The whole time we were at McCormick Park, my brother, Bill, kept saying that we had to drive up through Halfway, OR, to the top of the mountain that looks down over McCormick Park. Well, after all of our kids left and the only ones in camp were Larry and Elaine's family, Danielle and her family, and Terry and I, we made the trip.
What a view it was. We could see all the way from Woodhead Campground, on down to Brownlee Dam and down the Snake River past McCormick Park. I couldn't get it all in one picture, so here is one of the bridge going across the river from Idaho into Oregon, McCormick Park, and on down the river.
About 15 years ago, Bill's son, Bill Jr., and some of his friends had hiked down the mountain to the Park. Bill always wanted to do it and decided that today was the day. He told me that I wasn't getting any younger and said I should come, along with Mike and Andy, Larry and Elaine's sons. I told him I was too old to go with them!
I could zoom in with my camera from all that way and see McCormick, with our pontoon boat and Bill's boat parked on the bank.
Zooming in further, I could see our pickup and camper with the canopy put up between us and Larry and Elaine's motorhome. Even though it is a little blurry, you can actually see people walking around down there!
The "gang" all waved at me as we walked up to their starting point to start the hike down to camp, Larry and Terry in front, with Bill, Andy, and Mike behind.
Well, when we got to the starting point, I looked down and told Terry, "I would really like to be able to say that I did this!" He said he didn't think I should, but it was up to me. Well, he gave me his bottle of water, a good-by kiss, and said, "If you break your leg, I am going to Alaska (in about a week) without you and will find me a little Eskimo Pie to go with me!" No worries! RIGHT!
Well, the mountain was AWFULL! It was so steep that we had to hang onto the weeds to keep from sliding down (thanks for the tip about the weeds, Andy.) The bad thing was, about a third way down, I started getting a little dizzy. I had been having a few problems with low blood pressure and I guess it kicked in from the strenuous activity. I had to sit down quite often. When Bill took a picture of me sitting down, I told Mike and Andy they had to sit with me so I didn't look like the only wuss! They were good sports.
Well, eventually, because I was so slow, Mike and Andy went on ahead a little and good ole brother Bill stayed behind with me. At one point, I was getting kind of shaky from being dizzy, I said a little prayer and asked for help to get down off the mountain. A person should be careful about what they ask for, because it wasn't long after that when I slipped with my left foot on some loose rocks and didn't get my right leg in front of me before I fell on it. SNAP, CRACKLE, POP. I hollered at Bill and told him that I had just broke my leg!
Bill went ahead to catch up with Mike and Andy to let them know and to have them get some help for me. They headed down the mountain lickity-split--much faster than they had intended. Bill came back and helped me scoot down to a big rock that offered a little shade. He then kept climping up on a high point so he could guide anyone coming back up the hill--back and forth checking on me.
Well, I guess Mike went to the first house he found and had them call 911. Andy took off for camp, and even after getting a ride the last little ways, he was so out of breath and panicky that he could hardly tell them what happened. Terry and Larry had just barely gotten back to camp from driving Bill's pickup down from the top of the mountain where we started. Terry slipped on his new "Crocks" (what was he thinking--you don't climb mountains in crocks!) and Danielle grabbed her medical tubby (she is an OB RN) and headed for the bottom of the mountain to climb it to my rescue.
As I was sitting there waiting and looking down the long ways to the bottom of that mountain, I was really feeling foolish and hated the thoughts of all of the trouble I had caused because I hadn't listened to the advice of my husband! One good thing, after I kind of twisted my foot to point it in its normal direction, it and my leg sort of went numb, so it wasn't too painful.
Terry and Danielle got up the mountain first. Danielle had my leg all checked out for blood pulse and determined there was no compound fracture or anything. She had started wrapping it. When the Idaho Power first responders got there, she tried to turn it over to them, but they said she out-ranked them and asked her what she wanted them to do! I told them that she was an OB RN and they could do whatever she said, just to not let her put my legs up in stirrups!
Well,they did a great job getting the straightest sticks they could find for Danielle to splint my leg, and then strapping me onto the board to carry me off of the mountain. They asked me how much I weighed and I felt really bad when I had to tell them how much. It took 5-6 of them at a time to carry me! As they were carrying me, I told them that I had lied about my weight--that I actually only weighed 100 pounds. They all agreed that knowing that made the task much easier!
After climbing up a ways, they decided that there was no good place for life flight to land their helicopter, and the mountain was too steep to get close enough to sling me up to the helicopter (thank goodness). Besides, it would have been about an hour and a half wait for the life flight because it was out on another call.
So, after resting a bit, they decided which way would be the best route off the mountain. There seemed to be a consensus.
It was a pretty warm day and the terrain was so bad that they had to rest quite often and trade off carrying me. Once in a while one of them would slip, but he was held up by all of the others carrying me on the board. I am so thankful that none of them got any serious injuries while helping me. Danielle, Bill (documenting it all for posterity), and Terry (in his crocks) followed along in case they were needed for something more.
One of the ambulance drivers even climbed the mountain after they got there and pulled a shift carrying me. I never thought I would ever be in this position. Thank goodness for all of these good men that volunteer when their help is needed! And good friends, a niece, a brother, and a husband who are willing to climb a mountain for you!
Time for another rest!
We are getting a little closer to the bottom! Terry was walking like I was going to get a good lecture when this is all over with!
Thank goodness, we are heading down the last hill!
Danielle waved to Bill for the last picture on the mountain!
I am sure everyone was glad to see the ambulance. There were good neighborhood people waiting to give all of the volunteers water and other liquid to drink. Thank you so much!
After about four hours from the time I broke my leg, they were loading me into the ambulance, ready to head to Baker City, OR, to the ER room. Many, many thanks to all of those who helped me this day!
On the way to the hospital, they kept telling me that they could give me some morphine when the pain got too bad. But, for some reason, the pain was pretty tolerable, so I kept telling them I didn't need anything. Initially, they had called into the hospital that they were transporting a woman with a fractured leg. Because of "little pain" they changed the diagnosis to a sprained ankle before we got there. I thought, "Great--all of these people carried me off the mountain and made all of this fuss for a sprained ankle!" 
They gave me crutches at the Baker City hospital (which I couldn't use very well), and after a nice spit bath in the restroom, I spent the night in a lounge chair next to our camper before we left for Emmett the next day. Everyone came to say good-by and good luck and I tried to thank them for all they had done for me.
I had surgery two days later and now when I act sort of dingy, Terry can just say, "Don't mind her--she just has a screw loose." Well, as you might guess, we didn't go to Alaska. Terry decided to stick around and be my "care giver." He said that there is always next year. What a great guy!
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