Re: [at-l] Falling

[SRober1431@aol.com]

Confessions of a fallen woman:

I often wonder what happened to "Oklahoma."  Many of you doubtlessly knew him
on the trail this year.

Well, it was his first day on the trail, on his way to Stover Creek after, I
believe, hiking all the way from Amicolala. . . tired, you know.  He was
hiking with purpose, almost there, when there before his eyes was a short,
round woman in a backpack rolling over and over down the side of the hill to
the right of the trail with her dog frantically gnawing at her leash as they
rolled, to get away from what was, perhaps, doom.

You guessed it.  It was the Kinnickinic rolling down that hill.  Finally dog
and woman came to a halt.  Oklahoma did his duty, helping her up.  Then he
went for help because this lady was done in--must have been an 80-lb. pack.
He and two members of The Family toted parts of the load, and Kinnickinic
pridefully continued to wear her pack to the shelter.

This was a 1.5.  I couldn't even crawl up onto the shelter floor for 2 days,
my legs were so spent.  I couldn't step down when I gingerly tried to scout
out what was around the corner from the turnoff to the shelter.  The third day
I walked back to the Springer parking lot after leaving an outfitter's store
worth of gear at the shelter and having lost my dog.  It was the loss of the
dog that was the significant hurt.

No dog this year, and a 21# pack, max.

Another fall:  in the Whites last fall (1997) while crossing a stream.  Went
down like I was on ice on a big boulder in the middle of the stream, right on
my knee.  Hiked on.  At lunch my knee was swollen.  A chiropractor who
happened to be there gave me some homeopathic arnica, which I took orally.  I
iced the knee.  Then I hiked on.  The next morning the knee was perfect.
Class 1?  (I don't have the codes in front of me.)

Later that fall (not a fall, meaning autumn) on a Sierra Club outing in the
Smokies, I stepped on a long, wet root.  Just like with the boulder, I was
down as though on ice.  No warning.  This time though I got a hefty gash.
Hiked on.  Medicated it when able.  No problem afterwards.  Code 1?


In Volcanoes National Park, backpacking down to the Oasis over lava rock
scree, in 1983..  Down on my bottom.  My daughter looked back and, ever
solictious, said, "Where's my camera?"  Code 1?

How often do I fall?  Out here in the Rockies, I hadn't fallen since 1976 when
I tripped on a rock on the trail when I made the mistake of looking up at the
beautiful scene before me while walking.  Since then, I have figured out that
it is best to stop/pause whenever I want to take a good look.

I could be a lot fitter, but fitness has not been the cause of my falls.  When
I went rolling off the hill, I had been stepping over a log.  When my foot was
mid-air, Jasmine gave just a slight tug on the leash.  That was it.  The much-
too-heavy, exterior frame pack was my undoing.  I'd always used an exterior,
but I'd never carried over about 30# since I was normally with hiking
partners, who shared loads.  This was a very good, new Kelty pack that I'd not
had a chance to check out when actually on the trail with a full load.
(Unfortunately, the weeks before the ill-fated beginning of my hike were very
-un-spring-like here in Colorado, and I was recovering from surgery.)  I had
faith that it'd all work out because I'd never had trouble before.  So let's
say that dementia entered the picture.

Thanks for asking.  It's always so much fun to recount one's less graceful
moments as an intrepid hiker.

Kinnickinic

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