Ok, I'll try to keep this [Bleeeeep!] short. I moved to Idaho about 13yrs ago and really didn't know anybody who fished regularly. One of my first jobs over here was for an older gentlemen whom I eventually became friends with. The dude lived his whole life here and knew the water well. The first time we went fishing he was impressed that I could catch fish as well or better than all the locals who lived here their whole lives, anyways, we started fishing together on a regular basis(salmon, trout, and a few steelhead frips) for the last 10yrs.

For a 75yr old goat he is in incredible shape, he is very active and every summer he hikes to 15 alpine lakes which are anywhere from intermediate to hardcore treks, he also hikes in to the same area in winter and ski's down then hikes back out....tough sumbeech....

Last summer we hiked in via an overgrown logging road to a remote river to chase it's rainbows, this is one of Johns favorite places, we never did make it to the water due to the area being severely overgrown in vegetation. I got home last summer and looked on a map and found a nearby hiking trial that would cut off a couple miles of hiking and go directly to the river. After failing last year, yesterday was the day to make it happen. I called John the night before to confirm plans, thats where things started getting weird.....An hour after we confirmed plans for the following day he called back and asked what time we were meeting, no biggie, so 7am rolls around and no John, thats weird because be is always on time. I call him 7:30 and checkup, he is in process of " finding and fixing some of his gear" and would be at my place shortly.....hmmm, ok. We arrive at trailhead 2 hours later and find the trail very overgrown and almost impossible, however, we trekked on and eventually lost the trail in an old burn area, we poked around and eventually found trail again, this continued a couple times until we found river.

John had been about 50' behind me the whole trip, and we always stay in contact, however, when I reached the river and turned around, he was gone. I waited about 2-3 min and started back up the trail to find him....nothing.....I looked around and eventually saw some movement in the brush 150yrds away down at the river...WTF! Why did he just bail without saying anything and expect me to know what was going on? I beat brush to find him and we sat and ate lunch, I walked to the waters edge and started fishing, 20min went by and he was still fumbling with his gear, I asked if I couple help, he said no and continued rifling through his gear.

I fished downstream about 100' and returned to find him well upstream and soaking wet, apparently he slipped and went in. I grabbed him and said, " let's get back on trail and fish where trail meets river" "ok" so off we go up trail again. He is following behind me and we are less than 100yrds from river and I reach river, turn around and John is nowhere to be seen....back up the trail I go and nothing! I yell several times, no response....yell even louder and I get a response about 50yrds off trail straight up the fukin hillside in downed timber and brush...WTF! I run down to river, retrieve my gear and run up hillside after him, yelling every 10yrds, I get an occasional response that is fading fast up the hill. We lost the fukin trail 3 times on way in and John apparently decides to go commando and head for home going straight up a fricken steep brush hillside. I knew the old overgrown logging road bisected the trail and he would eventually wash up, up their, so I hauled ass up the trail and about a mile later found the old logger skid road and yelled and got response about 100yrds away in woods. Fuk!

We hike out the last mile and a half in sketchy trail conditions and find truck. John goes straight to my toolbox and tries to open it, and I say, "whatcha looking for" to his response, " my beer and water" I point to cooler right next to him......something was definetly wrong....

I find out that night that John has advanced Alzheimer's, which would explain his confusion and unpredictability. It hit me like a ton of bricks that this is very well his last trip into his beloved river.

Long story short, you never know what will happen, if you want to experience something, go for it, Fish the fuk out of it before it's too late, especially the really difficult stuff

Sorry to hear about your friend.
Alzheimer’s and Dementia are a [Bleeeeep!] bitch.
Dealing with it currently with my mom.
Tough to watch people’s life fade like that.
SF

If I was him, I'd try to forget who you are too!
Sorry, I couldn't resist.

But on a serious note, sorry to hear about that Bent. Try to keep his brain and body as active for as long as possible. Even if that means taking him fishing at the local Mill pond. You are a good friend.

WOW, couple good one-liners there! John needs a leash, I'd say!

Ah man. that totally blows! Really sorry that your friend is going down the Rabbit Hole! You're advice at the end is GOLDEN, but could be expanded to beyond fishing as well. There's more to life than work, and I'm trying to figure out how to get out of the work gig asap, but to continue to support the lifestyle we're accustomed to. Therein lies the rub...

I read the local obits daily, and yesterday I saw that another local retired fella took a dirt nap too young. He had glioblastoma (malignant brain tumor) which was the same ailment that gots my pops (sorry for going all EMO-EVO). Horrible disease, and luckily dad went quick. Anyhow, you never know when your # is up, so no regerts...

Cool on you for hangin' with the Geezer's, a lot to be said for taking the time to make that happen, good for both of you.
I'm old enough that all of my old timers are now dead, lost the last one nearly a year ago....guess what that makes me.
None of us is getting out of here alive, be nice to lose it in the woods and not a rocking chair.

I guess......OLD? Time for you pass on all that sage wisdom to the youngins. Don't worry, we won't lose you in the forest. We have cute little bells & tracking dogs for that. And if we do lose you, we'll look for you really hard for several minutes. Cougars need to eat too....and such is the circle of life.

Pretty sad news and not fun for John.

+1

Amen Bent. Life is short and fleeting. Sorry about your friend's condition. The upside is that it looks like he's made the most of his opportunities in the outdoors.

+2

I am going to continue taking him fishing, now that I know what his symptoms are I will not be taking him anywhere there is a chance of getting lost. I am bummed his wife didn't tell me before we went that he had Alzheimer's, of course, she had no clue now difficult it was to reach the river we were fishing either.

Folks with this condition do much better in their familiar surroundings.
Their comfort zone shrinks and shrinks and shrinks some more..

Dementia sucks. It hit my father in law and he's in a memory care unit. He fished it hard most of his life up until about 4 years ago at about the age of 75. Too many river miles and his aging body and lungs caught up to him. Could tell his memory was getting bad on the river and he had some falls including when he would ride his electric bike. Last time we fished I followed him home and he drove off the gravel road twice. Made it home and he made a couple of day trips on his own that summer then he was done.

I totally thought someone was going to end up drowned or snake bit by the end of the tail. A fleeing mind can still find comfort.

+1

I’m a regular down at the Point Defiance Marina and I’ve become good friends with the regular old timers group that fish down there. Fish every morning before work during the summer for several years and you get to know these guys pretty well. I consider them all great friends and I’m fortunate to be close with them.

Every year we seem to lose a few of them. Many of them are still in great health and many are on the fence. It’s hard seeing people’s health deteriorate. Unfortunately I see too much of it. Soon there won’t be any old timers left and the guys my age will be the old timers. Time goes fast.