Rapid River Trail with Matt and Michael + Doggie 911

My friend Matt as well as Mariah's brother Michael were in town for a Memorial Day weekend backpack trip on on one of our favorites - the Rapid River Trail in the Hells Canyon area near Riggins, ID.

The crew: Matt, Michael, Mariah, and Ford

Woah, look at that river!

Mariah and Michael

We got to a bit of a late start and arrived at the trail head on Saturday around 3 or 4 pm. The hike it self was awesome as always. The river was swollen with snow melt and so loud that it was hard to talk at times! The hike in is about 5.5 miles to a flat area known as Potters Place where we were planning to camp. However, when we arrived we found a metropolis of tents belonging to graduates of the Spokane Mountaineers beginning backpacking class. After about 20 minutes of searching we found a small campsite hidden in the shrubbery near near the river. It was near dark at this point so Matt and I made a fire and we started prepping our dinner - sauteed andouille sausage and jalapenos with some Uncle Ben's red beans and rice. Yum! 

Ford and Matt

Our quaint little fire

After a few hours of sitting around the fire Matt and I set out to hang our bear bag in the dark and then we went to sleep. No one bothered with a shelter since the sky was really clear.

Mariah and I slept very warm in our bivy/sleeping bag, but there was a bunch of condensation on the the surface of the sleeping bag. I wonder if the 1.1 oz uncoated nylon I used for the bivy top is not breathable enough or if we just keep sleeping in really humid clearings.

Michael wanted to get back to Utah on Monday so we decided to camp only one night instead of two. Because of this decision, we decided to do a short day hike up the canyon (about 1 mile probably) then headed back towards the trail head. Just out of Potter's Place we ran into a man coming out of the Spokane Mountaineering group's camp. He warned us that there was a rattlesnake on the trail and that the dog they were hiking with had been bitten. When we arrived there a big black dog with two women calming the dog. We could the hear the rattlesnake hiding behind some tree roots but couldn't see it. We asked the group if we could help, but they said they would be alright so we continued towards the trail head.

After hiking for about 1.5 miles we saw the the guy who warned us about the rattlesnake hurriedly coming down the trail. He said that the dog was doing okay for the time being but he was headed down to Riggins to get a stretcher. We let him know that Michael, Matt, and I were all Eagle Scouts and could probably fashion a stretcher out of camping materials and branches. 

Makeshift stretcher

So we speed-hiked back to the dog where Matt and Mariah had already collected two long sticks for the stretcher. I sat and lashed two smaller sticks to the larger ones to make a frame while Mariah and Matt  managed to a get blue tarp from the Spokane Mountaineering group. Matt and I wrapped tarp tied to wood frame to finish the stretcher

Mariah carrying 3 packs. Pays to be ultralight!

Matt, Mariah, Michael, the two ladies (Becky, Trisha), and Bruce took turns carrying the 70 lb dog (Ellie) while I hiked in the rear. After much tiredness and soreness we made it to the trail head! We managed to get Ellie into their SUV and they took off for Riggins.

Ellie made it to the trailhead!

Crap. We realized that we didn't have Michael's iphone. Matt and Mariah ran back up the trail to look, but came back about 45 minutes later unsuccessful. Fortunately, it turned out his phone was in Mariah's hipbelt pocket the whole time. Starving we went to our favorite restaurant, Back Eddy Grill, for some much deserved nourishment. Best burgers ever! And the milkshakes and fish tacos are awesome too!. We then drove home.

Update on Ellie: So the next day we found out the Ellie had to be taken 60 miles to a town outside of Riggins for antivenom and antibiotics. The vet said that she had  50% chance of living. However, two days later we received news that Ellie made a full recovery!

Lessons learned: 

1) Don't camp in clearings if possible; too much condensation. 

2) Rattlesnakes are a real threat on the trail. Apparently, there is no effective treatment in the wild and antivenom is needed to treat bites. 

3) Skills learned in Boy Scouts are actually useful. Lashing and fancy knots are not just for building forts and trebuchets!

4) When someone may need help but refuses, perhaps stick around for a while. Especially if you know that you can help.