Hiking for thrills
Kell Morris and his wife Jo Roop decided to do a day hike, choosing to go out along a quieter path without any designated trail due to the busy holiday weekend, with plans to turn around once they felt they had gone far enough. Last Saturday, to avoid the big crowds that converge on the Kenai Peninsula they decided to hike near Godwin Glacier on an isolated and undeveloped trail behind a state prison, Their trail was actually a rocky creek bed lined with large boulders deposited by the glacier. Morris said he was staying 10 to 15 feet away from a rock pile, but couldn’t find a nearby river crossing, so he started to head back toward his wife. “I was coming back, and those same group of rocks — crossing in the same place up above them, where I’d crossed before — it all came loose,” he said. “The whole side of that rock scree just came loose, and I was sliding with it.” He added, “Then it’s a blur. I went tumbling. I landed in the water. You could hear the noise that large rocks make as they’re rolling over each other. I landed face-down in the river, and then I felt the rock hit me in the back and pin me down.”
Kell was pinned facedown in an icy creek by the boulder for three hours, but he survived the ordeal with only minor injuries, thanks in part to his wife’s quick thinking and lots of luck. Kell Morris’ wife held his head above water to prevent him from drowning while waiting for rescuers to arrive after Morris was pinned by the boulder, which crashed onto him during the hike. His second stroke of luck came when a sled dog tourism company that operates on the glacier overheard the 911 dispatch and offered up its helicopter to ferry rescuers to the scene, which was inaccessible to all-terrain vehicles. Once rescuers arrived, it took seven men and inflatable air bags to lift the boulder off as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Morris, 61, said he realizes he is probably the luckiest man alive. “And luckier that I have such a great wife,” he said Thursday.
Rescue crews landed in a riverbed and picked up three firefighters who had to jump out of the helicopter from a few feet up since the aircraft couldn’t land on the rocky terrain. First responders said it took half a dozen of them to push the rock enough to get to Morris. Once the rescue crew had gotten Morris free, he was taken out of the water, put in dry clothes, and into warming blankets. It took about half an hour for him to come around again, and another hour or so for him to be hoisted out and taken to the Seward Airport before heading to the hospital.
Hiking Humor
Who should carry the bear mace when hiking with friends?
The slowest runner.
I made a playlist for hiking!
It has music from Peanuts, The Cranberries, and Eminem.
I call it my….Trail Mix.
When traveling through nature, it’s always smart to bring a seasoned hiker with you.
It’s a well known fact that bears find unseasoned hikers bland and tasteless.
A couple is hiking when they see a set of tracks.
“Look” says one, “a father and his kids are on this trail.”
The other asks, “How do you know it is the father? It could be mom.”
“Nope. Definitely the dad…see the Pa prints?”
June 4th Birthdays
1987 – Fahriye Eucen, 1991 – Katherine Prescott, 1975 – Angelina Jolie, 1944 – Michelle Phillips
1992 – Quincy Brown, 1926 – Dennis Weaver, 1975 – Russell Brand, 1976 – Alexei Navalny