Supai Rescue and Rewards

I got to hike and camp at Supai this last weekend as part of a GCC hiking class.  My first time going to Supai falls on this trip I was showing Chase around while others were going behing the fall and jumping through etc.  I noticed a man follow the group but I wasn't sure what he was doing as he didn't proceed with the same pace others had.  What I didn't know after watching him for awhile was that his adult daughter and his wife were looking for him.  I started noticing his movements were getting labored and so I shouted out if he was ok.  He gave me a thumbs up.  I immediately felt like that was not true, two more times I hollored out to him and two more times I got the thumbs up.  By then his daughter was by my side and I asked if she thought he was ok cause I wasn't convinced.  She couldn't tell.  I figured I could handle the embarassment if I swam out there and he was fine so I found a strong long stick, threw it out there and told my buddy Scott to help me.  I got out there really quick and went to his side and asked him if he wanted to make it to shore - he did.  I realized how tired he was as he tried to follow me.  I got a stick and pulled him while Scott was behind him making sure we had good progress.  I got him to recognize that there were underwater shelves to sit on to relax and regain his strength.  We then walked and swam him back to the shallow end until he could walk on his own and he said he could make it from there and his daughter helped him to a picnic table to rest.  His finger prints were gone and bleeding pretty well from getting worn off as he tried to hang on behind the fall and his walking was very labored.  Once I could tell he was ok I didn't want to hang out and cause him any discomfort so I went back to playing and did my first dive through the falls since 2007.  I kept playing and noticed my new friend was laying on the picnic table and hadn't moved and so I brought over my gatorade and told his wife and daugther to have him drink it all if he wanted to as he needed to get his energy level back.  I checked back on him a couple more times finally letting them know that while he could have all the gatorade he wanted, I only had that one bottle to last me the trip and since I was leaving to the next fall I'd need the bottle back.  The family was gracious and asked for my address. 

Now I'm home and today I got a letter from my friend, he lives in Ranchos Palos Verde, California - the note reads "Andrew, Hard to put into words when I realized you were by my side under Havasu Falls.  I couldn't hold on much longer.  Thanks for being there . . . Many Thanks".  How cool is that!  I can't say that anything could be more rewarding and I admire my friends graciousness.  I'm glad it worked out to meet this man and his family - we need more people like him in the world so I'm glad that we didn't lose him that day and I'm glad I can handle the embarassment of attempting to save someone who doesn't need it so I didn't let that stop me from checking up on him.

He did send me a gift card to REI - how appreciated that is and I must say the amount was quite generous as I was just grateful to be associated with someone as high caliber as him.

Andrew "has a new friend" Brown