Channel: Good Mythical More
YouTube Video ID: Cs_1T0Lxf6A
Episode Number: 3131
Transcript
We got in an ATV accident in Montana. Welcome to Good Mythical More. Every year we go on a college buddies trip with, you guessed it, our college buddies. Ever since the pandemic, when we, we reconnected with our boys, Greg, Tim, and Harm. And we have a tendency to go to a place of adventure. We've been to Colorado a couple of times, we've been to Oregon, and we've been to Montana twice. Mm-hmm. This is our fifth- It's our second trip- … year- … to Montana … and second year in Montana. We went to Missoula, and then we got a Airbnb, and we did what we normally do. You just sign up f- it's a long weekend, we sign up for, like- Excursions … different excursions. And we've gotten really good at the river floats, so we knew that was gonna be a part of it. But with these ri- Five men on one board. These, yeah, with these rivers, on the Megalodon. It's a very, very big board. Infl- inflatable paddleboard. Um, but with all these rivers in Montana, people love to fly-fish And the last time we went, we would s- uh, a lot of the, a lot of it's geared towards that, but we didn't do it. And in planning for this year, somebody threw out, "Well, we should, we should fly-fish." We should do it. So, um, I wasn't gonna oppose it even though I've never really liked fishing. This is a different type of thing. It's more, it's like romantic fishing, but not in, like, relationally romantic, more like cinematically romantic. Do you wanna talk about the fishing first? It's like visual. No, I don't. I'm just saying that we went fly-fishing, and we're gonna tell you about that. We're … Yeah, okay. But we didn't get in an accident doing that. I didn't know how else we were gonna start talking about it. I was teasing the fly-fishing. Oh, okay. 'Cause, you know, wh- I didn't know how deep of a tease it was gonna be. It's, it was just that deep. When you s- when you start talking about fishing, people are perking up. They're like, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying around to hear any story about fishing I can." Right. Yeah, well, you won't believe what happened when we were fishing. That's a real deep tease. But something that we have done before, this would be at least the third year, is sign up for an ATV trip. Now, I've done ATVs. A- and these are, these are, just so you know- That'd be … Like, th- you know, when I was growing up, m- my cousins had three-wheelers. Those were ATVs. But that's not what ATVs are now. ATVs are, like, side-by-sides. It's a car with a roll cage, and it look … You know, it's open if you've seen these things. The shocks are just absolutely crazy, the suspension on these things, and you just feel like you can just go anywhere in them, you know? And they're fast. Yeah. A- and, and some places, they'll just drop 'em off and then give you a route, and then they'll come back and pick it up. It's not like you have a guide. Well, but the- That's, that's how, that's how I like to do it … the, the last time we did this in Oregon, when we showed up, there was a guy out in the middle of the woods in, like, a tent, and he had the ATVs lined up. And he said, "I want you to come into this tent and, uh, you're gonna watch this video." That was, I bet you it was a 20-minute video. Right. And then on top of that, there was another at least 15-minute orientation where he gave us all of this instruction what to do if this happens, if this happens, don't do this, don't do that. Yeah. It makes you feel like, okay, this is, this is gon- this is dangerous. Mm-hmm. And, um- But we're grown men. We don't, we don't need that type of, uh- Well, I don't know if- … orientation … I don't know if Montana is just- Or at least that's what the guy who brought us the ATVs thought. I don't know if Montana's just a different place, uh, a little libertarian in the way that they go about things. Yeah. Because the guy just dropped the ATVs off in the driveway and left. He did tell us, "If you go down the … They're street legal. If you go down the s- the road, and then you get to this mile marker, then you can go up into all these trails, and I'll be back in four hours to pick this thing up." I was running late that morning, so when I came down from my bedroom to the driveway All of you guys were already buckled up and, like, in the, in the ATVs ready to go. There was a four-seater and a two-seater. Mm-hmm. And Harm was driving the two-seater. Greg was riding with him. You were driving the four-seater. Tim was riding with you. So I don't know what kind of conversation was had, but by the time I showed up, I was like, "Okay, I guess I'm in the back of the four-seater." I didn't say anything. There was no conversation. Is that because there didn't need to be one? W- was I being relegated? Well, okay. To the backseat? Uh, hmm. I just, I just wanna know the truth. Yes and no. I mean, first of all, you were late, so we were all just ready to go. And so we weren't gonna, like, leave a driver's seat for the late guy. Right. But, uh, every- I'd say maybe a bigger reason, and again, there was no discussion about this at all. Okay. But there has been discussion about it previous to this. Every single person in our group has ridden shotgun while you're driving, and they've all made a decision to never do that again. Um, like, individually and collectively, everyone has been like, "I'm not doing it." I mean, I think you … I think Greg's butthole permanently closed the last time- … that he rode shotgun with you, and he had to have it surgically opened again. Poor me. Ew, gross. I think you have to go to a gyno for that. He clenched so hard. So yeah, everyone has been the passenger to you, and you're a wild man when it comes to this thing. And so I think people are just like- They're made for fun … if he, if he's gonna drive, then we're gonna just let him do it by himself. ATV, all the fun. But here's the thing. We knew that everyone was going to get a turn to drive at some point, because that's what we always do. Yeah. We just kind of have, like, this informal rotation. But we- I figured I'd be in the two-seater and then- 10 miles … all three, all four of you guys would be in the four-seater is what I- And so I … And, and we gotta go on the road. Again, they are street legal. They have a tag and everything. It's like 10 miles away to get to the entrance to this trail. And we get out on the road, and these things are just, they're low to the ground. They feel … The shocks are so absorbent that you just find yourself going, like, 80 miles an hour down the road in this thing before you know it. And it's like you're not even … I thought there was gonna be, like, a governor on it or something. There wasn't even a windshield on it. No. Yeah. So- If you're going 80 miles an hour- 80 miles an hour with just goggles on just, uh. I was like, "I'll hold my mouth like this." I was directly behind you and I was, I had all, I had all of you to block the, the windshield. And then- You were still bundled up back there with a hood and a- Oh, yeah. I was, I was bundled up. Um, we get there, we get off road, we start going and we're following these paths and going up, and we get to this place and there's a truck parked on the side. It's very remote. Didn't see anybody else out there. It's abso- it's beautiful. They got a very big sky in Montana. They do. Beautiful country. Uh, no one in the truck. There was a bike with a chain off of it laying behind the truck. Suspicious. And then there was a gate. So we go up to the gate and we thought this is where we were gonna go, past this, but the gate was locked up, so we had to turn around. And we were further in, me, you, Tim, and me in the backseat. So we tell Harm, "Hey, you gotta turn around. We're gonna go another way." Gotta go back down a little bit. So he goes back down a little bit, and then w- you proceeded to do like an 18-point turn to try to get- The turning radius on this was a little, uh- this thing turned around with that truck in the- … limited … in the, uh, in the path. And then by the time we start coming back down, there was like a, a clearing down there. A, a little like fork in the road that met again in a little bit. A n- a lot more space to turn around down there, actually. Yeah. And, and so they were already down there. Now, I was in the backseat. I don't know if you got a better view of this than I did. Well, I, I watched the whole thing. So ba- so what, what is happening is we haven't really… We've got experience with these things, having done this at least twice before. We're very experienced with these things. And I will say- Don't worry it was a different brand. You know, I think we had done Polaris before, and I don't know what these were. Yeah. But- Off-brand … one of the things that- Definitely … we found, especially in Oregon when we, like, went on this incredible, like, volcanic sand area, is that you can just whip these things all around and they spin out and fishtail, and you, you kinda get that sense of, like, over-correcting and, like… They feel sort of indestructible. And so we hadn't done anything really, but I just see the dirt road is, like, going in front of us and then it kinda goes off to the side, parts and goes around, then comes back. And Harm sort of whips it to the right, like, "Oh, I'm gonna go down in this thing and, like, do a little spinning out or whatever." And I immediately was like, "Hell yeah." You know, I'm like, I'm right behind him and I, like, I gun it and I'm going right after him. And so, like, he turns hard to the right, I turn hard to the right. He turns hard to the left, but as he turns hard to the left I'm like, "Oh, he just got up on two wheels." The only, the first thing I saw was two wheels starting to come up and then keep going up, and then they just kept going and I was like, "Oh, he's going over." And it, and so it goes on the passenger side. He, like, went from zero miles an hour to, like, going on his side in just, like, a second. Like, vroom. It took no time at all. And then he's on the passenger side, and then all of a sudden I see more wheels. He's on the hood, and then thunk. He, then they roll back over. They're on the driver's side, like, on their side. And it, to me, it kinda happened slowly. It did because, again, it wasn't crazy. It was in Harm's defense. Like- It was- … five miles an hour … way less intense than anything that we've ever done before. And I don't know if it was, like, because it was a little bit wet and something happened with the… Or if it's just it's a different brand of ATV. Well, the guy ended up telling me they, they, um, they reduced the, the pressure in the tires, and so it has more grip and that they're not made to spin out, you know? So- When did he tell you that? They're made to- After the fact? Yeah. Oh. They're made to grip. Like, when, when he was picking it up afterward. Hm. So he said it happens a lot. That's no good. So we pull up, we stop. All of us get out. Like, they're, Harm's on the bottom and then Greg's, like, dangling up here- In his seatbelt … in, by their seatbelts. And they're very still. They're very still and, like- And very quiet … and their eyes are, like… And they're just, like, not moving at all and they're kinda, like- Like cra- the crazy eye. They've got the crazy eye But then I see Harm- From Life Aquatic. I see- He's got the crazy eye. Harm holds up his hand. He's like… And I see blood dripping from his hand. And I said, "You know what? We're, we're all just…" I turned sideways. I was like, "We're all just gonna take a deep breath. Everything's okay. Your hand's hurt, but everything's okay. I mean-" And he's just, like, doing this. And, and then I'm like, "Greg, you just hang right there. Harm, you're gonna have to get out first." I'm literally hanging there. And he's like, Harm's like, "Yeah, I gotta, I gotta get, I gotta get out of here." And so I was like- I was like, "Yes, you can get out of here." braced himself, and I reached in and- Press the release of the seatbelt and he like- Thloop thloop. He falls out No, he, he, he braced himself. He- I was like, "Don't use that hand. You know, the bleedy one. Don't- And I got a better look … don't use that hand to get out with." And he's like, like trying to get … I was like, "Yeah, not, maybe not that one." And I got a better look at the hand as I got closer and I was like- His middle finger was like busted open- Well- … in this part, in between the, the first and second knuckle. And I think we both immediately realized that he had done the thing that's the very intuitive thing that you do, that you're not supposed to do when you are rolling over in one of these things, and you put your hand on top of the bar. He grabbed the roll bar. And so for a moment, the weight of the entire ATV was on these three fingers. Um, Greg gets out. He's pretty dazed, but he's okay. I was like, "What were you doing when it happened?" He was like, "Well, I was looking at the inside and there were like different places to ha- I was like holding onto the handles because there's like different handles to hold onto, and I was like figuring that out. And then all of a sudden we went over and my hands, uh, were in a good place." Yeah. I mean, that's what you should do. That's what, that's- If you're driving, and again, this isn't the kind of thing that anybody does naturally, but if you're driving, you just are supposed to hold onto the steering wheel the whole time this is happening, basically, which is hard to do. And then if you're a passenger, you're supposed to have your hands on these like handles. I got a stump and I put it over the … You and, you and Tim went over to the car and you were trying to figure out how to get the ATV to roll back over. Yeah. And to see how much damage it had. I was kinda dealing with the, the friends in a stupor and I was like, "All right. You sit on this stump and we need to, we need something to put some pressure on this finger of yours, but you're gonna be okay. It's just a finger. That's why you got nine more." And, um- … uh, Greg was over there peeing in the woods, but having some sort of existential crisis I think. You and Tim started pushing on the thing, couldn't get it to roll back over. Well, we, we, we were pushing on it to see- If you could … if, if that was gonna be possible and if that was a smart move. And then we were like, "Well, there's a winch on the front of the- Other ATV … other ATV." So we went around and we hooked up the winch to the roll bar, and then when we extended the winch out, it was a rope. It wasn't a chain, it was just a rope. And as I'm beginning to back up and put some pressure on it, Tim's like, "Stop. That thing, if that thing pops, it's gonna pop back and hit you, and that's not worth it." Yeah, we don't want another accident. There's not a windshield on this thing. See, now we're thinking accident prevention. And so I'm like, "You know what?" A little bit late, but we are thinking about it. You, you're right. So we stop, and at that moment, the guy who had been- In the truck … in the truck, who turns out he was, like, a, a bow hunter who was, like, it was opening day of bow hunting season. He's coming down, and we, like, flag him down. This guy was an angel. What was his name? Gabriel. Started with an E. Etienne A, it was like E- Etienne E- Eton? Etienne Etienne He had a paper towel wrapped around Harm's finger and so he could apply some pressure, and then he hooked up a chain to that thing and turned it back over Yeah, he like completely did the proper winch thing and got the, the, uh, thing back on its side. And then also we were like, um, 'cause there's no service out there of course. We were like, "Can you take-" Our friend off our hands "… Harm and Greg back to the Airbnb?" Which is just back down towards town, which is the way that he was going, so then they could hop in Greg's truck and get to the urgent care. Yeah. And he was like, "Yeah." So he like, without him, it would've been a different day. I mean, we would've been able to… The thing that I was driving was still drivable and we could have driven it all the way back. But by that time- Right … Harm was beginning to say, "My fingers really hurt. All three of these fingers really hurt, and I'm pretty sure they're all broken." You know, based on the way that it was feeling. And so we were like, "Yeah, we gotta, we gotta get him to some emergency care." So the hunter took him back, and then we took the ATVs back. Dri- the one that had rolled, it was just aesthetic damage A mirror here, a light there But we, we left it at, at a good pickup point. We, we came back. Funny thing was when I was, um, dri- riding there in the backseat, like I'm, I'm, I'm behind you and your headrest is right here, and right here on the headrest there's this thing and I couldn't help but read it 'cause it was right here, and it had a picture of a rolling ATV- Oh, I never saw that and then it had a, it had someone with their hands and their hands were like this. It's like, never put your… If, if the v- Pirates of the Caribbean It says if the vehicle starts to roll- Hands inside … keep your head, hands, and arms inside. If, never use your arm to try to brace if it's rolling b- because- It's intuitive to do of course you would know that you could never stop- an ATV from rolling by putting your hand out the side of it, but instinctively you might find yourself doing that. Well, you're trying to protect your, like, head from hitting things and stuff. So I'm like, I'm like reading this thing, going 80 miles an hour down this, the road, and I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." And I'm thinking like, "If this thing rolls," I'm like, I'm getting my mind right. That was smart. You gotta get your mind right that like, everything starts to roll, just keep everything inside. Or maybe keep everything loose. I don't know, I don't know all the answers yet. But Harm broke, um, all three of his fingers. 10 stitches, I think, on that finger. T- might be 13. And then it was a- It was just like, this whole thing is busted open … the x-ray was all three, all three fingertips. Just the fingertip crushed. Just m- just smooshed, like… And they said that it will, they'll, like, fuse. There's n- you, he, he has to, like, ki- kind of keep them, keep these protective things over them, but they just, like, the fingertips fuse back together. But we have, we don't have footage of the accident happening, but we, we have some aftermath footage that we have- And some pre- … have posted … pre-crash footage. We have posted the footage that we have of the ATV event, the aftermath as well, on the Mythical Society. So if you're a member of the Mythical Society, go over there and, um, uh, check out that footage. 'Cause we thought we were gonna make a whole vlog of our ATV experience. Here- here's the- And- … here's the thing you will see- Stop, sorry … and I just, I just want to explain myself I seem giddy. I know that I seem, I'm s- like s- I'm like smiling, I'm like grinning from ear to ear, and I realize that I was doing that from the moment we walked up on the guys and I realized they weren't dead. Like, maybe before that, but I was just s- I was just like smiling because it wasn't me. It wasn't me. Well, and ironically- I … It wasn't my fault. See, guys? When Greg called his wife- He's the one you shouldn't have been riding with … when Greg called his wife and said, she knew that we were doing ATV that day, and she was like, h- first thing he said was, "We're okay, but there was an accident." And she said, "What did Link do?" I haven't seen this woman in 15 years. Well, but- A man can change … but you, a- but also, you didn't ever drive. I never, ever drove. Y- y- you didn't drive at all that day. Yep. I- So you didn't even have the opportunity … and all I did was stay calm, tell people to breathe. You did a great job. You did a great job. I did a great job, and I don't think we're doing ATVs anymore. I think we scratched that one off the list. They are, they're dangerous, and we've had a lot of fun with them, but it just doesn't feel worth it. It doesn't seem worth it anymore. But fishing, on the other hand. Yeah. I wish we, we could- The world of fishing … I wish we could tell you all about that, but we're out of time. No, no, no, no, no. We're gonna show … We, okay, what we're gonna do is we're gonna show you a little, we'll show you a little video that you took of me. Yeah. Uh. L- l- and we can watch it, too. Let's see the video of, uh … Oh, look. See, I'm in another boat. All right, do your casting. Do it. So if you were picturing guys- Do the casting in waders- Do the casting … that's not what this is. There we go. So that's me and Greg- Keep doing it … and our guide. So this, our three guides told us exactly where to cast. Look natural. He's not scaring the fish away, by the way, yelling like this. So- So how natural was I? I looked pretty… Pretty na- It was beautiful there. Fly fishing is, is fun. I didn't know that I would be into this. Exclamation point. But, like, the guides were great and they kinda like, they tell you what to do and then you get in… You c- start understanding this whole thing about people being in this meditative state going out. I'm like, "Oh, I kinda understand how you could get to that point." Because you have to concentrate on- The fishing … what you're doing. If you're, if you're not concentrating on… It's not like you put a bobber in the water and then you just sit there and- Yeah … just goof off. Fishing for catfish and then- It's very active and the kefir is, like, just waiting. And if you're not- This is, like, constant interaction … ready to react in the moment, you're not gonna hook one. Uh, and I did capture y- you had hooked one, and then I got some footage of, of you bringing him in. This is right at the end of the trip. What's happening? What's happening? My buddy, Rhett, over here is getting himself a, he's getting himself a fish. He caught himself a fish out right here in this river. And we're all here to witness it. We've been filming all day and, and that he has not caught anything. I- Not true … caught a record-breaking fish, and I have pictures to prove it. Not true. Yeah, I do have pictures to prove it. Now, he's gonna hold up this fish. Where, where's the fish? You want me to pick him up for you? Well, yeah. We're doing a voiceover right now. You gotta pick up the fish. That was your guide. Yeah, he was in- He was a part of it. Looks like he did most of the work too. Whoops. Oh, pay, pay no attention. The fish didn't feel that. He's a regular Bill Dance. He's a regular Bill Dance Bill Dance is a professional fisherman Mine was bigger than that, yeah. Very much bigger than that. Both of mine, both of mine were heads bigger than that Bigger than that. How many beers did you have? But that is impressive And there he goes. So, the, okay, w- my guide who was, uh, with me, Blade was his name, his actual name, and a former rodeo, uh, bronco rider— Uh-huh … who is, who is now a fly fishing guide, and— Interesting guy. So, when we got to our first, uh, rendezvous, 'cause we were in three different boats. Like, you're in a boat with- Yeah by yourself with another guy. And again, that wasn't, I don't, that wasn't… Me and Greg rode with that other guy, so when we got down there, we just got into the boat. I don't know how you- Yeah … ended up in a boat by yourself. I don't know how that happened. Were you late? And, I was a little late, I think. Okay. And what, what happened… And there was another time when I got the shaft. When was that? Well, if you're in a boat by yourself, you- Y'all were doing, y'all were doing something. We didn't know that was what it was gonna be. I thought we were all gonna be in the same boat. Yeah. I had a good time with that y'all. But it turns out it, it have all- But we did rendezvous. So we were apart, and me and Greg had not caught, uh, anything. And then we get, then, uh, Tim and Harm come up in their boat, and they've each caught, like, two fish, and we're like, "What?" I'd had one bite. And then you come up, and you hadn't caught anything yet. Right. So we're, like, kinda talking, and that's when we kinda got to know the other guides. It was just, like, small little beer break, go to the shore, take a whiz, get to your thing. And then we keep going. Mm-hmm. So then after that point, I caught four. Like, it's like, he was like, "I'm really, I'm g-," he's, Blade was like, "I'm gonna make sure you guys have the right flies." He's like tr- he really wants you to succeed, so he's, like, trying all this stuff. So when I caught my first fish, and Greg had already caught one, I was like, "Oh, man. Link hadn't caught anything yet. I hope he doesn't end up being the only one who hasn't caught any fish." Very nice of you to think that. And, and, a- and all, the only interaction that Blade had had with you was that, like, five minutes of us rendezvousing. And then he was like I don't know if he's interested in catching a fish. I was, I was- I was interested in having a good time, and I did. I was like, "Okay. I don't know what he saw in you." Yeah. I don't know what he saw either. But then you did catch two fish. It wasn't much. He saw five minutes of me and knew I wasn't interested in catching a fish. But you d- see, there you go. You caught that fish right there. Lookie there. I caught that fish and I'm holding it like a candy bar. Yep. That's, yep, that's the observation I made when I saw it. Anyway, I think we might do- I caught two fish … more fishing next time? Yeah. More fishing, less ATV-ing? Caught more beers than fish. That's, that's kinda the ratio you want. And no, you do not eat them. You put them back because they said if you ta- Yep … if you catch them and collect them, then the, the river will quickly run out of fish. Hm. We'll be back. You think we just live behind this desk? We have lives. Complex, sophisticated lives. Mm. Oh. Okay. You see? Unlock the most access to us ever only at mythicalsociety.com.