Yaak Falls -- Jim Falls

We drove up toward the town of Yaak. The road follows the Yaak river and about halfway between the town of Troy and Yaak there are falls. I've seen pictures of these "falls" when the water is low and I've seen people sliding down the rocks in this water. Obviously, the water is way too high and fast to go sliding.

While I was taking these pictures Jim was up river a 100 yds from me. I couldn't see him and I finally went to find him. I found him -- looking pretty beat up limping along the rock ledge on the shoreline. He had slipped on the rocks and fallen about 4 feet down onto the rock ledge. He yelled at me to put the camera down and come toward him very carefully because the rocks were slick as ice. I got to him and had to help pull him up the rocks -- I even slipped helping him - but didn't hurt anything. Jim on the other hand had a gash on his knee and forehead, glasses broken and both wrists hurting. The left wrist was starting to swell -- I knew it was probably broken.

I drove him to the ER in Libby. X-rays confirmed the broken wrist. They put a splint on it and refered him to an orthopedic clinic in Kalispell to get a cast put on in a week. I tried to take his picture with his arm in a sling but he wanted no part in showing everyone his Owee! He is lucky not to have ended up in that water and only one sprained wrist and one simple fracture. He also can get his glasses replaced for free through Walmart's vision center. Life is better with Walmart.