How often do you trip and fall?

[Chair-man]

I was out on a day hike last weekend and I tripped and fell twice in the same day. Heck, I live in Florida and there's hardly any rocks on the trails but there are lots of roots. I can't afford to be taking spills like that at my age (59). So, I was wandering what the norm for falling is. once a day? once a week? once a month? I'd like to hear about some of your worst tumbles.

[RedBeerd]

I usually trip 10+ times a day if I think about it..rarely actually fall down. After mile 20 I trip way more cuz the legz be jello

[bfayer]

Often. That is one reason I started using hiking poles. Now I still trip but rarely fall.

[joshuasdad]

Often. That is one reason I started using hiking poles. Now I still trip but rarely fall.

+1 for me. I had a 400 mile stretch with no falls, then fall leaves and a loose rock (subsequently heaved off the trail) did me in, and I actually had another one that day as well. It happens...

[rocketsocks]

Other; I've always been pretty nimble...but the last couple years has seen me, "Slew foot-in" along, getting up off the ground...it happens so fast, glad I didn't have a pack on the last few times. Old dogs get this condition as well, the foot just doesn't get what the brain wants it to do.

[Kingbee]

January 21, I was coming down Corbin Hollow trail in a couple inches of snow and slipped bad. One of several falls that day, but I fell on my side with my elbow going into my ribs. Bruised ribs took 4 weeks to feel comfortable again. If I'd been on a long distance hike, it would have been over.

[RockDoc]

We trip a lot, although hiking sticks help to catch your fall.
My wife fell so much NOBO in Maine that she had to be picked up from White House Landing with extremely painful infections in her shins. That kept her from climbing Katahdin (we returned two years later and did the HMW again, including MT K).

Falls are probably the leading cause of leaving the trail. Forget bears, crime, weather, or mice. And we're all just one fall from hiker oblivion.

[flemdawg1]

Poles help alot, but around once a week I'll slip on mud or a slimy rock, or a root, and not have my poles ready to stop my fall. Last setion hike I tripped on a root and stumbled right off the edge of the trail, tumbled downhill 10 feet and caught a tree in the face. Bled like a pig for about 10 min.

[Teacher & Snacktime]

My mother didn't name me Grace for good reason. Last summer I took a header on the Cliff Walk in Newport and sprawled out on the path (fortunately) and last fall I had just that...banana peel style...down a steep, wet, rocky area on Sleeping Giant in CT (the white trail, downhill for those familiar). That one laid me up for a few weeks with a severely bruised coccyx....yeah, my butt.


I've not taken a winter header (yet....knock on wood), though I guess overall I'd be classified as a seasonal clutz.

Of course Snacktime, being a kid, has the agility of a mountain goat.

[Another Kevin]

It depends. On well graded trail, no more than about once in a few clueless weekend outings. So once a week or so, if I were hiking every day.

Off trail - let's just say that hobblebush (Viburnum spp.) got its name for a reason. It reaches out, grabs you by your ankles and pulls you over. And it's a lot easier to trip in brush when you can't always see your feet. I think there was one trailless peak where I took five spills in as many hours, one of which was a spectacular arse-over-teakettle down a steep slope. I did the "tuck and roll with bent knees, take the blow on shoulder and backpack" routine, and got up unhurt, much to my daughter's surprise. She had nightmares that night about trying to rescue me after a fall.

[Cookerhiker]

Often. That is one reason I started using hiking poles. Now I still trip but rarely fall.

+1 for me. I had a 400 mile stretch with no falls, then fall leaves and a loose rock (subsequently heaved off the trail) did me in, and I actually had another one that day as well. It happens...

Make it +2 - poles have save me from many a fall.

Last December on a blazing expedition on the Sheltowee Trace, I fell twice. One was on a slippery, moss-covered ladder down some steep rocks. My partner witnessed it and was sure I'd snap my ankle bone but I somehow came out OK.

I ended a Fall section hike on the Long Trail this year because several days of rain had made the forest very slippery and I was concerned about the steep descents on wet and often mossy rocks. I was solo.

[1azarus]

...I "voted" once a month, but the stumble thing happens to me more like a couple of times a day. iF I didn't use poles many of those stumbles would have been face plants, but, thanks to the poles, I've never actually landed on my face. If butt had been a vote option, well, that would be another thing entirely. The thing that scares me to death is an ankle twist that transmits stress to my knee. That's the only thing that has knocked me off the trail. If you hike alone you can start a rumor about your unparalleled balance and foot-craft!

[moldy]

One of the reasons I got rid of the poles, kept tripping over them.

[Teacher & Snacktime]

...I "voted" once a month, but the stumble thing happens to me more like a couple of times a day. iF I didn't use poles many of those stumbles would have been face plants, but, thanks to the poles, I've never actually landed on my face. If butt had been a vote option, well, that would be another thing entirely. The thing that scares me to death is an ankle twist that transmits stress to my knee. That's the only thing that has knocked me off the trail. If you hike alone you can start a rumor about your unparalleled balance and foot-craft!

Seriously, how can we have sympathy for someone named 1azareth? No matter how many times you fall you KNOW you'll get up again!

[xokie]

Hardly ever. Unless you mean while hiking on the AT and then the numbers go up significantly. Trips are uncountable but I end up with something other than my feet on the ground at least once a day. I've started using hiking poles but one day last fall I tripped and stuck a pole so deep in the mud that it broke at the joint and left me face down on the plank I was walking across. (It's worth it to be out there)

[MuddyWaters]

I stumble half-dozen times per day, usually by stubbing my toe on a root.
98% of time, poles help save me too.
Occassionally a slick rock will work its magic.

[max patch]

About as often as Jennifer Lawrence.

[Slo-go'en]

Once in a while. Gotta look out for that Georgia clay when it's wet. One day I was crusing right along and the next thing I knew I'm laying prone in the middle of the trail wondering "what just happened ?" Then there are those slippery bog bridges in Maine. Same deal, crusing along and next thing I knew I'm laying in a mud puddle. A big one. Good thing it was raining to wash it off. Or the granite ledge in Vermont which is covered in green slime. Almost broke a hip on that slide! Close calls don't count. It's not walking, it's not hiking - it's a controlled stumble - most of the time.

[snifur]

From Georgia to Maine i tripped/ fell 4 times. Yes, i kept track. Two of the times were do to slick green rocks, one of the times was a root that tripped me at dusk and the fourth was a trek pole failure. The root incident laid me flat out on my stomach with arms straight out to my sides still grasping my poles like i was making dirt/ rock angels face down. I was in that position for 5 minutes before the pain and numbness subsided. I averaged 545 miles per trip/ fall. I know some hikers that seem to fall daily. I think pack balance and weight has a lot to do with it.

[Robin2013AT]

About as often as Jennifer Lawrence.

brilliant timing.....