[RichP]

Thanks for your report and hoping your recovery is speedy so you can get back on the trail soon. A good reminder that having some form to communicate in such situations is vital. Thinking of an upgrade to InReach as I write this.

[Rich Baldwin]

Thanks to all of you for the well wishes. I really appreciate it. Regarding the boot question, they were Asolos. I use past tense because one boot had to be cut open on the helicopter ride. It is now an ex-boot. I also had micro spikes on. These survived the incident unscathed.

[puzzlr]

I have never been up the Necklace Valley but have read a number of reports that mention how steep this snow slope is. This is a dramatic confirmation of that. I'm sorry about your injuries and wish you a speedy recovery.

[Kim Brown]

[olderthanIusedtobe]

[rbuzby]

I'm glad you are ok and will live to hike another day. Another thing to be glad about, is they took your pack out with you. Sometimes they do not do that, like when the rescue is off a cliff or some other difficult area where they don't need the complication of handling luggage. You picked a good place to land after sliding.

[Randy]

Glad you are good. You're not the first NWHiker to take a fall there.

[ChinookPass]

I'm glad you are ok. This is not a judgement on your situation, just a statement in general, since taking a fall a few years ago on a summer snowfield, I will always take crampons instead of microspikes.

[coldrain108]

[Anne Elk]

Glad you're OK, mostly. Reminds me of my mishap at Lake Constance several decades ago. It also involved snow and doing something objectively safe for my skills. My injuries weren't as serious as yours, although I required a helo fly-out. You don't get back down that trail with a full achilles tendon rupture and possible bone breaks. Best for a speedy recovery.

[Backpacker Joe]

Reading this is sobering. I cant help but think of how many trips I made into the mountains solo. Many of them off trail. I was never hurt. My eye sight notwithstanding, Im a lucky man.

[zephyr]

[Slide Alder Slayer]

I’ve been up and down that gap many times, using an elevation ruler from Map Tools, the center section for several hundred feet is just about a forty-five-degree slope. The problem I’ve had is descending later in the afternoon when there is three to four inches of soft snow on top of the super hard snow/ice below and it is difficult to kick down and get purchase with crampons that required on my last trip several years ago three quick arrests on the steeper portions. I’m also familiar with the “fisherman’s trial" that ends up just to the right of the outlet of lower La Bohn and for myself that is always a safe bet. It could have been me on that last trip, get well soon!

[Navy salad]

You described one of my nightmares perfectly! Last time I was there, I befriended a really tall (basically 7') younger hiker (from my perspective, that's anyone under 30!). The next day he set out on his own and when I ran into him, he had broken his leg in a fall (although the break happened without a lot of impact, leading him to think it was a stress fracture). I gave him an Ace bandage and a bunch of Ibuprofin and told him I'd get help and call his wife to let her know. Naturally, I had no cell reception, so I couldn't call 911 to report the accident until hours later. When I called, I emphasized the size of this guy (even though not at all fat, he weighed around 260), and the broken leg, and gave them the GPS coordinates where he was laying. When the first rescue crew arrived, they said 911 didn't mention anything about his size(!), and you should have seen the looks on their faces when I told them! Anyway, the got on the radio and called in a chopper for the rescue. When I spoke with him later, I was told the chopper pilot chewed him out for having moved a ways from his GPS location making it tough to find him, so keep that in mind if this happens to you!

[Chief Joseph]

Curious if this slippery slope melts out later in the year? Also a bit confused about the alternate? “Fisherman’s Trail” and what are the reasons for not taking that route?