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Ouch, that hurt!


E-trexer

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We had great plans for this summer. We were leaving for Alaska (our last state to geocache in) next weekend. We were going to pick up the last County for the WA County Challenge. We were going to finish about 10 or so pages left of the Delorme Challenge. In March my 82 year old wife Arlene slipped and fractured her ankle while geocaching in North Kitsap. Doctor said for her to now take short walks on it. When she does it swells up. If it keeps up we will go back to him. Now we hope to leave for Alaska after the 4th of July. When you get our age you want to finish the few things you want to do while you are able. Dick

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Well I think I probably win for worst accident. While placing a 5/5 stage I fell 50 feet fron the top of a set of cliffs. I landed on rocks and broke my back,and punctured my lung. I was rescued by cacher who came to another one of my nearby caches. I had two major surgeries to repair the damage and had to learn to walk again. So trust me when I say be very careful out there. It can be very dangerous. I am doing well now. The accident was 2 years ago. I just placed a new 5/5 cache with the woman that found me as a tribute to our journey.

Happy caching

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Well my latest injury (that oddly enough didn't involve whipped branches or rose bushes) was not actually while caching but because I cache. I recently visited my doctor who suggested that I get a tetanus shot since I geocache and am known for being a bit of a clutz, lots of rusty old things out there you know. A few days later a different doctor without reading my file to see that I'd just gotten a tetanus shot prescribed a medication that was counter indicated for people with recent vaccinations of any kind. Wouldn't you guess it I landed in the hospital with heart problems, was scary because wouldn't a permanent heart problem just ruin my summer. Thankfully it didn't slow me down for long though was out caching two days later (would have gone out the next day but the weather was lousy, and I had friends threatening my life if I did) :anibad:

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Nothing serious but came close. There was a micro on what used to be a major bridge in the area. it's a 1.5 terrain. There is a paved hiking trail with a paved spur up a 3 foot high incline to the old bridge's road surface. The bridge was closed in the 1960s and was used as a fishing pier for a while. Where the incline meets the bridge surface, they have shifted and there is a hole with fennel growing out of it. After getting the cache, I'm looking at my Palm and I step in the hole and sprain my ankle. Sat for 5-10 minutes and limped to three more caches that day (dumb). Where I had stepped was about 6 inches deep, but in the same hole about 4-5 inches over the hole went several feet down! If I would have stepped a few inches over, I would have went down to my knee or hip and probably broke my leg in several places.

 

This happened in early February and the ankle ached on hikes until I sprained the other one finding a cache on the way to GeoWoodstock VI.

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Took the wife out caching recently -- hit a few easy caches and decided to try an orienteering cache at a local park. Crashed and burned on this cache (missing tags) and decided to look for one I had a DNF on previously.

 

Path to the cache is pretty easy right up until the last 20 feet or so. I make it down the sharp incline and coax her to come down behind me. Within 5 feet of level ground her feet slide out from under her and she sits down and slides into a couple of briars.

 

After I stopped laughing, I told her that wasn't the right way to come down the hill. After she finished cursing me and clipped off the briars, she made it the rest of the way down. Going back up there was more cursing and gnashing of teeth. We DNFd again, but I don't think she'll join me for another search.

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I had just returned from a year in Iraq and had to debrief in FT Bliss, TX (El Paso) before going home to Vermont a few days later. I decided to head North into New Mexico to do some hiking/caching. I headed up to find a cache on top of a hilltop in the middle of nowhere, when off in the distance about a mile away, there was TORNADO bearing down full force across the valley. I looked to see where it was going and lucky for me it was going horizontal to my locaction. I took a few happy snaps and came back down the steep hillside twisting my ankel really, really bad before getting inundated with dime-sized hail before reaching the car.

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Worst for me so far is just poison ivy and then the usual scratches on my legs due to what I call tripwires(my definition of briars)..Can't complain as that's every weekend for me..Just add more scratch scars on top of old ones.. :sad: And it gives the people I work with something to Oooh and Aaaah about while wondering why the Hell I do the things I do..

 

My wife,(Janayla is her call sign), tripped while climbing over a tree that had grown over a trail..She got her first leg over and then snagged her trailing toe on the tree and took a nosedive..Trip to the ER on that one and then eventually surgery on her wrist to fix bones that had gotten jammed together and broken into tiny pieces, so now she's got a steel plate in her wrist..She's tougher than she lets on..Geocached with the cast on anyway despite doctor's orders to the contrary.. :sad:

 

I'm out..

 

Moze..

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:sad: Well as HeyMoze said, I took a tumble and did some damage to my left wrist. The funny thing was, I was more worried about peeing my pants then my hand. I fell and the first thing I said was oh crap, I think I just broke my arm. Well I said worse than crap but you get the point. Then when Moze went to pick me up, I had to tell him to stop. He asked why. I said I am going to pee my pants if you lift me. Give me a sec. Well it was to late. He helped me up and I still peed my pants. So off to the hospital we go. Pissy pants and all. I was so embarrassed. :sad:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/mm4180/IMG_0400.jpg
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My first caching trip out I was searching in what I thought was a butterfly house and it turned out to be a wasps nest. My husband and I were both stung. Good thing I'm not allergic to stings! Later while still searching I impaled my foot on an errant stick. I was wearing my birkenstocks. NOW I know that's not appropriate footwear but that was my first trip out. *shrugging*

 

X

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Not really a big deal but learned a good lesson.

 

I have long hair. I was searching inside a tree whose canopy went all the way to the ground. After ducking inside the canopy and standing back up to look around I decided the cache wasn't in the tree. I went to duck back under but the tree had a different idea. Somehow a bunch of branches had become entangled in my hair and I swear to you that it felt like the tree tried to rip my head off. After spending the next few minutes untangling my hair with tears in my eyes I emerged and told my caching partner Saz that a tree tried to rip my head off.

 

I now wear my hair in a ponytail when we go caching.

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on my very first cash it was raining and I fell down a very little hill got back up and carryed on my way when I got to the place my GPS was pointing to I went for my phone so my mam could read the clue to me. The problem was I couldn't find my phone I shouted for my mam (who was quite away away at this point) luckly she heard me and on the way walking to me found my phone lying in the middle of he path.

The next time we went out (with ziped pockets I had learnt my lesson) was up a vey big hill about 1000 meters above sea leval (big to me plus it was only my 2nd cash) I got up there fine and found the cash comeing back down however I realized I had a problem whole I had been climing and finding the cash the mist had roled in and the grass was very wet. It was ether fall down or slide down so I took the slide down option finaly got to the bottom very wet walked a few steps and my legs gave way I rested for a while and tryed to carry on. I had planned to follow a trail back to the car but due to a combanation of mud and time I desired I could take a shourt cut back a few hours later I was well and truly lost finaly found a couple walking through the forest I stopped and asked for directions they helpfully pointed me in the right direction. Thanking them I started on my way but I couldn't walk properly at this point I was near a road an found a very nice person who gave me a lift back to the car (luckly as it was about to be locked in for the night). Finaly got home an seen the size of my ankle went tot the doctors the next day who made me have a week off work :ph34r:. Lesson well and turly learnt don't run before you can walk

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2 weeks ago, we were ftf'ing a cache on top of a mountain. it was super steep, and lots of scree at the top. found one guys tracks, where he slalomed the scree, so me and 1 of the other guys decided to run down it. that was fun. went to to try it again further down the mountain, so my hubby could video us. came around a corner too fast, boot hit a rock ledge and ankle went one one, i went the other. instant stop to things, while the two guys rushed over to check things out. (yes my hubby got it all on video...lol) my ankle is swelling, so hubby takes his hydration pack and uses it as a temporary ice pack, then uses his belt as a splint. 400m from the car, and there is no way the boys are going to be able to carry me, as the mountain is still way too steep. so i slid on my but down teh scree trails, then when it got a little gentler, hubby piggybacked me, then i baby stepped using poles as crutches the rest of the way.

drove to the nearby store to buy ice, dropped the other guy back at camp, and we drove the hour back to town to the hospital. badly sprained ankle, was on crutches all last week, and now im slowly hobbling around. ankle still swollen, foot is black and blue.

oh..and like a true cacher, i was out caching the next day. crutches and all. :ph34r:

 

log and pics can be found here: GC17MGH Vision Quest

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Not really a big deal but learned a good lesson.

 

I have long hair. I was searching inside a tree whose canopy went all the way to the ground. After ducking inside the canopy and standing back up to look around I decided the cache wasn't in the tree. I went to duck back under but the tree had a different idea. Somehow a bunch of branches had become entangled in my hair and I swear to you that it felt like the tree tried to rip my head off. After spending the next few minutes untangling my hair with tears in my eyes I emerged and told my caching partner Saz that a tree tried to rip my head off.

 

I now wear my hair in a ponytail when we go caching.

 

Try that with a long beard and briars.

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well besides all the geostripes from branches and rocks...while trying for an easy, early cache while everyone was still asleep back in our motel room, I was visciously attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets. Once finally in the truck, I noticed that they had followed me. Got stung by 15 or more of the nasty things. and was in total fear for my life cuz I used to be allergic to them and was hospitalized for them. but guess not allergic anymore cuz got off with alot of pain and a bunch of swollen bumps all over, but no breathing problems. think i will stick to caching in Alaska where I just have to worry about the bears and moose!

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I am european but I am currently in the US for work for a couple of months. I discovered Geocaching thanks to an article on a online newpaper. Being here alone I found an amazing hobby to spending my free time. I have already seen tha back home there are plenty of caches to be found (check Espoo - Finland)

 

Anyway, my wife came here for a couple of weeks and I told her about how enthusiastic I was about geocaching. I wanted to show her how good it is.

 

We were looking for a cache in a place full of bamboos in the proximity of a creek. She got eaten by mosquitos and said: "Look, I will just wait in the car..". While leaving the location she stepped on a doggy-do.

 

"I lost a liter of blood becouse of those mosquitos and my brand new shoes are full of s###! I have it figured out already: geocaching sucks!"

 

I hope I will make her change her mind....

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I was about a mile from home after a 30 mile run on my geocache assault vehicle (cyclocross bike) when I went over the bars at 25mph and landed elbow first on chipseal pavement. You can't see in the pic, but it was open down to the bone. Good times. I got my a** kicked. Major muscle/tendon damage and a ton of road rash. Bike? Fine. Ipod? Fine. Cell? Fine. New 60csx? Fine. Me? Hamburger. Good times indeed.

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Couple of winters ago, my caching partner and I were walking back from a cache, when all of the sudden, I was on my but&, and my partner was wondering why I was making snow angels! :unsure:

 

I had stepped on a piece of glare ice under 2" of snow, and went down hard... MCL strain, and I was limping around for 2 weeks afterwards. However, we did get 15 more caches that day! :)

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I, too, had a run in with bees this afternoon. I'm not sure what the odds are of stepping on TWO bees nests in one day, let alone twice on the way to one cache. Gotta be astronomical, but I have about thirty welts to prove it can be done.

 

 

Consider yourself lucky! Today I had an encounter with WASPS. I was in a park and I felt something on my head. I slapped the top of my head and after 1 second the wasp was stinging my arm. I want into panic and I run away. THEY WERE FOLLOWING ME! I stoppede for a few seconds panting and I heard tyhe again buzzing all around me. I had to run to the car. I run like hell, then I saw a man and a woman with dogs and I cried for help. The man told me to turn around and he found ano on my back. He slapped it away. I thanked him and I continued to run towards the car. After a few seconds I heard him shouting. The wasps were attascking him too.

 

Without looking back I made a final sprint to the car, opened the door and get inside. In the moment I closed the door I saw that two wasps were inside. I opened the car and I tried to send them out. A third wasp was on my seat. I killed it. I run one lap around the car and got back in. No wasp in sight. I started the car and I began to move. The I thought: "Wait a minute, if there is a wasp inside and it stings me while I am driving I can have an accident." So I stopped and checked again. Here it is, another wasp. I sent it out. Then I finally drove away from the pace. After less than half a mile anyway I stopped near a shopping mall and I inspeced the car once more and I removed and inspected my t-shirt too.

 

Finally I got stung on my forearm, on the tope of my head and on my back. I consider myself lucky that I am not allergic to it.

 

It is incredible how fast and how aggressive they are! I got bitten a couple of times when I was a kid but I have nver been chased by a swarm.

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The story is not over.

 

This morning when I woke up I found a dead wasp in the bath tub. Where did it come from ?! I must have brought it in yesterday when I came back . I went out caching again and I entered a wood. Immediately a couple of wasps came closer! I run away immediately. I found some interesting information in the internet. Wasps communicate thru chemicals. Indeed I was smelling something during yesterday's attack. A smell that I recalled immediately from the previous time i got stung, many years ago. If you ask me to dscribe the smell I wouldn't know what to say, except that it is the smell of fear! The pheromone must have spread all over me and also inside the car. I better stay clear of woods and areas where they can have their nests for a while.

 

By the way, I got from yesterday's encounter some souvenirs. I got stung on my arm, my scalp, my shoulder, my back, and my finger. It is much worse than a mosquito bite. All the area is swollen and hard. If it doesn't get better I will have to see a doctor tomorrow.

 

Let's face it. Geocaching is dangerous. It is not just the wasps or the ravines ar falling from trees. The point is that when we are concentrated on the search we forget about what is around us. I think that we should take a lesson from our bad experience. We should never rush, and remember to play it safe

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For Lennu:

I got stung a couple times by wasps about 3 weeks ago (while caching, one on my eye, thankfully closed, and one on my wrist) and while the itching and rash subsided after the second week, the swelling is still there even now. It's not too much of a concern though, unless the itching/rash/hives spreads around your body in the first day(s).

 

I recommend applying a warm wet towel to the sites of the sting; if done early enough, this will help to draw the toxin out and help the area feel better. Applying a cream with antiseptic and healing factors will lower the already-low chance of secondary infection and aid with tissue repair. If severe, a tad of benadryl (diphenhydramine) can help to decrease the inflammation.

 

Once stung recently, it is always a good idea to be more careful when caching - stand still, observe and listen for those insects before entering the brush, or leave those caches for winter - because with every incident, the chance of an allergic reaction developing increases exponentially.

 

Now I wear a double-layered attire when bushwhacking, and pack an insect net hood. The next time I get stung, as per WAFA precuationary measure, I'm getting myself an epinephrine auto-injector.

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Aside from the typical scratches and sprains, the worse thing I ever had happen while caching was when I was in Italy visiting family. We went out caching/sightseeing on a Saturday, and as we were heading home from near the Italy/Slovenia border, I had a kidney stone attack. Only a few minutes from a cache, my brother-in-law asked if I wanted to head on home. Since we had to pass the cache site anyway, I said let's stop. It was at a little park which meant the possibility of facilities. We stopped--no facilities--and found the cache. We also took the time to search through the backpacks to see if anyone had any painkillers. After 4 Motrin, we got back into the car and started home. Again, my brother-in-law mentioned that we were only about a mile from another cache. Since the pain was starting to subside a little (I could now sit up straight again), I said let's stop. It turned out to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I figured that since the chances of getting back to Italy to go caching were very slim, nothing short of death was going to keep me from searching.

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Got my first geocaching wounds here... Buzzzz

 

And I thought that my experience with normal wasps was bad.....

... Hornets! WOW!

 

This is similar to mmy experience anyway. I heard the buzzing sound and I thougth it was a mosquito or a fly.

 

After having read almost the whole thread I have to say that most of the bad experiences are related to encounters with dagerous insects. We have covered wasps, bees and hornets

 

Leo

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I have had the usual poison ivy, scratches, bee stings and stuff, but the worst accident wasn't to me but my beloved 2002 Blue WRX. I was looking for one of the first caches when we just started to do this. We went to a covered bridge and were looking but didn't find. The bridge is on a church’s property and not on an actual road. As we were leaving and driving over the bridge there was a car parked on the other side just out of the bridge. I took it wide to get around the car and to my surprise where there looked to be a road was a very low wall. The corner of the wall caught the front of my car, jerked me into the wall when it took a chunk out of my tire, bent my rim and strut on the passengers’ side. The corner then ripped my side skirt off and ripped the rocker panel. The car was drivable but I was sick. This was the first damage to my car in its almost 7 years of life besides typical rock and door dings.

 

I went online to look at picture and the wall was new and not in any pictures I could find. It was only about 6-8 inches tall on the bridge side and you couldn't see it if you were close to that side because of the angle you enter and leave because the wall drops down as it leaves the bridge. I bought new rims, side skirt and struts. The tire was covered with road hazard. It was about $1000 vs. claiming it. My wife just totaled our new Mazda CX-9 about a week earlier, so I didn't want another claim.

 

The cache is GCV6KV and there is a link to a picture in the listing. In the top picture at the link the wall is now located on the left corner of the bridge in the picture coming toward you at a slight angle to your left. The car was parked by the brick building on the right. I understand why they put the wall there, but it might help if they put a reflector pole or something at the end of the wall so you would know to not drive there. Needless to say this one is still a DNF. I can't bring myself to return to the place of the horrific events. Maybe I will get this one today as a form of closure.

:unsure:

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In my short time caching, I've had the unfortunate experience of getting injured 2x.

 

GCMAG0 - Bob's Bluegrass TB Hotel (archived) - Santa Cruz, CA. This is an old cemetary that is built on the edge of a hill filled with redwood trees. The cache is up the hill a ways and I visited this place about 2x or 3x. The last time I was there was in March or April 2008. It had just finished raining for several days and ground was muddy / slippery. I was climbing up the hill and navigating some old fallen redwood trees when I slipped and started falling. Much to my surprise, there was a tree branch sticking out from one of the redwoods. I grabbed ahold to stop my fall. In theory that was going to stop my fall and save me from getting hurt, however, reality set in and the waterlogged tree branch was so soggy that it broke apart when it tried to stop my 220 pound frame. Maybe the branch slowed down the fall but I still fell into a fallen redwood tree ribs first. OUCH!!! I'm sure I broke a rib. I didn't bother to go to the doc. I just lived with the pain for next 4 months. I had trouble sleeping, getting out of bed, breathing (deep) / laughing. Finally by the end of August all the pain was gone. And I never did find the cache. Doh!!!

 

GC14FT5 -Dan's View - Pattaya, Thailand. This cache is up near a giant Buddha. There is a golf course on one side of the hill. The hill is not too high but the vegetation is very thick. Did I mention the vegetation was thick? It's very thick. What a climb. I only had to go 120 meters but I had to plan 5 - 10 meters at a time and even then I had to back track 2x. They have these vines here in Pattaya that have thorns on them. While trying to climb through several strands of vines that weaved their way from tree to tree, one of the vines I had pulled off to the side managed to free itself from my hand and hit me in the eye. My eye was open when it hit me in the eye. Sure I got something in my eye. I continued on and by the time I got home and tried washing out whatever was in there.... well that didn't work. I went to the hospital the next morning and they said that I have something lodged in the eye (cornea). I had to come back a day or two later (weekend) when the specialist was there. They still tried to use a needle to free it and that didn't work. I got lots of eye drops that didn't help too much. I was fine as long as my eyes were open but when I closed my eyes, thats when it hurt. I had a hard time sleeping. Luckily some of the eye drops were medicated to numb the eye. After a couple visits to the hospital and 5 days of having a hard time seeing out of my right eye, I was back to normal. Oh, when I got to the top of the hill and looked for the cache, it was gone. Doh!!!

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About half way into a 3 mile (one way) hike into the wilderness, a tree root reached out and grabbed me, wreasling me to the ground. Broke all three bones in my left arm... one of them twice.

 

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I headed back to the trailhead and waited for the rest of the party to continue the hike. When they got back we cached our way back to town... so I found 10 more caches on the way to the ER. (Priorities you know!)

 

The picture above was taken a week or two later on another hike on the south slope of Mount St Helens.

 

Intestinal Fortitude! AKA "Gut Check" ;) I like that! Hoo AHH! ha ha

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Not quite a caching accident, but it could have been:

 

Me and a friend were on a motorcycle camp-out down in south central TX and decided to go look for one of the places Billy The Kid is supposedly buried. Got the info from the museum, plugged it into the GPS, and headed out to the cemetery.

 

As we're looking at the headstones, I step into a gopher hole and stumble. In the process of running forward and not trying to fall, my boot slips partially off my foot, so when I take the next step, I manage to bend my knee in some weird manner, which puts me on the ground.

 

There is this strange tingling in my leg, and I can't stand up on my own. I call by buddy over, and between him and a nearby headstone, I manage to stand up. Since we're 20+ mikes from the campground, and the nearest towns have no hospital, I carefully hobble over my bike and manage to get on it.

 

Somehow I manage to ride back to town with one foot dangling off the bike without killing myself, and with the help of a couple more friends I manage to get off the bike without dropping it or falling down. Friend who is a physical therapist doesn't see any obvious break and advises some rest and ice packs.

 

Ice and a few beers did no good. Had to call the wife and make arrangements to get a ride home and store the bike locally for a while. Finally got to a hospital about four hours later, and X-rays showed no break either. Got a splint, crutches and some pain pills.

 

Called my family doctor -- he was going to set up a referral for a specialist. In the mean time, he suggested I get an MRI. The MRI showed I had knocked a corner off the knee joint on my lower leg bone. Specialist confirmed it, said there was no way to help it with a cast or splint

 

Spent 8 weeks in bed or on crutches -- not allowed to put any pressure on the leg. Finally got the OK to start trying to walk, which took another couple of months before I was able to get around without feeling like I was going to fall.

 

All is well now and the knee I banged up is pretty much pain-free. Its actually better than the undamaged knee. Got rid of the slip-on boots and switched to something that would stay on my foot.

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being allergic to bees and reading this thread, i had better add an extra Epi-Pen to by caching bag! The one I carry is always in my purse, but I don't carry my purse in the woods.

 

That is actually a good thing for us men, because we don't have to take time out of our schedules while you women put on makeup, lipstick, and I don't want to even know what else, as well as combing and recombing your hair every so often. I mean, it is one thing to do it after a grabbing bush or another thing like that, as well as after a long time when you haven't done it, particularly after a nice little wet or windy(or both) episode. If you are going to go out in the weather, especially in the wilderness, you do not have the time to always check up on your looks and struff. Such people, in my opinion, would be better off being left at home, where they wouldn't be hampering others' efforts to have fun. No offense, that is just my opinion after having to deal with that stuff in my neighborhood. I have a family in my neighborhood that has the following: a father, a mother, five daughters, no sons,(you see why I critisize your puny efforts to make yourselves look better when most men with much of a brain can see that you never need it in the first place, you just think you do) a husband to the eldest daughter, a little girl, and finally now, a little boy. They have some major looks and clothing issues(us men know how females are, uggghhh....). No offense, again. :D:laughing::D:D:laughing:

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Here is my blog about my injury:

 

Yesterday was the most incredible day. I knew I was going to be hitting my 1000th geocache and decided I wanted that one to be memorable. So I chose the most extreme semi-local cache I could find. I knew Kris was going back to Kansas City and we pushed to make it his 100th cache as well. Did I choose a doozy! I picked an extreme puzzle cache called High & Low that was about two hours away in Pennsylvania. I had solved the puzzle a long time ago and was itching to climb/cave. I originally had asked my best buddies Jim (BlitzNMore) and Chuck (Uncle Fuzzy) to go with us and word spread like wildfire. Kris was going to hit his 100th (we had to seriously power cache to get him there), Chuck was ready for his 600th. And I was ready for 1000! Next thing you know our friends Jesse and Amy (the Bubblerocks) were pushing to get their 500th. And others wanted to come along for the fun. We wound up with 13 geocachers ready to take the trip. We organized and came up with a plan. I was staying in Bordentown with Kris and Jim would meet us there and we would ride together. Chuck, Jesse, Amy, Jack (SofieCat), Pete (Grunriese) and Audrey (GuentherGal) would leave from Lawnside and Jay and Deb (The Greene Team), Kathy (SacyKeebler) and Lauren (SacyBlaze) would meet us at the parking coordinates. Uh-oh. 13!

 

We were the last to arrive at the parking coords to find our first mishap of the day. Keebs had locked her keys in the car! Blaze got them out and we set off. Got to the first stage of the cache and looked for awhile until some one looked up. Thirty feet in the tree was a string of washers. I was on a high rock and I tried to get to the branch but some of the tree was dead and I couldn't get to it. Chuck started at the bottom and shimmied his way up and made the grab. He sat up there and deciphered the coordinates and shouted them down. He never learned the lesson about keeping some numbers to himself until he was safe. We teased him about leaving him up there, but waited until he got down anyways.

 

We went on to the second stage. Some of the crew bushwhacked the entire way there, but the group I was with took the long way on the trail and had some great conversation and a lot of fun. When we arrived at the coords, we each took our time looking at the box and hung out for a bit before looking for the next part.

 

Some of us had an idea where the final was located but would not tell until after we confirmed it. We headed to the cave entrance. Very cool. It was deceivingly large inside for having such a narrow entrance. It took 2 1/2 hours to find the container. We must have explored every inch of that cave. It was awesome. Dirty, icy, tight, but awesome. All of a sudden Pete points out a spot that hasn't been explored yet. In the middle of one of the pathways is a triangular shaped rock with a point jutting upwards. Above that is a muddy passageway. Oooh, right up my alley! As I am getting ready to climb up, I say to Blaze, "Get under me in case I lose my footing, you can grab my foot." As she starts walking towards me, I don't wait. Take my first step. Lose my footing. I fall directly backwards and land on the triangular rock. A couple of inches more and....??? A lot of people in the cave said they heard the thump and my groan. Blaze freaks thinking that I broke my back. I walk my way out determined to go back in when the find the ammo box. I am oohed and aahed over and then someone shouts, "I GOT IT!" I get up to go back in and when I get to the part that I have to squeeze through I realize that I am not going to make it. So I go back out and sit. Turns out there was a letterbox in there too and it wasn't the treasure we were looking for.Eventually some local walks up and we get to talking to him and he tells us where the room we are looking for is. Blaze heads back in and meets up with Kris and Jack and they make the find! How freaking cool! Everyone heads back out and it turns out that Blaze has brought cupcakes, champagne and noisemakers for everyone! Lugged it all over and never said a word to anyone. We got the local to take some pictures, hung out and partied and had a great old time. Best day ever and what a milestone! Some of us headed to a nearby restaurant to share a meal and the rest went home. Kris, Jim and I headed home and the rest grabbed some caches afterwards.

The next day I went to the doctror because I hurt really bad. One cracked and one chipped rib. Wow. That is my worst injury caching. Only hurts to lay down though. Leave it to me to get an injury that only hurts to relax!!! Had to do PUCs the following week!

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That is actually a good thing for us men, because we don't have to take time out of our schedules while you women put on makeup, lipstick, and I don't want to even know what else, as well as combing and recombing your hair every so often. I mean, it is one thing to do it after a grabbing bush or another thing like that, as well as after a long time when you haven't done it, particularly after a nice little wet or windy(or both) episode. If you are going to go out in the weather, especially in the wilderness, you do not have the time to always check up on your looks and struff. Such people, in my opinion, would be better off being left at home, where they wouldn't be hampering others' efforts to have fun. No offense, that is just my opinion after having to deal with that stuff in my neighborhood. I have a family in my neighborhood that has the following: a father, a mother, five daughters, no sons,(you see why I critisize your puny efforts to make yourselves look better when most men with much of a brain can see that you never need it in the first place, you just think you do) a husband to the eldest daughter, a little girl, and finally now, a little boy. They have some major looks and clothing issues(us men know how females are, uggghhh....). No offense, again. :D:D:D:laughing::D

 

:laughing::D:D

 

Hmmm....

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Well, my story's not nearly as cool (see: gruesome) as some of yours, but I was out hiking in the Superstition Mountains today and developed second degree sunburn on both my knees, which had been prevoiusly mildly sunburned at a spring training game I attended on Monday. Um, yeah, I think I am going to have to quit the long hikes for a few weeks until that heals. Being a white, white, ghost white kid in Phoenix, AZ sucks big time - I burn all the time!

 

Got the only cache out there, though, so it was worth it! :anibad:

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One night I went outside to show my friends the geocache nearest my house (about 30 feet away). On the return trip up the drive I slipped on some wet concrete and broke my fibula and dislocated my ankle. 9 days in hospital and several surgeries right in the middle of exam week at Uni was my reward for the night :)

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Well I think I probably win for worst accident. While placing a 5/5 stage I fell 50 feet fron the top of a set of cliffs. I landed on rocks and broke my back,and punctured my lung. I was rescued by cacher who came to another one of my nearby caches. I had two major surgeries to repair the damage and had to learn to walk again. So trust me when I say be very careful out there. It can be very dangerous. I am doing well now. The accident was 2 years ago. I just placed a new 5/5 cache with the woman that found me as a tribute to our journey.

Happy caching

Dang. Glad to see you recouped okay.

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About half way into a 3 mile (one way) hike into the wilderness, a tree root reached out and grabbed me, wreasling me to the ground. Broke all three bones in my left arm... one of them twice.

 

1162294d-d353-486a-879e-fdbc8401ba56.jpg

 

I headed back to the trailhead and waited for the rest of the party to continue the hike. When they got back we cached our way back to town... so I found 10 more caches on the way to the ER. (Priorities you know!)

 

The picture above was taken a week or two later on another hike on the south slope of Mount St Helens.

 

Hey, that happened on the way to a cache that I placed!

 

Here's my badge of honor. 8 mile RT hike and I fractured my fibula at the turnaround.

 

4200d09e-e2d2-4a81-8cca-a0edbe41a45a.jpg

 

Hey, that happened after you found a cache that I placed!

 

Don't I get some points for this?

 

:)

Edited by Criminal
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The other day I was biking to a cache. I had just turned on my GPSr and then realized I was going to fast. I slammed on the front brake ~ and flipped over the handlebars! :laughing: Luckily I didn't land in a cactus patch. A few scrapes on the elbow is all. The bike was fine. To add insult to injury I DIDN'T find the cache ~ and that was my fourth try on the one too!!!! :laughing:

Oh well! I'll try again later.... :laughing:

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