I remember it backwards.
*Blink*
Mrs Widds and I give our statements to the cop. I’m shaking but can think coherently. Mrs Widds is in ‘crisis management’ mode, feet firmly on the ground. I love that woman.
*Blink*
It feels like it takes forever for the police and ambulance to arrive, but in reality it’s only about half an hour. The cop asks for witnesses and thanks everyone else for their help.
*Blink*
Waiting is always the hardest part. The adrenaline fades and shock takes over.
*Blink*
Some idiot who’s probably had five minutes training in Med school flings his stethoscope round his neck, pulls the young woman passenger out of the car (first huge mistake) and asks if anyone has any Tylenol. What an idiot. Mrs Widds shuts him down.
*Blink*
A young guy gets out of the wreck wearing a shirt, underwear, and no shoes. He checks on his passenger then grabs his cellphone and pants. More people stop.
*Blink*
A couple of cars have already stopped and people are trying to help. I walk up the hill waving my arms, warning the cars and trucks in the slow lane.
*Blink*
Mrs Widds calls 911 and I make sure the trailer is secure. Chock the wheels. Not going to make that mistake aver again. Especially on a steep hill like this.
*Blink*
I pull over immediately, slam on the hazard lights. We share a look of horror, take a deep breath, and swing into action.
*Blink*
Mrs Widds is screaming something. I see the car. It’s going too fast on the inside lane. The driver loses control. In the blink of an eye it swerves back across three lanes of traffic, misses us by a few meters and crashes into the embankment.
***
Lets backtrack a little shall we?
When we left Dinosaur Provincial Park the rain and overcast sky of the day before had cleared and we had beautiful blue skies before us all the way to the Rockies. By the time we were back on Highway 1 storm clouds had rolled across the prairies and were taking bets on who would get to rain on us first.
We decided to drive straight through Calgary rather than take the bypass. (because we’d been so successful avoiding storms on the Winnipeg bypass) Visually it was a bit of a disappointment because cities seldom show their best side to the freeways dividing them in half. Still, we did avoid the storms. Those ones.
I saw a jagged blue smudge on the horizon and rejoiced. Mountains!
I felt like I could breathe again
… and then they disappeared. Rainstorm!
Not a big one and soon it was blue skies (and big fluffy white clouds) all the way home.
Mountains to the left of me, mountains to the right of me …
This glacier used to come all the way down the mountain.
So many of them looked like this
Inside an avalanche shed east of Golden
***
The accident happened about fifteen minutes east of Merritt. Stopping and helping and giving statements took a good chunk out of our afternoon travelling time, but we were back home on Widder Island in time for supper!
***
A couple of photos that slipped through the cracks …
I took this one at Mt Robson P.P. The way the trees grew reminded me of the rune, Mannaz – The Self. A great message to have at the beginning of our journey.
Ents of a different sort
We were in Sault Ste Marie (the Canadian one) in the midst of a sweltering heat wave when I see this sign.
What? Snow? Where?
***
Next: Tally
Widdershins Worlds 
A very scary incident!
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Scary indeed! Funny thing though, it seemed to happen in super slow motion and unbelievably fast. Like we had all the time in the world to react and none at all. Time is strange. 🙂
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These things always happen that way. There is this instant, when the whole world shifts: but that instant is an entire world to itself.
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Thank goodness the driver missed you! I hope he learned to be less of an idiot on the road. I like the way you and the Missus handled the crisis.
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It was one of those ‘2 seconds later’ moments that makes one ponder Life, the Universe, and Everything … waay after the event.
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Argh, I can imagine how scary that was! Glad you guys made it home okay.
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US too! 🙂
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“All’s well that ends well.” The bard has the words for every occasion. Hopefully, it ended well for the woman victim too.
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The car rolled several times after it smacked into the embankment, so yeah, I hope that idiot resident (and his stethoscope) didn’t do any further damage.
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Glad you two are safe. Mrs Widds sounds like a real take-charge type of woman! Take care.
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I’m glad you weren’t hit!
So, dare one ask why he wasn’t wearing pants? And was the woman okay?
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We thought about it, but decided we didn’t really want to know! … the woman was conscious and sitting up (no thanks to the idiot resident) when the ambulance arrived. We probably won’t hear anything more, unless it goes to court and we’re called to testify.
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Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that!
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Goodness me you’ve been in a scary experience, glad you are both fine.
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When I was writing the post the memory seemed very clear. That’s the thing about witnessing accidents, it’s all about moments of time.
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Yes I once witnessed an accident on a motorway, the lorry was in front of me, it hit the car in front, and I saw that person’s car flying in the air with her arm dangling out. It was very scary, but kind of surreal at the same time. I phoned the police later to issue a witness statement, and was told that she had survived. Thank goodness, I think she was extremely lucky.
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I like the way you described remembering it backwards
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I remember my motorcycle accident that way too. Trauma is weird. 🙂
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It’s as if it highlights the important part and gives a flashback to how you got there
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And perhaps, too, the slowest parts are at the end, everything else happens too fast for much more than fleeting images to be imprinted .
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Great story telling from last to first. Well done! Glad you were okay. I first thought you were in the accident.
AND I knew EXACTLY where your first mountain photo was taken. I’ve done a few remote ski touring and mountaineering trips, and the helicopter pad is just around that corner. Just seeing that spot brought back so many great memories. Well done in picking the perfect spot to take a photo.
Take care, and happy travels!
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Thanks. 🙂
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