HikeArizona.COM

There's a blog called "Hiker Hell" --it's quite entertaining and sad and funny with what can and does go wrong, from mainly US but other countries like New Zealand, areas in Europe etc.

I've been thinking about my little disasters over the years. Some coulda been bad but fortune favors fools---or so they say.

Flash Flood--- Paria Narrows--just out of Buckskin. Unplanned overnight bivouac after cliff climbing out and ending up on the East Clark bench. I'll never forget sunrise and listening to the coyotes' sing and how sweet that was---

Falls-- Black eyes in Anza Borrego, skin tear with bone exposure in Anza Borrego on a solo hike and a three mile hobble out. Impaling cholla in hand leaving it non functional in Anza Borrego with bouldering to get out. Pulled 52 spines out with 4 requiring pliers to get them out. Fell in Utah and almost had my runaway pack pull me over a cliff. Fell in the Dirty Devil River with a heavy back pack. Ruined my camera on that one. Then I started using trekking poles but still fall.

Heat stroke or exhaustion--once in Anza Borrego which I really think was hyponatremia instead and once in Utah. The Utah one I ended up hitchhiking back to my car thank goodness for a nice couple from France.

Out of water---a couple of times. Lost--no
Equipment failures---nothing duct tape could not fix.
Clothing failures--Lost the skin on my heels a couple of times with poor/cheap boots. Once in Death Valley and once in Anza Borrego--fix--better fitting boots.

Caving-- rappel device incorrect rig--fortunately discovered this at the top of the drop.
Rapped into pit in cave with bad air. Good to know your rigging when your trying to ascend when addled with high C02.
Almost hung myself sliding down a crack when my helmet got caught and my body weight was hanging on the chin strap, fortunately the guy behind me helped me out quickly.
Stuck upside down, partner put rope around my foot and hauled me out.

Other--- shotgun in face with irate rancher thinking I was trespassing to do "bad deeds" we settled it with border patrol a few minutes later.
Guy giving me a little trouble at a TH. He almost got the business end of my "little friend", fortunately he backed down.
Dodging some gun toting drug runners in the Huachucas.

Animals--seen a few and no troubles, unlike the humans.


What other tales, experiences are out there???

nonot wrote:If I am not in pain at the end I figure I wasn't trying hard enough.

I wonder if people who hike in places where thorny, pokey and vicious plant life is NOT the norm feel the same way? I have friends who are from the Pacific Northwest, and though they have plenty of tales of mud and scree, they didn't tend to get shredded on their hikes like I almost always do. They think AZ hikers are crazy, and they practically wear body armour on even the tamest trails...

Want to add here a shout out to the folks (and I know they're here) from the SARA. They pulled me out of a canyon a few weeks ago when dark came too fast and the trail was too hard to find. Wasn't life threatening, but it's good to know that there are competent, generous and capable people out there for times when it might be...

This is an interesting topic. For a minute I couldn't think of anything, then a bunch of things popped into my head:

1. Blew out a knee (torn meniscus) and hobbled back out the next day (about 9 miles). Couldn't walk again for over two months.
2. Took a dead agave in the shin and watched my blood pump out in huge spurts. A few second of pressure stopped it, but that was a lot of blood.
3. Got low on water and bailed out of a trip, only to discover that I couldn't find the way back down off a mesa. Eventually did find it.
4. Got pinned down by yahoos shooting up saguaros in the Supes.
5. Got pinned down by a couple hundred rounds of semi-automatic weapons fire in NJ. Sticks were falling on my head from the tree I was hiding behind for 20 minutes until they got bored with me.
6. Fell down a bunch of times bad enough to wonder what I broke.
7. Heard a bunch of scary noises and saw a few scary shadows.
8. Tore and punctured every square inch of my flesh on the Red Tanks Trail last weekend.

big-load, that reminds me of the time outside of Safford when a group of us found a glass pipe, and a few moments later were shot at by some interesting fellows down at the bottom of the canyon...

If you read the Peralta Trail/ Cave Trail loop description in my guidebook, you might notice that towards the end there is very little actual trail description. That's because the sun had gone down. While I found a few of the cairns by headlamp, you only have to miss one before you enter the Worst Bushwhack Ever. In retrospect, since I didn't actually break my ankle, it was kinda fun. I stumbled onto a trail with ten minutes left on my self-imposed deadline to stop hiking and find someplace to hole up for the night. Made my car in time to catch the end of the Suns game.
Yes, I always carry a light source for just that reason (and I tend to poke my head in caves). And yes, I know how stupidly lucky I was.

Tony

tonyp wrote:Made my car in time to catch the end of the Suns game.

A few of us consider this to be a normal hiking day!

Grasshopper wrote:

tonyp wrote:Made my car in time to catch the end of the Suns game.

A few of us consider this to be a normal hiking day!

Right on.....

The only time I'm back before dark is if I have to work that evening.

Wow... my biggest hiking problem was the lambasting I got from the Emergency Services Crew over in Ruidoso years ago when they found out I'd gone out in November and spent three days hiking off trail, cross country up to Sierra Blanca Peak... with only a sleeping bag and bivie bag. I was visited by each rescue member who showed me pictures of their family that I had potentially placed in harms way. Even though I had a great time and did not need their services, they were really pissed off.

Falls: had a great one off trail cutting down from Cathedral Peak... slid 40-50 feet, headed right for a snag pointed right for my neck... came up short by about six inches. I can still recall wondering while I was still falling...if anyone would ever find my body.

Spilled some trail mix one night up on Mt. lemmon... decided to clean it up in the morning, laid my sleeping bad down on top of it. Was awoken in the middle of the night by a bear licking me in the face... looking very confused... sort of :"... you don't taste like trail mix!" But, he ended up hanging around for thirty minutes for a pleasant, if one sided, conversation...

Caught in a blizzard up at Ventana with a friend who had failed to bring along any harsh weather gear... I put all my gear on them, then on the trip down the hill realized I was getting hypothermic... solution: when I got to maiden pools (back when there were pools) I stripped off the rest of my clothes and jumped in, submerged. It infused my whole system, returning full blood flow throughout. I was toasty warm for the rest of the hike back to the car.

Really, it is hard to imagine "Troubles" if I made it back... I think the more appropriate term is Adventure...

nonot wrote:I've never been in a situation I consider my life was is imminent danger. 80% of my hikes I come home scratched to bits and torn up from thorns. If I am not in pain at the end I figure I wasn't trying hard enough. Haven't had anything occur to me where I felt it was out of control either, although spending an extra night in the Mazatzals with no food while still facing a punishing half-day hike out doesn't rank high on my list of things I want to repeat.

Nice story Al, I remember my attempt to make it to Africa in one afternoon, it's just a few blocks away, right

Thankfully, I haven't either. I tend to be too overly cautious, which is a good thing, but sooner or later that luck's going to run out. Being caught in an unexpected long and nasty hailstorm on the rim this summer in shorts and a tank top for several miles wasn't pleasant. Lesson learned there about preparedness

I'm with you nonot, no pain no gain...if I haven't hiked long enough to get sore, it was just a pleasure walk... ;)

dshillis wrote:Being caught in an unexpected long and nasty hailstorm on the rim this summer in shorts and a tank top for several miles wasn't pleasant.

well, Dave now you know there is no such thing as a "unexpected summer hail storm on the Rim" since you can expect one every day in July 'n August, right?

tonyp wrote:If you read the Peralta Trail/ Cave Trail loop description in my guidebook, you might notice that towards the end there is very little actual trail description. That's because the sun had gone down. While I found a few of the cairns by headlamp, you only have to miss one before you enter the Worst Bushwhack Ever.

That whole area cluttered with dozens of randomly located cairns. I spent an afternoon there once trying to figure out how many separate trails converged onto that ridge, with a side goal of finding those with the least separation. I don't normally mnd cairns, but I started to think that most of them had been erected by people that were halfway lost once their cars were out of sight.

There's two distinct routes that go west and one that goes east. The most used is the middle route but even that one has variations around the Devil's Slide. The east one branches into more because there are climbing routes. http://hikearizona.com/location_g.php?ID=1001&SUB_ID=38 Then there's the spurs that go to various overlooks and interesting places.

When I was bagging Brown's peak a few weeks ago I had a close call about halfway up the chute going to the summit. I went to get up a 3 foot wall section in there and went to boost myself up and felt myself falling backwards. I don't know how but I had just barely enough of a handhold to not topple backwards. I personally attribute it to the fact that I needed to trim my fingernails. If I had trimmed them I don't think I would have kept that handhold and things wouldn't have been fun (looks like you could easily tumble most of the way down that chute without much obstruction).

rushthezeppelin wrote:When I was bagging Brown's peak a few weeks ago I had a close call about halfway up the chute going to the summit. I went to get up a 3 foot wall section in there and went to boost myself up and felt myself falling backwards. I don't know how but I had just barely enough of a handhold to not topple backwards. I personally attribute it to the fact that I needed to trim my fingernails. If I had trimmed them I don't think I would have kept that handhold and things wouldn't have been fun (looks like you could easily tumble most of the way down that chute without much obstruction).

That's why I've decided that when I get around to Brown's Peak, I'm definitely not going alone!

I tripped while stumbling around my campsite in the dark at Toroweap. I landed very heavily face-down right beside a big mess of prickly pear. I missed it by millimeters. This isn't nearly as sexy as being stalked by a bear or treed by a tyrannosaurus rex or something like that, but gosh darn (I originally said something else ... forgot about the censor) that would have hurt!

An acquaintence fell lap-first into a cholla.

He said "Ouch."

hippiepunkpirate wrote:

rushthezeppelin wrote:When I was bagging Brown's peak a few weeks ago I had a close call about halfway up the chute going to the summit. I went to get up a 3 foot wall section in there and went to boost myself up and felt myself falling backwards. I don't know how but I had just barely enough of a handhold to not topple backwards. I personally attribute it to the fact that I needed to trim my fingernails. If I had trimmed them I don't think I would have kept that handhold and things wouldn't have been fun (looks like you could easily tumble most of the way down that chute without much obstruction).

That's why I've decided that when I get around to Brown's Peak, I'm definitely not going alone!

Ya definitely don't go on that one alone. Also make sure to stick fairly close in the chute unless you wana be below somebody and have a rock smack your face because loose rocks will go a long way in that chute. Also try not to bring much weight if you can help it. It's certainly a bit hairy going up but getting to the summit is worth every second of it. Also I highly recommend having a four peaks up on four peaks : P

Three years ago I backpacked into Havasupai with a few other inexperienced backpackers (it was my first time backpacking) and forgot my hiking boots. I wore old, torn up skateboarding shoes for the entire hike. Every step of the 10 mile hike out would introduce about half a dozen tiny pebbles to the inside of my shoe. My friends were placing bets as to when my shoes would literally fall apart.

Also on that trip, 3 out of 5 of us (myself NOT included) ran out of water about halfway out.

azpride wrote:Three years ago I backpacked into Havasupai with a few other inexperienced backpackers (it was my first time backpacking) and forgot my hiking boots. I wore old, torn up skateboarding shoes for the entire hike. Every step of the 10 mile hike out would introduce about half a dozen tiny pebbles to the inside of my shoe. My friends were placing bets as to when my shoes would literally fall apart.

Also on that trip, 3 out of 5 of us (myself NOT included) ran out of water about halfway out.

Your shoes thing is funny ... but I'll bet you didn't think that water thing was very funny. Speaking as one who has run out of water in the desert, that can be real serious.

I remember reading several years ago about some Boy Scouts who died on a trip down into Grand Canyon because they didn't take enough water. The leader said later that he was expecting to get water from the river, but what I guess he didn't know was that the trail they were on stopped a couple hundred feet above the bottom. I dunno, but that kinda sounded like negligent homicide to me.