6/31/11 Posting

This Saturday I led a hike to Rock Lake. While a lovely trail, the trail climbs steeply and faces the sun, making for potentially hot conditions even if you start early in the day. One of my hikers began the hike, but after about 30 minutes didn’t feel strong enough to complete the hike that day because of the heat. I was also feeling a bit hot too already, so I totally understood what this hiker was feeling.

It is likely on some of these longer hikes that one or more members of a hiking party may feel unable or unwilling to make it to the final destination on a hike. This is not unexpected by hike leaders and we attempt to make plans to deal with these types of occurrences.

If the weather is fine, then a hike leader might ask a participant to choose a nice place to sit and wait for the rest of the group to return, giving them an approximate time that they will return to that spot. If the weather is poor or the participant is moving slowly for some reason that day, then the hike leader might allow them to start moving back down the trail if there are no tricky junctions or dangerous trail sections. If conditions warrant, the hike leader may turn the whole group around. There is no one set answer to this issue; the hike leader must make a decision based on existing conditions.

However, once an agreement is made between the hike leader and participant on what will happen, then it is important to stick to the agreed-upon plan. The hike leader must be clear on what the participant will do (sit and wait at a particular spot, or head down the trail, or whatever), and the participant must adhere to that plan. Making changes to the plan such as waiting at a different point than the agreed upon one or starting to head back down the trail without telling the hike leader that you were going to do this causes a great deal of concern for the both the hike leader and the participant. It can also lead to a great deal of unneeded effort to find the participant if they’re not where they said they were going to be.

Back to my Rock Lake hike: Since the day was fine and we were fairly close to the cars, my hiker felt comfortable hanging out alone. If the hiker had been uncomfortable waiting alone, my co-leader had agreed to spend the day with the hiker as well. I equipped the hiker with one of our handheld radios and asked the hiker to call if needed. The hiker’s carpool partner also provided spare keys to the car. The hiker agreed to either wait at the place we parted ways or down at the trailhead. We told the hiker when we’d be back by and I made sure to plan our trip so we’d be back with time to spare. All happened as planned and we met up with the hiker back at the trailhead.

So please if you find yourself in a situation where you cannot continue to the destination but are not necessarily injured, please have a clear conversation with your hike leader on what you are comfortable with happening. Once a plan has been make hike leaders and participants need to be sure to stick to that plan.

7/24/2011 Posting

A friend of mine had a bit of mishap this last weekend while climbing Mt St Helens. Another friend of mine who was also on the trip relayed the tale of the rescue, and it follows here.

My friend was coming down the slopes of Mt St Helens and lost control while boot glissading and slammed her left leg into a rock. She was in obvious pain and other friends hiking with her knew they had a serious injury on their hands.

Fortunately there was a cell tower nearby and another hiker made a 911 call to get the rescue started. At that time, they didn't know how bad the injury was and they hoped she would be able to weight bear on the leg to move further down the mountain. The county sheriff called back on the phone to let them know that a ranger was already on the trail and that he would be there soon. They were 2 1/2 miles from the parking lot with many obstacles to overcome to get back to the car. Other climbers coming down the mountain offered to help by fabricating a splint using part of the hiking poles, tape and an ace bandage. At that time, they hoped she would be able to stand, but the angle and droop of her foot with painful movement made any movement impossible.

Soon, the ranger arrived with excellent radio service and the EMTs were right behind them. It didn't take long for them to request the Volcano Rescue Team to bring in their sled, ropes, etc to get the injured person off the slope. Hours went by while the gang waited for the team to reach their rocky perch. The temperatures were hovering in the 40s and the rain kept falling to create a classic Northwest hypothermia scenario. One climber got busy and created a shelter to keep the injured climber dry by using an emergency blanket, rope and hiking poles. Everyone had extra layers of warm, dry clothes and snacks to keep them comfortable. Soon they saw the rescue team emerge from the woods, carrying pounds of gear and working their way up the snowy slope!

Once they arrived, the team went to work staging the rescue by securing ropes that would be tied to the sled to gently lower the injured climber down to flatter terrain. They loaded her in the sled, wrapped her up and carried her over to the rope system to begin the descent. Slowly, one inch at a time, they let the rope out to get her down the first snowfield, then reconfigured a second line and lowered her down the second snowfield. The work continued with 8 strong guys carrying the sled through the snowy narrow trail for the last two miles to the parking lot. Eventually, they were able to use a wheel to attach to the bottom of the sled and move her more quickly and easily along the trail. At 7:00pm, she was in the parking lot, ready to get into the ambulance and be transported to Vancouver's Trauma Hospital. A good end to this story.

My friend who relayed this story had the following to say as a follow-up:

1. Carry your cell phone with a full battery! You never know – you might need to use it and could be lucky with cell service in the vicinity. It took 6 1/2 hours for help to reach the group and get the injured person off the mountain. If they didn't have cell service, it may have been at least two more hours...
2. Know where the closest emergency phone is - one climber noticed an emergency phone placed between the vaulted toilets at the TH. It may not always be so obvious or so close, but knowing where, and what to do, can speed up the decision-making.
3. Know where you are in the universe - GPS coordinates and our altitude was key to help them find us quickly.
4. The trend is to keep the pack weight down - please carefully evaluate what you leave at home! An emergency blanket (red is good) can be used to stay warm, dry and signal for help! Extra dry, warm clothes and snacks kept the non-injured hikers from getting hypothermic, while they waited for the rescue team to arrive.
5. Stay calm and positive to support the victim and the rescue team. It can be frightening to be in a rescue situation, but panic and anxiety will use up too much energy and will not help the group make the best decision. The ranger commented that he was relieved to hear the group laughing on the rocky perch before he arrived. He knew this would have a good outcome!

Going out in the mountains or the woods can become very serious when an injury occurs and carrying the right gear and a little good luck can make the difference between comfort, life or death. A couple of critical items and cell service made a great difference in this story:

7/17/2011 Posting

In the spirit of the Capitol One pirates asking, “What’s in your wallet?” I would ask you, “What’s in your first aid kit?” When was the last time you checked yours and made sure that you had needed items? This issue was suggested to me by a hiking friend who opened hers to find she didn’t have adequate adhesive tape to deal with a trail injury suffered by a fellow hiker. I must admit that I just opened mine recently and found I was missing a few important items such as adhesive bandages and sanitary hand wipes.

While you can’t possibly anticipate and deal with all possible trail injuries, you should carry adequate supplies to deal with common hiking maladies such as wounds, blisters, and sprained ankles. The American Red Cross, which sells first aid kits, includes the following items in their basic kit. While you may not need all of these items, you should certainly peruse their list and figure out what suggested items are missing from your kit. Then make sure you add those items to your kit before your next hike.

And while I’m at it, let me suggest that if you haven’t already, you should take a first aid course to learn some basic skills. You never know when you might need to help out a fellow hiker on the trail or even provide basic first aid while at work or home. Basic first aid classes are available through the American Red Cross. If you want to take something more intensive and wilderness-oriented, the Mountaineers offers an Alpine First Aid (formerly MOFA) course several times throughout the year. There is also the Wilderness First Responder course offered by the Wilderness Medical Institute.

And one thing that you might want to consider while hiking in order to prevent an injury is how you hold your hiking poles—if you use them—when you’re not using them. The correct orientation is to carry the poles with the tips facing forward and toward the ground. That way you won’t impale the person behind you if they stumble towards you or get too close. Many thanks to CHS participant, Tom Davis for this reminder.

Keep safe and I hope to see you on the trail soon!

7/10/11 Posting

There has been a lot of news this week regarding wildlife and wildlife encounters. A fourth wolf pack has been confirmed in the Teanaway area. A grizzly bear was photographed in the North Cascades. A man hiking with his wife was attacked and killed by a grizzly bear in Yellowstone. And a woman was attacked by a black bear while jogging near Colville, WA.

All of this got me thinking about the reasons I used to avoid hiking when I was younger. I was definitely an indoor girl and when asked if I wanted to go hiking I would say, “Why would I want to do that? It’s cold and dirty and there are bears.” Well I have solved the cold problem with decent clothing, I enjoy getting dirty now, and I’ve encountered bears several times and had no problems.

I don’t know about your ability to endure cold or love of getting dirty, but I do know that I hear from many folks both in the course and in the Beginning Hiking Seminar that one of the biggest issues they have with getting into the backcountry is fear of encountering wildlife—specifically bears and mountain lions. Please don’t let this fear stop you from getting out into some really great areas. Instead, learn how to minimize your chance of encountering wildlife in dangerous situations. For excellent trips on how to do this, please read these safety guidelines provided by the National Park Service in Glacier National Park. There are links to tips specifically for bears and mountain lions. I’ve backpacked in this beautiful park and have seen both grizzly bears and moose fairly close up and have not had any problems with them.

What many people fail to realize is that the biggest issue with wildlife is failing to respect the wildness of wildlife. Getting too close to or feeding creatures is a much bigger safety issue than dealing with marauding bears and cougars. Most people get injuries from being bitten or struck by animal—usually by a cute chipmunk or deer while trying to get that close-up picture or when giving them something to eat. I think I had my worst encounter with wildlife at a picnic spot in North Cascades National Park where a jay habituated to human food was dive-bombing Matt and I at a picnic table as we ate our lunch. This bird was actually landing on our heads and arms trying to get us to give it something to eat! In contrast, the bears I’ve seen either took one look at me and headed the other way, or continued browsing on the huckleberries.

So here’s the best advice I can give for dealing with all wildlife (provided by the Yosemite National Park web site):

Keep Wildlife Wild:

• Respect animals at a distance: never feed or approach them.
• Keep your distance from animals, even if they approach you.
• Dispose of trash in animal-proof trash cans or dumpsters.

• Keep your food and trash from wildlife by storing it properly, day and night.

If we can minimize the reasons why animals desire to approach humans in the first place, then the chance of having a negative or dangerous encounter will be minimized.

7/3/11 Posting

I spent this weekend car camping and hiking over in the Methow Valley area. We were hoping to find some places to hike where we could go some place cool and avoid snow. Yesterday, we managed to make it up to the fabulous Twisp Pass. We had to slog through a little bit of snow to get there, but the views of Stiletto Peak and down into Dagger Lake made it all worthwhile.

On Friday, we did a hike right out of our campground to Driveway Butte. This was a steep trip up to an old lookout site with some great views. About 1/3 of the way up, I hit the wall. I started to feel really fatigued and was breathing pretty heavily. No amount of rest-stepping could make me feel any better. I started to lag quite a bit behind the rest of my friends. We finally hit a fairly level part and I was able to keep to keep going, but every time I hit the slightest hill, I started to feel very poorly again. The final up to the old lookout was just awful—I haven’t felt that used up in ages. I made it to the top, but found myself suffering from a case of exercise-induced asthma that was no fun. Going downhill back to the trailhead was easier, but I was pretty used up by the time I got done.

My hike from Friday reminded me of an issue that I’d like to talk about this week and that is knowing “when to say when” on a hike. This means that you recognize when you’ve reached your limit and are able to stop yourself from doing something you’ll regret. In hiking this may mean several things—maybe you’re feeling extremely fatigued on the hike in, or maybe you’re uncomfortable with the terrain, or maybe you’ve got an injury that is paining you and you need to stop. Whatever the reason is, you need to recognize when you’ve pushed your body or psyche too hard and you need to stop and rest and perhaps not go any further.

On your CHS and other non-course Mountaineer trips, hike leaders watch participants for obvious signs of fatigue or injury, but sometimes we can’t tell when a hiker has had enough or when he or she is uncomfortable with a situation. All hikers must be able to take responsibility for their own well-being and speak up. If you need to stop and rest, then say so. If you know you’re not feeling well enough to continue to the destination then you need to voice that too. And if you’re getting blisters or you’re uncomfortable walking on snow or are uncomfortable with heights, then it’s you’re responsibility to let your hike leader know.

As I mentioned in our first class, long-distance day hiking involves some element of being able to endure being uncomfortable—sometimes extremely so. Your feet and muscles may hurt as you hike; you may get headaches or feel poorly. You may have to deal with blisters, sunburn, insect bites and other maladies. Most of this stuff just comes with the sport; but as you become more experienced with walking longer distances, you will know what you can put up with and when it’s just too much to go on. I respect a hiker who knows their limits and can speak up when they’re in pain either physically or mentally. Please think about this as you hike with us this summer.