bryan
New member
i'd like to preface by saying this is not intended (as one hiking friend once called this kind of post) to be a "whine report". just figured i would share a bad experience here as i would a good one. it's also a great example of how anything can happen to any us at anytime, anywhere, no matter the experience or readiness. i'm still totally baffled by what happened.
i decided yesterday to take a nice short hike up tecumseh from tripoli road while it is still open. this is a trail i really enjoy and yesterday it had the added bonus of avoiding most of the cold winds that were whipping around. the hike up was uneventful to the summit as was most of the hike down. i enjoyed the filtered views over to osceola and scar ridge with all the leaves off the trees. footing was a bit tricky with the wet slippery leaves and i made note of this and was being cautious on the descent.
as i was heading down the final old road grade i took a fall. i actually can't remember exactly what happened. it was a relatively easy section of trail. did i slip on a root, a rock, some wet leaves? i just found myself on the ground and it was clear something wasn't right. i looked down at my left foot to see it cocked out at an angle to the left. this was, to say the least, disconcerting, but as i moved my leg it popped back in to the right. this was an aesthetic relief, but did nothing for the pain. at this point i knew i was within .5 miles of the trailhead so my first instinct was to try to walk and i went with it. i righted myself and found that, with significant pain, i was able to hobble, my foot not feeling as attached as it should to my leg. that was a long walk. adrenaline fueled for sure.
getting to the car was a relief and i took my boot of to assess the damage. i can best describe it as a big swollen mess. i was able to put the work boot i had in the car on it and with much pain (my car is a standard) headed to speare memorial.
the verdict was not good. words i did not know. a displaced bimalleolar fracture of the ankle that will most likely require surgery (i see an orthopedic doctor tommorow). i should know a lot more about what is going on after that appointment and until then i'm trying to ignore the worst case scenarios that keep popping up in my head.
i can't say enough good things about the folks at speare. if you every have the misfortune of an injury up north hopefully they'll take care of you as well as they did me. the one thing i did find amusing was when people tried to comfort me by saying things like "well at least the hiking season is almost over" suggesting i would have the winter to heal. i just kept thinking about how the whole reason i was out yesterday was to help keep myself in shape for what has become my favorite season. maybe if things go well i'll be able to catch the tail end of it.
until then i'll enjoy reading all of your reports.
be safe out there.
bryan
i decided yesterday to take a nice short hike up tecumseh from tripoli road while it is still open. this is a trail i really enjoy and yesterday it had the added bonus of avoiding most of the cold winds that were whipping around. the hike up was uneventful to the summit as was most of the hike down. i enjoyed the filtered views over to osceola and scar ridge with all the leaves off the trees. footing was a bit tricky with the wet slippery leaves and i made note of this and was being cautious on the descent.
as i was heading down the final old road grade i took a fall. i actually can't remember exactly what happened. it was a relatively easy section of trail. did i slip on a root, a rock, some wet leaves? i just found myself on the ground and it was clear something wasn't right. i looked down at my left foot to see it cocked out at an angle to the left. this was, to say the least, disconcerting, but as i moved my leg it popped back in to the right. this was an aesthetic relief, but did nothing for the pain. at this point i knew i was within .5 miles of the trailhead so my first instinct was to try to walk and i went with it. i righted myself and found that, with significant pain, i was able to hobble, my foot not feeling as attached as it should to my leg. that was a long walk. adrenaline fueled for sure.
getting to the car was a relief and i took my boot of to assess the damage. i can best describe it as a big swollen mess. i was able to put the work boot i had in the car on it and with much pain (my car is a standard) headed to speare memorial.
the verdict was not good. words i did not know. a displaced bimalleolar fracture of the ankle that will most likely require surgery (i see an orthopedic doctor tommorow). i should know a lot more about what is going on after that appointment and until then i'm trying to ignore the worst case scenarios that keep popping up in my head.
i can't say enough good things about the folks at speare. if you every have the misfortune of an injury up north hopefully they'll take care of you as well as they did me. the one thing i did find amusing was when people tried to comfort me by saying things like "well at least the hiking season is almost over" suggesting i would have the winter to heal. i just kept thinking about how the whole reason i was out yesterday was to help keep myself in shape for what has become my favorite season. maybe if things go well i'll be able to catch the tail end of it.
until then i'll enjoy reading all of your reports.
be safe out there.
bryan
