EXPOSE
A Long Hike Out By Phil DiGirolamo NOLS Wilderness Medicine Grad
NOLS Wilderness Medicine grad Phil DiGirolamo learned an important lesson while hiking with friends in the Sierra Nevada. Beej Jorgensen
16 | THE LEADER
“
W
here’s your orange?” California Highway Patrol rescue helicopter pilot Jimi Hendrix asked me. I didn’t understand the significance of it at first, but I learned it that day. My friends Tom, Eric and I were backpacking in the Sierra Nevada. A potential snow storm was due to come in that afternoon, so with 10 miles to the trailhead, we started our hike-out early. A mile in, Tom, who was ahead of me, stepped off a granite slab and onto what looked stable, a one-foot diameter rock. The rock twisted underfoot and there was a firecracker explosion. Eric yelled, “What was that?” but I knew instantly—trouble! Tom collapsed, his leg broken. Time for my Wilderness First Responder training. Eric and I sized up the scene: I would take care of Tom, and he would run for help. Help, though, was nine miles to the vehicle, plus another ten to phone reception. We didn’t know what type of help would be available or how and when it might arrive. And the storm was due late in the afternoon. Eric set off running after we assessed and splinted
