View Full Version : Thru hiking with a partner - what do you do if one of you gets hurt?
somers515
07-15-2014, 20:51
I'm curious what the whiteblaze community thinks about this. Let's say you and brother-in-law are very close and decide you are going to attempt to thru-hike the AT. You have hiked together before and you know you are compatible hiking-wise. You start in late March and have 6 months set aside to hike although you think you can probably do it in 5 months. A few weeks in your brother-in-law hurts his knee and the doctor says he needs at least a week of no hiking before he can try to hike again. Do you take a week of zero's with your hiking partner? Does your answer change if the doctor says two weeks? three weeks?
Not exactly an answer, but the collected wisdom here suggests that you both travel self-contained for the reason you envision.
Wayne
Sent from somewhere around here.
Lone Wolf
07-15-2014, 21:09
I'm curious what the whiteblaze community thinks about this. Let's say you and brother-in-law are very close and decide you are going to attempt to thru-hike the AT. You have hiked together before and you know you are compatible hiking-wise. You start in late March and have 6 months set aside to hike although you think you can probably do it in 5 months. A few weeks in your brother-in-law hurts his knee and the doctor says he needs at least a week of no hiking before he can try to hike again. Do you take a week of zero's with your hiking partner? Does your answer change if the doctor says two weeks? three weeks?
you both carry all your own gear. one gets off, the other keeps going
Ricky&Jack
07-15-2014, 21:19
if you are doing a thru together, and its pretty much a "guarantee" that after 1 week he will be continuing, then I would stay with him in a motel and use that week to recover, swap out new gear and etc. Then get back on the trail together.
But only if its a short thing (1week or so). Because if he gets hurt and has to sit out a week, it would be really easy for you to continue alone, but he may feel abandoned and discouraged. Especially if you are friends/family, then I would want to experience the trail together and not have to hear or say "you shoulda seen this...."
rocketsocks
07-15-2014, 21:22
Is it the brother in-law you like, or the weird one everybody thought your sister shouldn't have married in the first place? :D kidding...
Yeah I'd have to say it's a game time call, unless you work it out ahead of time. If I hurt my knee and had to take off, I'd insist my brother in-law keep going if he wanted...no biggie really, it is what it is.
HooKooDooKu
07-15-2014, 21:30
You can't rely on the doctor. He might suggest a one week rest (which sounds like a reasonable amount of time to wait for your partner)... but the reality can easily become the partner isn't able to start the hike back up at 100% for two to six weeks.
So the most reasonable alternative I can think of would be for the healthy hiker to continue hiking while the injured hiker recuperates. Once the injured hiker is back at 100%, he could slack-pack to the healthy hikers location and continue the hike from there. At the end of the trip, the once injured hiker (if he has time) could return to the section he had to skip and do that section to earn his 2000 Miler status.
Post #3 = Post #2. #2 must be correct.
Wayne
Sent from somewhere around here.
I wouldn't ask the question here, I would ask my brother-in-law how we want to approach that situation when it happens. You don't know which one will get hurt. Personally, I think family is way more important than a lost week or two on the trail. You overcome hard things together and it's a great memory from then on. You abandon someone without having first made the agreement and the finish may end up pretty hollow. But, that is based on my own personal way of measuring importance.
This is the kind of situation where there are no easily identifiable "right" or "wrong" answers.
Talking about the possibility of this happening beforehand, while you are planning the hike, is one possible solution. But the reality is, each situation is different, you never know what the trail will throw at you.
Personally if I knew it was important to my partner to complete a thru, and I had to go off the trail, I would want them to continue.
somers515
07-16-2014, 12:48
Thank you for all the thoughtful replies!
Teacher & Snacktime
07-16-2014, 20:30
I imagine this depends on your personal definition of "partner".
kayak karl
07-16-2014, 20:52
all these things should be discussed before leaving on a hike with a "partner". it will help prevent hard feeling later. people just don't seem to talk about these type of things. guess they're just to busy on their Ithingies ;)
bangorme
07-16-2014, 21:03
Let's see. You love your sister. Your sister loves her husband. I can see a whole bunch of family crap resulting from this adventure. There is a saying about what a bad idea it is to loan money to a relative, well... I think it applies here. If you were through hiking the AT with your wife, would you leave her back at the doctor's office? I wouldn't go through with it because I think it is fraught with possible family problems. If you did do it, I would advise that you get unequivocal agreement between you, your brother-in-law, and your SISTER that finishing this trip is more important than finishing it with your brother-in-law. Even then I think you are asking for it lol.
upstream
07-16-2014, 21:07
What would you want him to do, if it were you that were injured?
Ricky&Jack
07-16-2014, 21:28
Ditch him, and get a dog.
If your dog breaks his foot, eat it.
kayak karl
07-16-2014, 22:04
Ditch him, and get a dog.
If your dog breaks his foot, eat it.
seriously, what if your dog gets hurt. do you stop your hike to care for it? do you take it home? do you wait for somebody to come to care for it? many people that hike with their pets do not think these things out. if you get hurt, i know what your dog would do.
Ricky&Jack
07-16-2014, 22:18
so far Jack has not had any problems on the trail.
About 5 weeks ago at home he was running and bent his paw when he hit a wall. So I did not take him out on a hike or a walk for 3 weeks, cause he was constantly falling the first day, and then he stumbled about once a day for a week after his incident. So I kept him in an extra 2 weeks after he healed.
He weighs about 50lbs now and is only 7-8 months old. But if he gets hurt on a trail, and Im not near a rode, I imagine I would stash my pack in the woods and carry him out myself.
saltysack
07-17-2014, 10:35
so far Jack has not had any problems on the trail.
About 5 weeks ago at home he was running and bent his paw when he hit a wall. So I did not take him out on a hike or a walk for 3 weeks, cause he was constantly falling the first day, and then he stumbled about once a day for a week after his incident. So I kept him in an extra 2 weeks after he healed.
He weighs about 50lbs now and is only 7-8 months old. But if he gets hurt on a trail, and Im not near a rode, I imagine I would stash my pack in the woods and carry him out myself.
Glad I have 20lb jack Russell not a big dog! I could stuff him in my pack....
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I'd move on if not injured. If injured insist my friend continue with his hike. My thought is thru hiking is a solo affair due to the many things that effect pace.
Traveler
07-17-2014, 11:23
I'm curious what the whiteblaze community thinks about this. Let's say you and brother-in-law are very close and decide you are going to attempt to thru-hike the AT. You have hiked together before and you know you are compatible hiking-wise. You start in late March and have 6 months set aside to hike although you think you can probably do it in 5 months. A few weeks in your brother-in-law hurts his knee and the doctor says he needs at least a week of no hiking before he can try to hike again. Do you take a week of zero's with your hiking partner? Does your answer change if the doctor says two weeks? three weeks?
This is not an uncommon problem in long distant trekking. "Hike your own hike" means a lot of things. From moving at ones own pace to being self sufficient. In context with injury, being able to move on if a trail partner cannot should be discussed long before you set out, theres a lot of wisdom in what Kayak Karl said to that issue. Figure out how to separate before figuring out how to stay together is usually a good idea. I would presume each of you would not want to impede the other, so it should not be a painful conversation to figure that out and how you could find the other on the trail after a break of a week or more. The injured person can then tend to their immediate need of recuperation and either retire from the trek (getting a message to the other in a predetermined manner) or find the other on the trail by estimating miles and looking at shelter logs to see when the other came by (presuming you use that method of tracking and leap frogging over sections via roads) or using GPS positioning records if you have gizmos.
Or, you can simply eat the hiking partner when they are injured. That solves two problems....
flemdawg1
07-18-2014, 11:27
If my partner can camp, just wait it out. Hotels are expensive. Fish, bike, trail run, hike other trails, volunteer. Normally lots of cool outdoorsy stuff to do besides pound out miles.
Seatbelt
07-18-2014, 12:12
Take it a day at a time--Doctor's aren't always on the money when "guesstimating" recovery time. Also, it might depend on how close to the end you are. If you just started out, the answer might be different than if you are close to finishing. There are several other reasons people quit a thru-hike, be sure to discuss these as well.
Chances are very good that you won't finish the trail together. The vast majority of people I saw hiking in pairs or groups split up within the first couple hundred miles...either one or both getting off the trail due to injury or just not liking it, or one wanting to go slower or faster than the other. Chances are small that one will finish...you tie your chances to the idiosyncrasies of someone else and your chances of finishing together are that much smaller.
For a real-life example, read Southbound, by the Barefoot Sisters. One sister became injured and had to take significant time off. She skipped a section, and rejoined her sister when she was better. The whole book is quite forthright about the pushes and pulls of hiking with a partner.
if you like the guy and enjoy hiking together, AND you can afford the extra time, then stay with him during recovery, and resume the hike together. If you don't wait for him, you may regret it later. If you can't stand him and want the space, tell him you will hike ahead, and when he is well, he can hitch a ride north and catch up to you on the trail. After you both finish in ME, he can go back and finish the section he missed.
rocketsocks
07-19-2014, 04:19
If my partner can camp, just wait it out. Hotels are expensive. Fish, bike, trail run, hike other trails, volunteer. Normally lots of cool outdoorsy stuff to do besides pound out miles.
I like this answer, it not only says opportunity is knocking at your door and I hear music let me in, it provides a viable plan.