On Memorial Day, Monday May 26th, the Upper Yough in MD was running at 2.3’ (a bit higher than typical releases) and the weather was good. Justine Miller was joined by Asad Makarevic and David Millrod, and while Justine and David hadn’t previously paddled together, all had been down this river many times. The run was going smoothly; however, Justine was a bit tentative and uneasy, not having paddled much since last fall.
At 2:40 PM, after the last raft of the day passed, Asad began Tommy’s Hole and Little Niagara first. David waited for Justine in the eddy below Tommy’s Hole at her request, while she took the river right line around it. After confirming that Justine knew what line she wanted to take at Little Niagara, David took the boof line, but Justine went too far left, over a 2’-3’ drop without boofing, and her half slice boat fully submerged on landing. When it popped up with her in a high right brace, she flipped, missed a roll attempt, then swam in this rocky section. David was nearby, offering his stern for her to grab onto and encouraging her to swim for a river left eddy that he and her boat were then pulled into, but she continued past it, yelling that she dislocated her shoulder. Asad was waiting directly below this spot and paddled to her, also offering his stern, but she continued swimming until grabbing onto a partially submerged rock at the edge of a river left eddy above Zinger. She clung to the rock. Asad got out of his boat and threw a rope directly to her that she did not grab; she yelled to him that her shoulder was dislocated, but he could not hear her over the sounds of the river. David then paddled downstream to the rock she was on, grabbed onto her PFD, and offered to help her to shore, but she replied that her shoulder was in less pain while submerged, and it was difficult to move, and she wanted someone to try to reduce it, to make it easier to move.
As David explained to her that he did not know how to reduce it, a large group of paddlers arrived. From that group, at about 2:50 PM, Rob Watts scrambled to her location and attempted to reduce it for about five minutes without success. The combined group then helped her into a tethered boat and pulled her to shore on river left, where two others unsuccessfully attempted to reduce the dislocation. At this point Justine was still in extreme pain and began shivering. Noah Wisdom stated that the best plan was to wait for Friendsville EMS to come up the river right trail in an ATV with a ducky to safely ferry her to that side of the river and evacuate her. Paddlers from the second group gave Justine 800 mg of Ibuprofen and a space blanket, then headed downstream in order to call 911 once they found cell phone service.
Asad stayed with Justine on river left, while David carried her kayak up to the trail to wait for and intercept EMS. During the wait, while staying in touch by 5-watt radios they had, David hiked about a mile in each direction as well as climbed the hillside in search of cell phone reception without success. During that hiking, he saw that the trail was blocked by multiple fallen trees, which EMS would need to cut through to reach them.
At 5 PM, Maryland State Police Helicopter Trooper Five based in Cumberland appeared and began circling, and cleared a path through the forest tree canopy, creating terrifying hurricane-like conditions for those below it. A paramedic descended by rope, then hoisted himself and Justine up to the helicopter at 5:25. They flew her to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. At the hospital, after x-rays and preparation, doctors successfully reduced her dislocation. The ER doctor explained why previous attempts to reduce it were unsuccessful - after the first few minutes of it being dislocated, due to muscle tightness and swelling, it would likely have taken half an hour or more of slowly increasing pressure to reduce it without muscle relaxants.
Justine was well enough the next day to attempt the hike with a friend along the Kendall trail from Friendsville to try to retrieve her boat, but they found it too swamped and overgrown, with flooding worsening after 3 miles. They saw fresh ATV tracks and cut trees for about two miles from town, which is likely how far Friendsville Fire & Rescue got before calling for the helicopter. Given the current condition of the trail, paddlers should be aware that the Kendall trail is currently not passable from the rapids below National to Friendsville and should consider using the steeper trail from National to hike out instead, if it is reachable. Adding to that the lack of cell phone service, paddlers should consider precautions usually reserved for more remote runs.
At the time, no one disagreed with the recommendation to wait for EMS given what we knew, and aiding Justine on the five-mile hike out instead wasn't discussed. While this time we made the best choice, this incident points out that waiting for others to call for rescue isn't predictable nor risk-free, so should be chosen carefully if self-rescue is at all feasible.
