Almost Hypothermic?

[woodstrider]

Have anyone of you guys or gals ever have a brush with hypothermia? Well I did....

As a teenager, with no real hiking experience, especially at elevation, I decided to hike to the top of Pikes Peak. My uncle was suppose to accompany me, but at the last minute work called and he bowed out. Well, I decided to go anyway, so on a late Aug.day I set out in shorts, a tee shirt, shell jacket and fanny pack with a pint of water and a PBJ sandwhich.
At the start of the trip I bumped into an old man dressed in black trousers, white dress shirt, sturdy shoes and a stout walking stick. He was also hiking up but only to Barr Camp, about 1/2 way up. We kept passing eachother until we arrived at Barr Camp. He decided to go for the summit as he had never done the hike and as he was in his 70's he felt there would not many oppurtunities to try again. Also, for some reason, he felt inspired by me to go for it. So we continued on together, for the summit.
Now as you go higher you pass a number of zones until you come out above tree-line, where all is barren and you can see sweeping views in all directions. At the bottom of the trail, the temperature was in the 80's, but here it was in the 30's, and it began to rain. Soon I was feeling the effects of the altitude, and the long hike, and I sat down on a rock. I didn't feel cold and I wasn't shivering, but I was hallucinating and the hour was getting late. This was vagually a concern to me, but really I felt unconcerned and lightheaded, kinda high and actually kinda lighthearted. I told my companion to "just go on without me. I'll be along in a few minutes, I just want to sit here." He firmly refused to go on ahead with out me and when I refused to move he threatened me with his walking stick. This got my attention and I struggled to my feet and continued on to the top.
It was only much later that I recognized that that old man had saved my life.

 

[Jim lombard]

Guardian Angel

Are you sure he wasn't your guardian angel?

I've been only really hypothermic once when I was eight. My friend Rudy and I were thrown into a river near Rangeley, Me. (snowmobile accident.) I spent 10-15 minutes unconcious and underwater until his Dad found me. Fortunately he was an experienced EMT and was able to revive me. Hypothermia came into play on the long snowmobile ride back to camp. Ed was my guardian angel.

 

[WalksWithBlackflies]

I was working outside in horizontal rain/mist with temps in the upper 30s. Because I had to continually write things down, bend over to pick things up, handle tools, etc., I couldn't bundle up. After about 5 hours of this, another contractor on site came by with some coffee and I snapped at him... really nasty-like. After my tirade, I looked at the expression on his face, and suddenly realized what I had done... and that I was very, very cold. I apologized and told him I was going home for lunch and to warm up. I got home, changed out of my wet clothes and slept hard for about 3 hours.

 

[Mark Driscoll]

On my 2nd or 3rd winter backpacking trip I ran into trouble. We were staying at the Wolfjaw lean-to. We decided to climb Upper Wolfjaw, while the climb was not easy it was not that bad. I had only a small lunch (you can see where this is going) on the summit. It was a nice day and I am looking at a picture of the three of use on the summit as I type. On our way back to camp we talk about packing up camp and heading out for some real food. We knew that part of the hike out would be in the dark so we packed as fast as we could (no food for me) and hit the trail. About halfway back to the garden I start to get very cold but do not say anything. With ½ mile to go my partners know I am in trouble!! With their help I make it back to the car. Even with the heat on full blast I cannot get warm and I have trouble speaking. On the drive to the motel I start to feel a bit better. I am about ready to get into the shower but I cannot tell how HOT or cold the water is. I ask one of my mates and they tell me I would have been burned if I did not have him adjust the temp.

A lesson learned. I always carry food and never forget to eat. I also am not too proud to let people know when I am having trouble.


Mark

 

[ALGonquin Bob]

the bitter end

A couple years ago, on one of my first high peaks, I returned to my car after a long cold November hike. I made the mistake of drinking some water that had been in the car all day. COLD water. I started driving back to my motel, but within minutes I was shaking uncontrollably, and could no longer drive. My friend drove the rest of the way, and after much shivering, I finally warmed up.

I had another encounter with hypothermia last year. After a very long and wet solo dayhike in late March, I returned to my truck about midnight and changed clothes. As I drove to Lake Placid, I began shivering and was fortunate to find a pizzeria that was still open at 1 A.M.; I stood at the counter barely able to speak and quickly drank some very hot coffee to warm up. I still was shaking as I got back into my truck, but the heater and the food combined to help me recover. I've been lucky enough not to have this happen while camping, or in the woods on a solo hike. I now carry warm water with me on winter hikes. I still like winter hiking best.

 

[Mad Townie]

Many years ago a friend and I took a little canoe trip down the Little Ossippee and lower Saco. At the Old Baldy rapids (beware any set of rapids that has a name!) we went for a swim. I was dressed in wool and polypro, he was in jeans and a "River Driver" shirt, which was basically 2 layers of cotton. As soon as I got to shore I stripped down, wrung everything out, and dressed again.

Everything would have been OK, except that he, being the stronger of the two, went in to pull the canoe off a big rock and in to shore. We kicked the dents out of the canoe (that aluminum stuff is pretty cool!).

By the time he got to the little fire I had built he was shaking, and he wouldn't take off any clothes to put on the dry sweater and Thinsulate jacket I had pulled out of the pack. Only by yelling at him was I able to convince him to do what was necessary. He recovered fairly quickly after that, we ate something, then we had a very pleasant completion of our trip.

Oh, and when we got to our destination I realized that I had left the keys to the spotted car back in the pickup at the put-in point! Luckily the hitchhiking was easier in those days.