My spouse, our son, and myself were on Day Three of a four-day backpacking trip on the Lewis River Trail #31 in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

Around 13:30, I tripped on a root and fell hard. I knew immediately that something was wrong with my lower right leg near the ankle, but I thought I could carry on. I improvised a brace using a knee support band and attempted to hike further, leaning hard on my hiking pole. I only made it 50 feet or so up the trail before it became clear that I wasn’t going to be able to get myself out. I thought about crawling back to the middle trailhead we’d passed, but I couldn’t bend my foot or ankle due to the pain.

It was 14:00 when I made the decision to activate my ACR ResQLink 400 PLB. 

Exactly four hours later, we heard a voice calling from down trail. The local sheriff from the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office was the first to arrive on the scene. After verifying some info about my condition and needs, he assured us that two EMTs were right behind him before hiking back out to provide further details to the SAR team. 

We soon heard voices calling out for us and two very friendly EMTs from the North Country EMS Rescue Unit arrived. They performed a complete medical assessment, stabilized my injured leg, and relayed further detail to the SAR team via radio. 

About 20 minutes later, a crew of six members from The Volcano Rescue Team arrived, carrying more emergency supplies, rescue equipment, and a single-wheel basket. They quickly loaded me up, made sure I was secure and feeling okay, and proceeded to wheel, carry, and pull me out of the forest over two miles of single-track to the staging area, where the Sheriff was directing from. 

They transported us back to our car at the trailhead, which was a little over ten miles south of where they took me out. It was confirmed the next day that I fractured my fibula and tore both lateral ligaments.

Activating my PLB was my only option.

I’ve carried this PLB for many years, on many backpacking trips, and I hoped I would never need to use it. But it proved to be the best equipment purchase I’ve ever made.