Why you should never hike alone, part 2
If you remember the mother bear and cubs that my roommate ran into on the trail last year, then you remember part 1 of tis lesson. Get ready for part 2.
So, here it is Sunday morning the day we've chosen for the first hike of the season.We're packed and ready to go. I need an evaluation hike for my trainer to reference. We've chosen Switzer as a good starting point.
Yes, as usual we got a late start. The trail was nice--not too hot, not too cold, very few people and the water was low. We stopped just short of Oakwilde Campground due to time constraints, ate lunch, then headed back up the 1400'we had earlier descended. We had to stop a little more than we would have liked, but all in all the climb and the switchbacks were not as difficult as either of us recalled. With a little more training we would certainly have no difficulty at all.
So when did the problem occur? On the return trip, thankfully, or we would not have found any help. We had just passed a couple taking photos of their two month old son asleep in his back pack carrier on his first hike, and we were fording a stream. I've crossed at this particular point at least a dozen times--it's easy even in high water, but it is also very slippery if you hit it wrong, and the boulders are granite.
Well, you guessed it, I was basically across when the heal of my rear foot came down on the slime, I slipped in the direction of the stream flow and fell to my left. My left arm reached out to stop my fall on a granite boulder, there was a loud cracking noise, like a young limb being broken off a tree, and the next thing I knew I was sitting in ice cold water, unable to get any traction under my boots or find any thing on my right side to lever myself upright with. My left arm was bent at an impossible angle and would not bend. I have no idea how my roommate managed to get me out of the creek, but he succeeded. And the couple we had passed also helped us get through the remaining boulders and creek crossings--I no longer had certain balance, so this was greatly appreciated.
An hour late we arrived at the closest emergency room--Huntington Hospital in Pasadena. 9 hours later after several x-rays, a few doses of morphine, several attempts at finding a vein that was large enough for an IV--someone finally figured out to use the needle they normally use for toddlers--and having been knocked out twice while they tried to reset my very stubborn arm, I got to go home wearing a very large 30 pound temporary splint. I'm not kidding, the thing was a two man lift.
The good news, and much to everyone's surprise, there was not one single break in my arm. Apparently, I have strong bones. I was lucky. It's just a dislocated elbow, which will take a while to heal--I'll be in a cast for two weeks and then have rehab after that--but it won't prevent me from hiking or training for hiking. And my trainer says she can work around the injury.
Of course, my wardrobe has become rather limited, since there isn't much in my closet that will pull over this pretty purple cast that the orthopedic surgeon put on yesterday after even more x-rays.
Here's me, all dopey from anethesia, dirty, propped up against the brick chimney at home and holding on to that hefty splint.
So, here it is Sunday morning the day we've chosen for the first hike of the season.We're packed and ready to go. I need an evaluation hike for my trainer to reference. We've chosen Switzer as a good starting point.
Yes, as usual we got a late start. The trail was nice--not too hot, not too cold, very few people and the water was low. We stopped just short of Oakwilde Campground due to time constraints, ate lunch, then headed back up the 1400'we had earlier descended. We had to stop a little more than we would have liked, but all in all the climb and the switchbacks were not as difficult as either of us recalled. With a little more training we would certainly have no difficulty at all.
So when did the problem occur? On the return trip, thankfully, or we would not have found any help. We had just passed a couple taking photos of their two month old son asleep in his back pack carrier on his first hike, and we were fording a stream. I've crossed at this particular point at least a dozen times--it's easy even in high water, but it is also very slippery if you hit it wrong, and the boulders are granite.
Well, you guessed it, I was basically across when the heal of my rear foot came down on the slime, I slipped in the direction of the stream flow and fell to my left. My left arm reached out to stop my fall on a granite boulder, there was a loud cracking noise, like a young limb being broken off a tree, and the next thing I knew I was sitting in ice cold water, unable to get any traction under my boots or find any thing on my right side to lever myself upright with. My left arm was bent at an impossible angle and would not bend. I have no idea how my roommate managed to get me out of the creek, but he succeeded. And the couple we had passed also helped us get through the remaining boulders and creek crossings--I no longer had certain balance, so this was greatly appreciated.
An hour late we arrived at the closest emergency room--Huntington Hospital in Pasadena. 9 hours later after several x-rays, a few doses of morphine, several attempts at finding a vein that was large enough for an IV--someone finally figured out to use the needle they normally use for toddlers--and having been knocked out twice while they tried to reset my very stubborn arm, I got to go home wearing a very large 30 pound temporary splint. I'm not kidding, the thing was a two man lift.
The good news, and much to everyone's surprise, there was not one single break in my arm. Apparently, I have strong bones. I was lucky. It's just a dislocated elbow, which will take a while to heal--I'll be in a cast for two weeks and then have rehab after that--but it won't prevent me from hiking or training for hiking. And my trainer says she can work around the injury.
Of course, my wardrobe has become rather limited, since there isn't much in my closet that will pull over this pretty purple cast that the orthopedic surgeon put on yesterday after even more x-rays.
Here's me, all dopey from anethesia, dirty, propped up against the brick chimney at home and holding on to that hefty splint.
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