View Full Version : Shakedown disaster
toemaetoe
05-06-2011, 10:44
I was planning on hiking SOBO this year, but during a shakedown hike a few weeks ago, I had a bad fall and tore the ACL in my right knee. I thought I'd share a few lessons I learned that day:
1. Always have an Ace bandage with you. Maybe it doesn't fit into the "only bring stuff you'll use every day" category, but when you do need it, nothing else is comparable; trust me, those extra few ounces are worth it.
2. Trekking poles, a map, and a charged cell phone ARE necessary items, even on a well-traveled, well-marked, well-groomed trail like the AT.
3. Equally important to keep with you at all times?: a sense of humor.
4. The hiking community, from day- to section- to thru- hikers, is amazing.
See you all on the trail in 2012.
Pedaling Fool
05-06-2011, 11:05
No matter how much practice one has at walking, you will never have enough expertise to preclude the possibility of a fall. When I was in Vermont I tripped on something and fell, the only thing that broke my fall was my left knee. There were rocks all around, but somehow me knee fell into a soft green mossy and mushy ground with rocks inches away from my knee. I couldn't believe my luck.
A few weeks later I was wearing a cap to keep the sun out of my eyes (this was in Maine) and I had a groove going and charging at a quick pace up a hill. I ran directly into a branch of a blown down tree and it knocked me all the way down to the bottom of the hill. Could never get my groove back after that.:mad:
No matter how much practice one has at walking, you will never have enough expertise to preclude the possibility of a fall. When I was in Vermont I tripped on something and fell, the only thing that broke my fall was my left knee. There were rocks all around, but somehow me knee fell into a soft green mossy and mushy ground with rocks inches away from my knee. I couldn't believe my luck.
:mad:
had a very similar experience coming down garfield in the Whites. Foot wedged under a tree root on a steep section of descent and I went face first into the trail, did not even get an arm up to cushion the fall even. Of course the trail (?) there was combination of a creek and a rock field but somehow my face managed to hit in a tiny little puddle of soft, gooey black mud that absorbed all of the force of the fall. 6 - 8 inches either way would have been a skull fracture.as has been said here often, there is some element of luck involved in hiking the trail without injury.
toemaetoe
05-06-2011, 11:41
there is some element of luck involved in hiking the trail without injury.
Amen. Frankly, my fall could have been much, much worse. I was coming down a steep, long expanse of bald rock (nothing new to me- I grew up hiking in Maine) when my knee gave out. I tumbled a$$ over teakettle a good twenty feet before I hit a tree and stopped. I could have broken my neck or gotten a head injury as easily as anything, and who knows how much longer I would have fallen for if I hadn't hit that tree. I count myself pretty lucky for only getting the injury I did. Thank goodness for obstacles in the middle of the path.
Feral Bill
05-06-2011, 12:01
Add to the 10 essentials: Hiking helmet!
Trailbender
05-06-2011, 13:59
2. Trekking poles, a map, and a charged cell phone ARE necessary items, even on a well-traveled, well-marked, well-groomed trail like the AT.
I personally don't consider any of these a necessity. I had a cell phone for a few months, but got rid of it. I carry a cut down oak closet rod for a hiking staff. It is a lot simpler and cheaper than trekking poles and serves the same purpose.
protargol
05-06-2011, 14:14
Sorry about your accident. I'll make sure to carry an ace wrap, but I'm curious what about it would be more necessary than say a fair amount of duct tape?
Good luck on your recovery
WingedMonkey
05-06-2011, 14:32
Sorry about your accident. I'll make sure to carry an ace wrap, but I'm curious what about it would be more necessary than say a fair amount of duct tape?
Good luck on your recovery
When you have nothing else to do today, wrap your knee/leg in duct tape. Wait a few hours or longer. Pull it off. No screaming allowed.
;)
Sickmont
05-06-2011, 14:54
No matter how much practice one has at walking, you will never have enough expertise to preclude the possibility of a fall.
Boy, you got that right. I have a friend who sprained her ankle just by walking. Across the living room floor. She got up from the couch to get a beer, took 7 steps, then stopped and started yelling "ow ow ow ow ow!" and sat down on the floor rubbing her ankle. Doc wrote down "sprain due to walking" on her paperwork.
toemaetoe
05-06-2011, 15:12
Duct tape for an injured joint? I seriously cannot imagine how incredibly painful that would be. Not only does it continue to swell at an alarming rate for several hours (creating a potentially serious circulatory issue with something as binding as tape), but just the gentle pulling of the ace bandage being taken off at the hospital was HORRIBLY painful- I cannot imagine the jerking and tension that pulling duct tape off would cause.
The detailed map was necessary for finding a shorter route off the trail. It was about eight miles back to our original parking lot and more than 15 to the next. Having a detailed map let us find a side trail that was only four miles to the nearest parking lot. And since those four miles took almost nine hours to "hike" ("hike" in this context meaning "hobbling, hopping, and sliding on my butt, all while leaning heavily on both poles for dear life"), I can't imagine how many agonized hours it would have taken for either of the white blazed options.
Feral Bill- maybe I should consider a full suit of armor?
When you have nothing else to do today, wrap your knee/leg in duct tape. Wait a few hours or longer. Pull it off. No screaming allowed.
;)
It is almost never necessary to wrap tape compleatly on bare skin. If tape is all you have, you can use a sock or bandana or piece of shirt under part of the tape. A leaf or grass can also work. Try to at least protect the more hairy parts--a bit of chapstick works.
The main reason you do not want to wrap large areas is that if there is swelling you could be unwittingly applying a tourniquet. An underlayer makes it easier to cut small slits or holes in the tape to relieve the pressure. And be sure to leave the ends of toes and fingers untaped so that you can monitor for color and capilary refill.
protargol
05-06-2011, 16:34
Duct tape for an injured joint? I seriously cannot imagine how incredibly painful that would be. Not only does it continue to swell at an alarming rate for several hours (creating a potentially serious circulatory issue with something as binding as tape), but just the gentle pulling of the ace bandage being taken off at the hospital was HORRIBLY painful- I cannot imagine the jerking and tension that pulling duct tape off would cause.
Did you create a rigid brace for it? I wouldn't imagine you'd be able to bend it at all, so the best thing to do is completely immobilize it and create a splint out of hiking poles or sticks. You would use clothing as padding to prevent direct contact from poles and tape, but the flexibility of an ace bandage may allow for a fair bit of flexibility when really you don't want any. What did you end up doing?
This is just what I was thinking from what my shoddy memory remembers from boy scout training, but I'm sure you learned more from experience in less than an hour.
Yep, every thru hiker is always just one step away from disaster.
Here's wishing you a speedy recovery.
toemaetoe
05-06-2011, 22:11
Did you create a rigid brace for it? I wouldn't imagine you'd be able to bend it at all, so the best thing to do is completely immobilize it and create a splint out of hiking poles or sticks. You would use clothing as padding to prevent direct contact from poles and tape, but the flexibility of an ace bandage may allow for a fair bit of flexibility when really you don't want any. What did you end up doing?
This is just what I was thinking from what my shoddy memory remembers from boy scout training, but I'm sure you learned more from experience in less than an hour.
Bending it at all was excruciating. Luckily, the fellow hikers who happened upon me had the ace bandage (I didn't have one- live and learn), which they wrapped very tightly over/around the knee repeatedly, which pretty much immobilized it. It started to come loose after several hours, and we just wrapped it up again. It worked surprisingly well, and the emergency room doctor said that without the bandage the injury would have been much worse. YMMV, but it worked for me.
Yep, every thru hiker is always just one step away from disaster.
Absolutely. I took a nose dive going into Wind Gap and somehow stopped my fall about an inch before my face bounced off a pointed rock. I ripped a chunk off of my thumb and scraped my knees and arms, but I lived. Had to take a break and get myself together, I was pretty freaked out.
LIhikers
05-06-2011, 23:43
There's a reason my friend gave me the trailname of "fallsdownalot".
It's kind of nice to know I'm not the only one, but I am sorry to hear about your injury.
Boy, you got that right. I have a friend who sprained her ankle just by walking. Across the living room floor. She got up from the couch to get a beer, took 7 steps, then stopped and started yelling "ow ow ow ow ow!" and sat down on the floor rubbing her ankle. Doc wrote down "sprain due to walking" on her paperwork.
Shure she didn't get up to get ANOTHER beer? That would be me.:p
Hope her recovery was short
oops must be beer spelling.
gregpphoto
05-07-2011, 15:29
3. Equally important to keep with you at all times?: a sense of humor.
This is huge. True survivors are people who can laugh in any situation because laughter helps to relax and focus the mind instead of letting the wild, scary thoughts take root.
Blissful
05-07-2011, 16:01
Really really sorry to hear that happened. Hope you recover soon and can go back out.