View Full Version : heartfelt thanks to rescuers in the Whites
Last week I was northbound on the AT, descending North Carter about a mile from the Imp shelter, when my right ankle slipped and gave way on a steep, wet trail and I found myself in a heap at the bottom of the rock, the right foot dangling in the boot. I stretched out the leg, propped it a bit, and contemplated my options. Not five minutes later, Goldfish and Sensei found me. Both had wilderness first responder training, and both sprang into action: removing the boot, wrapping the ankle (I carry an ace bandage), checking vital signs, taking a history, and climbing higher on the trail to get a cell phone signal to call for help. Then they kept me warm, fed, hydrated, and stayed with me from 12:30, when the accident happened, until late afternoon, when the rescue crew started to arrive. And they helped carry me down the mountain.
By late afternoon, 20 or so rescuers from the AMC and the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue had reached me and secured me to a kevlar litter, and the arduous trek down the mountain began, with 8 carriers at a time and people trading off frequently. Carrying someone off a mountain isn't easy, as the carriers have to walk at the very edges of the train, and frequently in the brush. I could hear water sloshing in boots from time to time (this was two days after the forest closure due to Hurricane Irene) and feel myself lifted over blowdowns. The trip took about four hours, at least half of it in the dark, by headlamp.
At the bottom, there was an ambulance waiting, and I was taken to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin, where I had xrays (broken tibia and fibula) and surgery the following day to stabilize the joint. The level of care? Skilled, attentive, and much appreciated.
Now I'm home recuperating. I've traded my hiking poles for crutches, found follow-up care here in Connecticut, and plan to be a model patient so I can regain full use of the ankle. The break was unlucky, to be sure, but I consider myself very fortunate on all other counts. I've been section-hiking for five or six years now, and I always hike alone. When questioned about that by family or friends, I've always responded that the hiker community is always ready to lend a hand should problems arise. This experience confirms that.
hikerboy57
09-09-2011, 11:26
kudos to all involved . glad you were able to get out ok.
TJ aka Teej
09-09-2011, 11:40
Glad to hear such a positive report after such an awful experience! Rest and heal, the trail will wait for you.
MyName1sMud
09-09-2011, 11:54
Good luck with the ankle. You'll be back on the trail in no time.
WingedMonkey
09-09-2011, 12:06
Been following your journal all season, almost feel like I know you (and your wife). Wish you a speedy recovery and a return to the trails.
RWheeler
09-09-2011, 12:14
To a fellow Connecticut hiker, I wish you the best of luck in your recovery. It's very awesome to hear how much assistance was there for you when you needed it.
Curious TipToe. Did you have the trail name before or after the accident? Seems appropriate now. :)
jersey joe
09-09-2011, 12:26
It is good to know there are fine people out there who can perform a rescue should something go horribly wrong on a hike.
Thanks for sharing and good luck with the recovery. And your trail name is apt. Cheers,
Frizzle
great story! thanks for sharing. i know it makes the rescuers feel good when somebody recognizes their efforts.
Continued well wishes for your recuperation, tiptoe. Hope your ankle is firming up as we speak.
double d
09-09-2011, 15:03
Very good story, I'm glad that you are on the mend. Also, it is important that everyone take a first aid class or even better, a wilderness first aid class, those classes have seemed to help Tiptoe! Hope your back on the trail soon!
Thanks, everyone, for the good wishes. The ankle was xrayed yesterday, a week after surgery, and everything looked good, according to my new doctor.
Winged Monkey, I think you're confusing me with someone else. I don't have a wife or a journal.
About my trail name: It's one I chose when I started section hiking. It reflects my generally cautious nature and my desire to walk lightly on the land without disturbing anything or anyone. Also, my first hike was a tentative venture. Hiking the AT was always something I wanted to do, but I had deferred it for many years while raising children and then while caring for my spouse, who was in declining health. When finally I could think seriously about backpacking, I smashed my left knee into the concrete foundation of a neighbor's gazebo (while running in the dark trying to catch my escaped husky before he got to the chickens and ducks). When the leg got better, I wanted to try backpacking but wasn't at all sure I could do it. I chose Massachusetts for my first hike because the trail is never far from Route 7, and there were several places I could catch a bus back home if needed. I didn't need to, fortunately. I've continued my summer section hikes and have now completed roughly half the trail, from Rockfish Gap to North Carter.
HiKen2011
09-09-2011, 16:16
Wow, this is a great story and reflects the great people on and off the trail! Good luck with your recovery.
WingedMonkey
09-09-2011, 16:54
Sorry, Tiptoe, read it on the way out the door this morning and confused your rescue with Rusty Bumpers. Bust year in the woods this summer.
:sun
Great story...get well soon! :)
SawnieRobertson
09-09-2011, 21:25
You were very fortunate to be found by two (not just one) hikers who had gone to the trouble to certify themselves as first responders, first aiders, or whatever level of being able to administer to another without doing further injury. You benefited; they benefited. It is good of you to write about it.--Kinnickinic
House of Payne
09-09-2011, 21:38
Glad you had the options available to you to have what seems like a 'model' rescue. Had you been alone things might have been different.
Just out of curiosity, what kind of boots/trail shoes were you wearing?
Also, I stayed at the Osgood camp the friday before Irene came and my initial trip was supposed to take my up the so. Imp trail and across the carters and eventually down the wildcats to Pinkham on saturday night. I'll have to make that trip for next spring now.
Good luck with your recovery!
Blissful
09-09-2011, 21:39
Get well soon. God bless the responders out there.
Feel better soon! It's always appreciated when responders and those that helped are recognized.
mick2360
09-09-2011, 21:56
Tiptoe, A wonderful story. I will be equally interested in how you pay it forward. Godspeed.
Mick
Trailweaver
09-10-2011, 01:16
I also hike solo, and am always aware that something like that could happen to me. I tell the people at home who worry about me that there are good people hiking the trail, and I'm a firm believer in that. I'm so glad to hear that you had a positive outcome.
Hope your recovery goes well and that you keep us all posted on your progress and next hike!
Great story - thank you for sharing it. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. I have told others the same response when asked about hiking 'alone'. Your story confirms my conviction.
House of Payne, I was wearing Vasque light hikers, either this model or something very similar:
http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3652891&lmdn=Brand&cp=3677336.11315462.11315550.11315815
Mick2360, I have made a contribution to the New Hampshire Outdoor Council, a nonprofit that handles fundraising for the groups that rescued me, along with several other local organizations that participate in rescues.
www.nhoutdoorcouncil.org (http://www.nhoutdoorcouncil.org)
mick2360
09-10-2011, 09:39
House of Payne, I was wearing Vasque light hikers, either this model or something very similar:
http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3652891&lmdn=Brand&cp=3677336.11315462.11315550.11315815
Mick2360, I have made a contribution to the New Hampshire Outdoor Council, a nonprofit that handles fundraising for the groups that rescued me, along with several other local organizations that participate in rescues.
www.nhoutdoorcouncil.org (http://www.nhoutdoorcouncil.org)
This is one of the really wonderful things about the trail; it provides for each of us when and what we need most. I am glad for your experience, there must have been a few anxious moments being carried off a mountain at night! May you heal completely and be back at it in the spring. Give me a holler when you do the NY/NJ section. Always happy to meet a fellow hiker with a story.
Mick
A great endorsement of the wilderness first responder training. My local REI is hosting it twice over the coming fall, and I'm in for next week.
Thanks for the great story and I'm hoping you mend well and quickly.
Tiptoe, you have a great attitude. Best of luck getting back into hiking shape. You were one of my original guests from 2008 and I look forward to your return someday...when you rehike your favorite sections of the AT.
Wizard 2009
09-10-2011, 17:53
Best wishes for a speedy recovery and fair weather when you return to the trail!
-From a fellow Nutmegger
Rain Man
09-15-2016, 09:15
Tiptoe, I know this is an old thread, but wanted to say thanks for sharing. Also, it was nice to meet you in person last month as Teacher shuttled us to Gorham! As Mama Bear and I finished our section hike in Caratunk earlier this month, and you are closing in on Caratunk yourself this week to complete your section from Imp, perhaps we can hike out of Caratunk next fall? Sounds as if our hike speeds are similar!
Rain Man