Adventures in the Ya Ha Tinda - 1999 - See below the Pictures for the story by Norma Lovell - Story
.
Elaine and Myriam ford the River
Myriam Jury from Bourge en Bresse, France, with fellow rider Norma
Lovell.
Elaine moments before the big crash.
Ride in, fly out. Thank you to STARS Air Ambulance.
or
Miss Adventure in the Ya Ha Tinda
and the Alberta Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society (STARS)
Guess who "Miss Adventure" is?
On June 21st I traveled south-west with Elaine Delbeke and Myriam Jury,
an exchange student from France, to the Ya Ha Tinda Ranch for a mountain
trail ride.
This is a government run ranch bordering the east side of Banff National
Park where they raise and train the horses used by the
Park Wardens. It is in a beautiful valley that was used by the native
Indians for centuries.
We were late leaving camp the next morning, all busy tying everything
on our saddles and ourselves that we thought we might possibly need for
a ride in the
mountains. We were all riding seven-year-old mares that were not yet
well trained. I dropped my halter shank and the buckle hit my horse on
the forearm and she
crow hopped around a bit. Elaine was quite excited about that but luckily
Ladybug does not know how to buck. At 10:30 A.M. I led the way south across
the Red
Deer River (fast moving green glacier water about shoulder deep). First
river crossing for all three horses. They were very brave. We moved out
well through ribbon Flats. There is a boggy creek to cross to go up onto
Dogrib Mtn. The Friends of The Eastern Slopes Association have built a
nice solid bridge just wide enough for saddle horses. Myriam tried first
to take Kelly across but she wasn't sure of the high step and my Ladybug
nudged her aside and across we went. We crossed many times to get all the
horses comfortable with the bridge and then climbed the zigzag trail up
through the conifer forest. There are a couple places where the trail comes
abruptly out on a ledge with a steep drop down to a small creek. I am a
bit uncomfortable with steep drop-offs but the view out towards the flatlands
is awesome(if you are brave enough to look back over your left shoulder!)
While we were riding Elaine kept saying how quiet and gentle Shatanna
was and how she was sure she would soon be ready for anyone to ride. When
we came out
in the open, the wind was cold and we were aiming to climb up top.
Elaine started to put her coat on. I said "Lets stop." Elaine said "Keep
going. We're fine." I
repeated that we could easily stop. We weren't in any hurry. Again
Elaine said "No. No. She's fine." About three seconds later, Shatanna bolted
past me with
Elaine's left arm in her flapping coat. She grabbed the left rein with
her right hand but her cinch was loose and she pulled herself off balance
to the left. I thought she
might be okay when she got past a couple large rocks the size of a
small car but she landed under a large spruce tree with big roots sticking
out of the ground. I left
Myriam with her and caught her horse. When I returned, she was still
only moving her upper body and was basically in the same position. I tried
telling her to lay still.
If she was hurt badly, she might do more harm by trying to move. She
kept saying she had only bruised her muscles. She was in a lot of pain
so we rummaged
through our first-aid supplies and she took some pain killers and some
rescue shock remedy. It took an hour for her to stand, then she could only
walk in circles as
one leg refused to move, even with our help.
I finally grabbed her by the shoulders, looked her in the eye and said
"If you do not let me go NOW for help, you might be up here on the mountain
all night." I told
her it would take four to six hours to get help in, if we were lucky.
Finally, she agreed. I helped Myriam make her comfortable. I left my jacket
and slicker, water
and first-aid kit. I also left my white vest with Myriam with instructions
to put it in the open with rocks to hold it down in case it was getting
dark when we came
back.
Elaine did one better. She had two silver emergency blankets and she
had Myriam put one for marker and one over the coats she was covered in.
Also, Elaine's
helmet had three cracks in the outer plastic shell - all I can say
is "Thank God we were wearing them!"
I left them at 2:00 P.M. While riding down the mountain I was very aware
of the responsibility I was carrying. I had to arrive safely and quickly
at camp, or
otherwise it was up to Myriam (from another country) to get help the
next morning. My horse, Ladybug, was a real trooper. She never hesitated
or spooked and
was totally cooperative to whatever speed I felt we could handle over
the terrain. I had decided it would be quicker to ask for help from someone
who was not
hooked to a trailer so I called into each camp as I went by then hurried
to the next one till I found Leonard McKay from Olds. I had Ladybug unsaddled
and in
Elaine's trailer (Elaine's idea!) by 2:50 P.M. Leonard drove me to
the Ya Ha Tinda Ranch by about 3:00 P.M. where we were lucky - Marie and
John Nylund were
in the yard building a beautiful pine log training corral.
Marie quickly called Sundre Hospital from their mobile phone. Then it
was up to me to relay all the information as clearly and quickly as possible
through all the
different channels until I finally got someone to call STARS. Marie
had the G.P.S. coordinates (Global Positioning Satellite coordinates) ready
for me so the
helicopter would know exactly where to pick me up. I told them I could
show them exactly where Elaine was and that I needed to help Myriam bring
the horses
back down to camp. The operator called me back and patched me through
to the pilot and the paramedic so I could give them as much information
as possible.
ETA was 25 minutes. It took 40. While I waited, Marie served us tea
and cookies. I also phoned and left a message for Paddi Sprecher to get
hold of Elaine's
husband, Wayne.
When I boarded the chopper, they asked if I'd ever ridden in one before.
I replied, "No, but I had been up in small 2 - seater planes." I also had
myself mentally
prepared - I had to go get Elaine. Only Paddi Sprecher knows of my
slight nervousness with heights (until now!) Then the pilot added "Oh,
and by the way, it is very
windy up there. That is why we are late. The chopper will vibrate but
we have to hurry because we are now low on fuel." The pilot asked me to
guide them over The
Cone. As soon as we came over top, they spotted Elaine and landed close
by. The paramedic thought she was only bruised.
One of the pilots asked me if he brought his son into the Ya Ha Tinda
if I would give them a ride. Under the circumstances I felt quite honored.
I told him I did not
live there ( DARN! ) but would let him know when I had a couple quiet
horses and was camping near Calgary. The pilot also took a couple photos
with Elaine, the
paramedic and two nurses working on her and of the chopper. Sure hope
they turn out. They informed me they were taking her to the Foothills Hospital
in Calgary. I
had brought Elaine's purse for her and told them I would look after
everything else so I had fun tying her helmet, chaps and my slicker on
Shatanna who was a bit
spooky now of flapping things. I wore my vest, two coats and two fanny
packs. Myriam and I ate and drank everything we could, fed the horses their
treats and
squished our water bottles so we could get it all packed. When we hit
Ribbon Flats, we tried to trot but Shatanna was acting up so I figured
I'd better play it safe.
One accident was more than enough, thank you. Leonard McKay was waiting
for us when we returned. After we looked after our horses I asked Leonard
if we
could hire him to take us out to Mountain Aire Lodge to the pay phone
as I really wanted to find out Elaine's condition. When Leonard heard Myriam
and I mention
the STARS benefit ride the Endurance riders and Competitive Trail riders
were hosting July 3 he told me to donate the money I'd offered him to the
STARS benefit.
When I called Wayne he said "Elaine's fine." I asked "Really?" "Well, other than her pelvis broken in three places and her tail bone broken, she seems fine."
I was so sorry my suspicions were right. But Elaine had made me promise
to stay in the mountains with Myriam. The next day we were very subdued
as we rode
around Eagle Lake and James Lake. We dropped down to Frontier Town
for a fresh piece of rhubarb pie. Yummy! Then back up and took the trail
along the south
side of the ridge (another of those beautiful places that I love but
don't really like!) and on to scenic Bighorn Falls. On Thursday we again
attempted to go up on top
of the north end of Dogrib, but this time we tied in with three other
riders. They asked me to show them where we'd had the accident and when
we got there it was
windy and cool again so I said "If anyone wants to put their coat on,
PLEASE, lets stop." A voice from the back said "Don't worry about me!"
However, I stressed
to Myriam that if either of us saw a safer way, please speak up because
the mountains aren't very forgiving of human error. We finally made it
to the top and ---what
a view!! And over the mountain came a helicopter - I hoped they weren't
coming for one of us. Then I explained the trail options and all voted
to go down the front
with me leading our horses till we got to the Sheep Cliffs Trail. I
had wanted to take them to the end of the ridge for the view, but it started
to rain and blow, so we
came on down. A great day. Sorry you missed it, Elaine.
Friday, Myriam and I rode up on top of The Hat. Thanks to Warden Frank
Coggins and the Junior Forest Rangers, just as you come out on the open
ridge (which is
very slippery when wet!!) if you watch to your right, you will find
ribbons and a cleared trail through the trees which will take you to the
top a safer way. There is a
full 360-degree view. We added to the human-shaped rock cairn up on
top, ate some lunch, saw rain coming from Banff area and headed down the
west side. We
went north towards the Clearwater River. Saw lots of cougar tracks
and tracks of one wolf headed north. A large boom in the sky changed our
direction - time to
go home! Ladybug tried telling me that we were passing the trail and
I was lost. (I think she was telling Kelly, Myriam's horse, dumb blonde
jokes because every so
often she'd just turn around and head back for the trail over The Hat.)
She seemed quite surprised when we arrived back at camp.
Saturday, it was still raining and we were brushing our horses and I
had just asked Myriam if she wanted to ride in the rain or stay in camp.
She replied "Let's do
something interesting." Just then Tim Barton from the outfitter's camp
right next to Banff boundary drove by with his stagecoach pulled by four
bay horses. I told
Myriam to grab her camera - I found something interesting. We went
over for a visit and while we were there, in drives Tim's covered wagon.
Everybody piles out,
loads their gear in vehicles and leaves Tim to take two outfits back
to his camp. So I volunteered to drive the wagon if Myriam could lead my
horse. When we got to
The Outpost, Myriam said I really did find something interesting. I
never thought I'd be driving a team through the mountains. I was born a
flat lander! Tim's cook,
Anne, had a royal feast ready for us, then we had to sit back and enjoy
the fireside view of the mountains till our meal settled. Too late and
wet to go back the south
side through the trees.
Sunday we headed up behind Frontier Town to Eagle Creek (checked out
Morgan's waterfall - where a friend took her 5-year old daughter, Morgan,
for a picnic
the day before.) We met a man with a palomino horse and a Border Collie
dog. I think he thought maybe that blonde wasn't too bright when I told
him we were on
our way to Wolf Creek. There's a neat little trail that goes along
under the rocky ridge and above the road and goes right over to the Red
Deer River crossing and
ties into the Wolf Creek trail. The river crossing is better this way
as you're not angling into the current. We had lunch at Wolf Creek Cascades,
then on to the edge
of nowhere path following Wolf Creek to Ribbon Flats and home again.
But we hadn't made it to Hidden Falls yet, so away we went back across
the river. Myriam
was glad we had not missed it, and it gave me the opportunity to try
out another of Frank Coggins and the Junior Forest Rangers new trails.
On your way back,
watch for ribbons to your right - it's a nice scenic way down.
Monday was sad we had to pack up and come home to Leduc. It was the
first time in three days that we had no rain. That was nice.
I would like to say a special THANK YOU to Leonard McKay, Marie and
John Nylund and the STARS staff who all helped in our emergency. Hope our
tale told
will prevent someone else from having the same happen to them or to
a friend
.
Happy and Safe Trails to all.
Norma Lovell.