyback to the landing site, arriving just as the sun was setting.
While the SAR team was able to get to the injured hiker before a grizzly encounter, rescuers don’t want hikers to take any chances, and they posted this reminder on their Facebook page: “When deep in the backcountry, bring a satellite communication device to save valuable time and enable the group to stay together.”
I’ve carried a satellite texting device with me in the deep backcountry before. We found that it took between an hour and several hours to land with the recipient of the message, so there’s a delay from device to satellite to cell service to phone. But even that would have been better than nothing.
That’s a decision I wouldn’t have made, even without communications gear. I would have made her as comfortable as possible, prepared for the night by finding a protected and covered place to sleep, collected wood for a fire, and worked on a stretcher to drag her out myself.
Leaving her alone would simply not have been an option.
On July 22, 2022 at 12:02 am, Boat Guy said:
Dude couldn’t make a travois? Loser.
On July 22, 2022 at 5:13 am, Nosmo said:
I dunno, it’s cheaper than a divorce lawyer….
On July 22, 2022 at 7:11 am, Fred said:
Why does it take “several hours to land with the recipient?”
On July 22, 2022 at 10:15 am, Trout Stalker said:
OMG…My wife would shoot me if i did that..
Skills matter, and being prepared for such issues is easy to do.
I go out into WNC ofte nto stalk trout, alone, and always have survival kit in my vest/on my person, and this little gadget, sat based texting tool and PLB…
https://satellitephonestore.com/catalog/sale/details/acr-bivy-stick-chartreuse-2-way-satellite-communicator-4601
Works like a champ…
On July 22, 2022 at 10:20 am, Paul B said:
Sound like California fruit loops. Just the facts sound like the guy was hoping for a divorce on the cheap.
Definitely a lot things that could have gone really wrong there. Lucky people
On July 22, 2022 at 10:22 am, Dan said:
Hard decision. Sounds like there are some musclemen with 90 pound wives here who could carry them out. Good for you. The article doesn’t describe the couple. But for 90% of America, husband carrying wife seven miles is just a fantasy. As far as staying with injured wife, how long? The article says they are in desolate country. Do you wait a day, a week……..It was a hard decision and I am glad it turned out all right.
On July 22, 2022 at 10:29 am, xtphreak said:
Both should have had a “bear sized” firearm but, why not leave everything except absolutely necessary items like canteen, compass, map, first aid kit and pack her out piggyback like it said the rescue team did.
Leave my fiancée in bear country??
Alone??
No gun?? (like she would ever be without hers lol).
Not happening.
On July 22, 2022 at 10:54 am, xtphreak said:
@Dan
I’m 65+ and no “muscleman”, but yeah I’d pack my fiancée as far as I could and stop.
Repeat.
Rinse.
Repeat.
Granted she’s less than 110lbs and i t might take me awhile, but I’d not leave her alone, defenseless in a hostile environment.
On July 22, 2022 at 1:12 pm, Chuck said:
Do you have to carry her all 7 miles? She still has one good leg. Splint the bad one, and get to hobbling. Carry when you can, she hobbles to give you a rest. Keep making tracks towards the trailhead.
On July 22, 2022 at 11:43 pm, Frank Clarke said:
I think PaulB got it right. You only leave her if you don’t really love her. Otherwise, it’s “for better, for worse”. We go together or we don’t go.
On July 23, 2022 at 12:34 am, Dan said:
Sometimes there are situation where there are simply no good options to choose from.
Proper prior planning can diminish the number of times this happens but it does happen.
On July 23, 2022 at 7:26 am, Latigo Morgan said:
There’s no way I’d leave my wife alone in the wilderness, injured and surrounded by bears. Full stop.
On July 24, 2022 at 8:13 pm, RomeoCharlieWhiskey said:
I carry ~25′ of 3/8″ diam. cotton rope & at least 50′ of paracord for their many uses, i.e. strapping together Boat Guy’s improvisation; although those who worry about grams might disagree.
On July 25, 2022 at 5:46 am, xtphreak said:
@RomeoCharlieWhiskey
I started using Amsteel Blue cordage on my hammock rigging.
I carry a 50 foot piece on my bike in case I have to tow a broken-down motorcyle (or be towed).
Dyneema SK75 rope.
Stronger than you’d believe, so light it floats on water.
“Amsteel® 7/64th
Colors: Black, Silver, Blue, Green, Orange, Yellow, Red.
1.3 g per foot / 1600 pound breaking strength
Sold in 25 foot increments however the order will come as 1 piece or hank.”
1600 lb breaking strength?
Yep
And realize 7/64″ is 1/64″ less than 1/8″.
Pretty small diameter.
Pretty light.
50 feet @ 1.3 grams/foot = 65 grams or 2.29 ounces
Cost about $11 for 50 feet.
Sailboats are re-rigging with Amsteel instead of steel cable stays for weight reduction.
I sleep very well in one of my hammocks suspended by it.
On July 25, 2022 at 6:28 pm, RomeoCharlieWhiskey said:
@xtphreak Thank you kindly for the suggestion. Ironically looking at sailboats now, specifically Cat 320s, that can be captained single/short handed and awhile ago heard about the Amsteel for standing rigging but had forgotten about it ’til now; the awesome Lord works in mysterious ways indeed. :)