The Charlie Recovery Project

On Saturday, August 23rd, Meg Larson,her dog Frankie, Dylan Dalmata, Tucker Osborne, myself and my dog Charlie set out for Lake Aloha on a weekend-long backpacking trip in search of some late August pow. We settled into camp at Lake Aloha around 11 P.M. and were eager to get some rest to prepare for the day ahead. Everyone was looking forward to a  fun-filled day day of skiing, pond skimming and lots of laughs. 


We woke up on Saturday morning, packed our skis and snowboards up, and left around 9:30 AM. The plan was to hike around Lake Aloha and head up in search of snow patches where we could string together a couple fun August turns. After 4 hours of hiking, we reached a snowy section far above Lake Aloha, at about 9100 feet. The stoke was real, the dogs were pumped, and Tucker had about as big of a smile as if it were a powder day in mid February. We took off our packs, ate some snacks, and threw on our ski boots, ready to get after it. 


Within seconds, the situation quickly changed. Within our first two turns, Charlie began running alongside us and clipped  his back left leg on the edge of a ski. From a few hundred feet back, I knew exactly what had happened. He let out a massive yelp, hobbled around for a minute and then fell to the snow. I quickly skied over to him, and saw what looked like a crime scene. A large laceration on his back left leg was rapidly spewing blood, staining the snow a deep red. His paw dangled loosely,with what seemed to be a torn ligament. . With Tucker and Dylan a bit ahead of us, Meg and I popped off our skis, and quickly pulled a shirt out of our packs. We began to wrap the wound and proceeded to tie a tourniquet around his leg to try and control the bleeding. 


After the initial panic and shock subsided, we were hit by the gravity of the situation we were in. We were at 9,100 ft elevation in Desolation Wilderness, with the closest car over 10 miles away and our campsite on the opposite side of the lake. For those of you familiar with Lake Aloha, you can understand the distance to get back to camp. Tucker and Dylan came running back up to us when they realized what had happened. Thankfully, Tucker had a medkit on him and we removed the shirt, properly cleaned the wound with antiseptic, and rewrapped it with gauze and medical tape. 


Once the wound was properly wrapped, we began to assess the limited options we had. Around 2:50 PM, I dialed 911 and got connected to the Placer County Sheriff's Department and ran them through the situation. They gently informed me that because the injury was to a K9, on top of the fact that we were in a National Forest, there are very strict regulations on helicopter rescues. They told us to stay put and wait for a call back as they contacted their rescue options. 


I received a call back at 3:50 PM from Search and Rescue. While they usually refrain from using helicopters for animals, in their words - what seemed to be a miracle, they would be able to send a medivac helicopter that could be on-site in 20 minutes. I was told only Charlie and myself would be allowed in the helicopter. We breathed a sigh of relief, and calmness fell over us, believing the situation was now at least manageable. Tucker, Dylan and Meg began to pack up their things to begin the hike back down to camp while I waited for the helicopter. Shortly thereafter, I called Placer County Sheriff's Office back to ask where the chopper would drop me off so I could coordinate with my friends and come up with a plan. I was immediately bombarded with questions from the ‘Officer In Charge,’ who seemed almost angry on the other end. His voice was at a fever-pitch, asking, -  “Who told you that there was a helicopter coming?” He repeatedly questioned me and I had told him search and rescue had called me 5 minutes prior saying they were en route. The officer continued to tell me that I need to “Listen to his words,” leave my dog behind, and begin hiking down the mountain. In my head, that was never an option.


At 4:13 PM I received a voicemail from Search and Rescue, notifying me that the rescue mission had been called off by ‘higher ups.’ Then they suggested the unthinkable - that we Charlie behind and begin to hike down. We were on our own. I think at that point reality set in, our faces turned pale as we realized the treacherous journey we had ahead of us. We quickly emptied one of our packs and put 80 lb Chuck on my back as we began to make our way down a trailess rockfield. 


In what seemed like an endless first stretch, we descended about 2 miles to the far side of Lake Aloha, where we ran into 3 backpackers who were camped out. With the amount of blood Charlie was losing, we needed to change his bandage. The gentlemen we ran into kindly provided us with additional first aid materials to clean and rebandage Charlie. At this point, we decided we needed to lighten our load and leave almost all of our gear behind. We dropped our ski equipment, camera gear and extra clothes, essentially everything behind except a water filter, 2 Clif bars and a good ‘ole can of SpaghettiOs. 


We pushed on, alternating who carried my big, fat, yellow lab through the granite terrain around the outskirts of Lake Aloha. We were trying to get back over to the PCT and eventually, descend to Echo Lake. We ran into countless hikers and campers along this stretch who were compassionate and  incredibly helpful, providing us with additional water, headlamps and flashlights as night descended. We had left these back at camp, thinking we were only heading out for a day trip.


At around 8:30 PM, we finally made it back to the trailhead that would lead us to Echo Lake where our car was parked. Tucker and Dylan headed back to camp to get more supplies as Meg and I began the 6 mile trek back to the car. Extremely exhausted and running on nothing but Cliff Bars, we decided to call 911 again to see if anyone could meet us along the way to help pack Charlie out. They took our GPS coordinates, descriptions of our clothes, and informed us that ground personnel were on their way to meet us. 


The next six miles passed in a total blur, stumbling over loose rock in the pitch black with Charlie still on my back. We pushed on with very little water at this point, knowing we didn’t have any other option but to make it back to the car. At 12:15 AM, we made it back to the Echo Lake parking lot with no sign of Search and Rescue or the Placer County Sheriff's department. The enormity of our journey hit me - we had hiked 18 miles for almost 15 hours straight --8 of those hours and 10 of those miles with Charlie in my backpack. We laid Charlie in my trunk and drove to the closest emergency vet which was in Reno, about an hour and a half away. We made it there around 2 AM and the vet tech informed us that Charlie had ruptured his Achilles, and because of the swelling there was a chance they would have to amputate his paw.


I left the vet that night beside myself, thinking about the fact that my four-legged best friend might become my three-legged best friend. Meg and I took Mt. Rose highway home back to Carnelian Bay in absolute silence, knowing there was nothing more we could do.


We woke up on Sunday morning after 3 hours of restless sleep to a call from a Placer County Sheriff asking where we were and what had happened. After we gave them the highlights, they expressed that they were “Sorry they were unable to assist in the way we had hoped.” 


Dumbfounded that the sheriff's department waited until the morning to see if we were okay, we decided to post in the Facebook group “Truckee Tahoe People”. We explained the situation and shared a plea for help, asking if anyone could go recover our gear that we had left behind by Lake Aloha. Within 30 minutes, the post had over 60 shares and countless comments from people willing to help. Our saving grace came when Nick and Lisa messaged us saying they had empty packs and were ready to go retrieve our things. We dropped the coordinates of our ski equipment, as well as our campsite. Around 8:30 PM, Nick called us with the first good news of the weekend, letting us know the recovery mission was a success after 8 hours of hiking. 


The good news continued from there. About an hour later, I received a call from Dr. Martini and Dr. Shraeder notifying me that the pressure in Charlie's paw had begun to subside and that he was going to be able to keep his leg. Later that night, they performed reconstructive surgery on Charlie's Achilles, and I was notified that the surgery was a success. 


Charlie has a long road to recovery ahead, but thanks to some amazing friends, total strangers and kind-hearted people, I still have my best friend by my side. I am so incredibly thankful to live in a place where people are so truly genuine and willing to help. The community here in Tahoe is one-of-a-kind. Friends helping friends and strangers helping strangers is what gave this story its happy ending. I am forever grateful to Meg, Dylan and Tucker for staying by my side the entire way; thankful for Nick and Lisa for selflessly recovering our gear; incredibly grateful for the staff at the emergency vet, and forever in debt to the countless strangers along the way who contributed in more ways than they will ever know. Stay true Tahoe, and please, don’t ever change.  


Charlie’s vet bill and surgery is totalling around $8,000. Attached below is a link to a GoFund me I have set up for him. If you can contribute in any way possible to Charlie’s recovery it would be immensely appreciated!!