Trail walk up the Temperance. Rhyolite gorges, cedars, sunshine. Noises. Fourteen-year-old in the river, caught between rocks. Father distraught. Send back to the car for ropes, tie pieces together. Rock climber shows up, knows the river. Makes a loop, body size. Drops it toward the kid, edges out over the gorge. Twenty feet down. We suggest tying the rope to a tree. He glances at the tree, says hold the rope yourselves. His body, forty-five degrees out over the gorge, forms a perfect fulcrum for the now-vertical rope. Talks gently to the boy over the roar of the water. Put it over yourself. Under your arms. Hang on. Pull. Out he comes, in briefs and one sneaker, the rest taken by the river. Cold. County rescue crew arrives. Do you pull other people out of here? Yeah, mostly not alive. Down at the trailhead, cars going by on Scenic Route 61, we talk with dad. Settled down some. Goodbyes, thanks. Everybody drives home.

In Journal of Emergency Medicine 2002; 22(3); 319.