Idiot Bob Tells All

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idiotbob
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Joined: April 11th, 2012, 7:23 pm

Idiot Bob Tells All

Post by idiotbob » April 22nd, 2012, 1:58 pm

My name is Bob Grover but I registered as Idiot Bob as I had have an interesting story after trying to hilke to Idiot Creek Falls in the Coast Range. My story is below:

As an avid outdoorsman like many of you, I love to get out and explore every time I can. Since the Super Bowl didn't start till 3:30 that Sunday, I talked my buddy Chris Teeter into taking a hike in the morning. Wanting to find a hike neither of us had been on, I searched the Web. I found a 140' waterfall near the summit of the Wilson River Highway that actually didn't have a trail to it, but was only 1 mile off the road. It is called Idiot Creek Falls, which we laughed about a lot . The name should have been my first warning. We struck out early in the morning and were having a fantastic hike, finding the waterfall within 30 minutes. Unfortunately, we approached it from above as we wanted to come in below it for the best view. My memory at this point fails, but Chris says while negotiating our way, a branch I was holding onto broke and I fell. He saw me fall about 20' then out of sight. He then hiked around and down below to discover I was alive, but pretty broken up 80 feet below.

Chris worked to stabilize me, wrapping my cut head, splinted my broken leg, and covered me up with all he could before going for help. He hilked out to our care where he got a cell signal and contacted the state police. He guided an EMT team into me who determined they needed a helicopter up to airlift me out.

I was transported to Emanuel where I was treated for compound fractures of my lower leg bones, 8 stitches in my head, a cracked pelvis, one cracked vertebrate, and 6 broken ribs. That list actually makes it sound worse than it was. I am told that I will make a complete recovery. The worst injury is my broken right leg which still has me on cruteches after 3 months. I look forward to going back to Idiot Creek but that will be a while later. In the mean time, I look forward to learning of other potential adventures from this website.
Attachments
2 Idiot Creek Fallls Photo.JPG
I believe Idiot Creek Falls is the largest waterfall in the Oregon Coast Range. Worth the off trail exploration.
3 Hill I fell Down.JPG
Had I known this was what the hill looked like below, I might have been a bit more careful.
5 EMT Prep.JPG
I landed alive but broken up. Thank you Tillamook Fire Dept EMT for coming to my rescue
6 Helecopter Rescue.JPG
Thank you too to the USCG team who airlifted me out.
1 Idiot Creek internet research.JPG
Check out the following to find Idiot Creek Falls: http://www.waterfallsnorthwest.com/nws/falls.php?num=3690

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Peder
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Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:02 pm
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Re: Idiot Bob Tells All

Post by Peder » April 22nd, 2012, 4:07 pm

Welcome to the site Bob. That is a nasty fall and I'm glad to hear that your are on the road to a full recovery. I guess you missed the Super Bowl! :( Get well quickly, so you can file some trip reports (rather than an accident report).
Some people are really fit at eighty; thankfully I still have many years to get into shape…

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Don Nelsen
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Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: Idiot Bob Tells All

Post by Don Nelsen » April 22nd, 2012, 5:08 pm

Bob, glad you survived! Wow, that was an amazing accident to have survived at all. I suppose this should serve as a good wake-up call to those of us who go hiking alone in rough terrain (yours truly!).

dn
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

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Splintercat
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Re: Idiot Bob Tells All

Post by Splintercat » April 22nd, 2012, 9:00 pm

Thanks for stopping by, Bob -- the pictures look as bad as I imagined... ouch! Glad you're here to tell the story..!

Tom :shock:

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Waffle Stomper
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Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Re: Idiot Bob Tells All

Post by Waffle Stomper » April 23rd, 2012, 7:21 am

"That list actually makes it sound worse than it was." Sounds pretty bad to me. Glad you are on the mend and hope you will be trip reporting soon.
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir

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