Ranger Report for June-July 2012

[Explorer Editor]

Wrong turns, twisted ankles and other calamities ...

Read about them all here.

 

[RoySwkr]

> Town of Keene, Dix Mountain Wilderness Area

> On Sunday, June 10, 2012, at about 2:44 pm a DEC Forest Ranger on
> patrol came upon a motorcycle accident on Route 73 in the town of
> Keene. Gregory Pruer, 37, of Wantaugh, NY and his passenger were
> seriously injured in the accident.

Rte.73 is a Wilderness? I'm glad the Ranger was able to help but should this be classified as a Wilderness accident?


>Town of Arietta, West Canada Lake Wilderness

>On Wednesday, June 27, 2012, at about 2:30 am, DEC Central Dispatch
>received a call reporting that two family members hiking the
>Northville-Placid Trail had not reported in as scheduled. Tim Jones,
>54, of Binghamton, NY, and his 15 year old son had sent a Spot Locator
>message on Monday indicating they had arrived at Spruce Lake and were
>on schedule. No message was received on Tuesday night and the caller
>was concerned about their safety.
...
> He had sent a Spot Locator message the previous night
> with their location, but it was never recorded on their home computer.
...
>Use technology to keep
>safe when hiking, but remember it is not infallible.

If this keeps up, Spot will need to provide a "received" capability or the rescuers will go nuts

 

[Daniel Eagan]

> Town of Keene, Dix Mountain Wilderness Area

> On Sunday, June 10, 2012, at about 2:44 pm a DEC Forest Ranger on
> patrol came upon a motorcycle accident on Route 73 in the town of
> Keene. Gregory Pruer, 37, of Wantaugh, NY and his passenger were
> seriously injured in the accident.

Rte.73 is a Wilderness? I'm glad the Ranger was able to help but should this be classified as a Wilderness accident?

I'm reading it that a Forest Ranger was the first to respond to the accident, not for example a State Police officer. The Ranger describes the accident as occurring within the town of Keene, which for the Ranger's purposes is within the Dix Mountain Wilderness Area.

 

[explorer13421]

Ankle injuries and boots

I wonder if there is any relationship between the number of ankle injuries reported and whether or not hikers were wearing boots or trail shoes. I heard former Ranger Peter Fish talk at the 2007 Adirondack Forty-Sixers Outdoor Leadership Workshop about what to wear when venturing into the High Peaks. He was adamant that hikers should wear real boots that were high enough to support and protect the ankles and had serious lugged soles for traction.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Trail runners (the wearer) have argued that such boots actually provide levers to increase injury whereas trail runners (the shoes) give you more flexibility and allow muscles and tendons to adapt better to uneven terrain.

(This is the story I heard when I was considering switching. I did not end up making the switch, however.)

Tim

 

[DougPaul]

I wonder if there is any relationship between the number of ankle injuries reported and whether or not hikers were wearing boots or trail shoes. I heard former Ranger Peter Fish talk at the 2007 Adirondack Forty-Sixers Outdoor Leadership Workshop about what to wear when venturing into the High Peaks. He was adamant that hikers should wear real boots that were high enough to support and protect the ankles and had serious lugged soles for traction.

Trail runners (the wearer) have argued that such boots actually provide levers to increase injury whereas trail runners (the shoes) give you more flexibility and allow muscles and tendons to adapt better to uneven terrain.

Both positions are just conjecture until someone does a properly blinded study... (eg take pairs of similar hikers and randomly assign boots to one and trail runners to the other, have them do the same hikes, and record their injuries.)

An epidemiological study might be easier, but separating out the biases (eg people with stronger ankles might tend to use lighter boots/shoes) might be difficult.

Doug

 

[Neil]

Most people who prefer to hike in trail runners will tell you that they are better and safer.
Most people who prefer to hike in hiking boots will tell you that they are better and safer.

Certain people will tell you that until a proper double blind cross-over study is done (in several locations around the world) that it is not possible to say at this time.

Hmmmm, how do you do a double blind study with hiking boots vs. trail runners?

 

[DougPaul]

Certain people will tell you that until a proper double blind cross-over study is done (in several locations around the world) that it is not possible to say at this time.

Hmmmm, how do you do a double blind study with hiking boots vs. trail runners?

Ahem!

Read again what I wrote: I did not say double blind--only the allocation of boots/runners is blinded (the randomized choosing mechanism is not known to the hikers or researchers until the choice is made ie neither the researcher or hiker can influence the choice) in a way that minimizes possible biases. Obviously it is impossible to conceal the footwear from the hiker so such a study cannot be double-blinded.

Doug

 

[Neil]

Ahem x 2.

I didn't refer to you or your post. I referred to "certain people", which obviously had to exclude you, who are not scientifically naive, as you ably expressed in the preceding post.

 

[Maddy]

Both positions are just conjecture until someone does a properly blinded study... (eg take pairs of similar hikers and randomly assign boots to one and trail runners to the other, have them do the same hikes, and record their injuries.)

An epidemiological study might be easier, but separating out the biases (eg people with stronger ankles might tend to use lighter boots/shoes) might be difficult.

Doug

This might be a difficult thing to study.
I would think they would have to be cleared by a competent MD of any lower extremity, hip, and spine issues. Same exact baseline.
100% normal and I suspect not too many us would fall into the category of "perfection.
I never even knew my feet were all screwed up until I got to point of unrelenting pain.
I have heard lots of kids now require orthotics when they are very young.