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Below: Lee
Duquette picked up a clear piece of glacier ice and it was shiny like
a crystal |
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Below: John Smythers - Mr.
Muscle Man |
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Below: Why is Renee sticking
her tongue out at her MOM ??? |
Below: An amazing reflection in the
water. |
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Below: Standing by Knik
Glacier and looking at the fireweed and the mountain |
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 Then
it was time to head back. Unfortunately, about 1/2 hour from the original
parking lot, the young TEEN-AGE guide directed Karen Duquette down a
steep cliff. Karen said that she did NOT want to go there because it
was too scary. The main guide was nowhere in sight. Karen mignt have
panicked and accidentally hit her switch to go even though she said
she did not want to. OR more likely, her ATV wheel just slipped off
the edge of the cliff. At any rate, her ATV somehow went off of the
steep cliff and flew HEAD-ON into a big fat tree. Karen was then thrown
off of the ATV onto the ground. She landed on her back with her head
facing downward on a hilly slope towards the raging river. She thought
she felt fine, but wanted to be check out. She always heard that it
was wise to get checked out if in an accident.
It took a very long time, several hours actually, while Karen Duquette
laid in that uncomfortable position. She kept asking for her sunglasses
but nobody could find them. But eventually, a back-country ambulance
came and took her to the parking lot where a regular ambulance then
took her to the emergency room. Upon arrival in the hospital, they finally
removed Karen's helmet, and SURPRISE, her sunglasses were INSIDE the
helmet that had been tightly on her head the entire time. Everyone was
shocked.
No bones were broken, but Karen was very sore for almost a month.
She was also black and blue almost everywhere. Below is the only black
and blue photo spot Karen can post here because her whole body was brused
even though she was totally clothed from head to toe. So even though
she had good shoes on, look at the black and blue foot shown below.
She is lucky to be alive and not have broken anything. The hospital
was shocked that Karen did not have broken bones. |
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Since
the ATV was totaled, the ATV tour company and its insurance company
tried to collect big money from the two RV Gypsies to repair the ATV.
They even wanted their deductible charge from Karen. Karen felt that
she did not owe the money because there were TWO ATV guides on this
trip and the main guide was not anywhere near her when the accident
occurred plus the young guide directed her to do something dangerous,
which she did not do willingly.
Plus, there were several other times on this trip that the guides
were nowhere to be seen. Once the main guide was off racing with another
ATV rider (not a member of Karen's family), and Karen Duquette (who
was in the front of the pack) was not even sure which path to take.
Luckily she chose the correct path and everyone followed her. Another
time, Karen and Ilse both got stuck in a big mud river and no guide
came to their aid for quite awhile. Even with two guides, one guide
should have noticed.
BUT, and this is a BIG BUT, everyone signed a waiver at the beginning
of the trip that stated the rider is responsible for any damage even
if the guides are negligent. That tells everyone something. Nobody noticed
that in the small print.
At any rate, DO NOT take this trip unless you are a very experience
ATV rider. And if you are an experienced rider, you do NOT need those
guides anyway. The two RV Gypsies really do not have the kind of money
to pay for this and they even had a big hospital bill to pay on top
of it all. The guides probably would not even have cared if Karen had
died and would still be charging Lee for the money. OMG. Life sure is
not fair. No, the two RV Gypsies do NOT recommend this company at all.
Because
family was with the two RV Gypsies, they continued their Alaska adventure
as planned. Plus the RV of the two RV Gypsies was still in repair in
Fairbanks, so they had no choice to just continue on hotel hopping and
letting their family enjoy their one-and-only Alaska trip. Karen did
not even want to move her body at all, but she had no choice but to
continue the journey and act like she was okay. |
