Caching injuries

July 24, 2009

I rode my dirtbike up a really nasty hill in AZ today to get a cache. On the way down, the bike slipped and landed on my ankle. Bike was OK, ankle looks like it belongs to someone else! While I sit here with my leg up, tell me your worst caching injuries to make me feel better!

July 24, 2009

Check out the thread, Injuries or Accidents while Geocaching, sorry don't know how to link it!

July 24, 2009

I once got a dnf.......

That count?

:unsure:

July 24, 2009

Not that bad, but a few months ago I dislocated my pinky finger when I slipped & fell. I never did anything about it. No pain anymore... just a very funny looking crooked finger.

1k · July 24, 2009

I was out with my daughters in the early morning along the American River here in Sacramento looking for a cache that was eluding us. Our GZ was near a log that was beneath a bird house. I have always told my girls not to climb on the logs when it is wet because they might slip off.

Well, we weren't having any luck finding the cache around the log so I decided to climb the log and take a look into the bird house. As I balanced myself onto the log, I stood straight up. I made one step towards the bird house and the next thing I know is I'm flying through the air, striking my a%@ on the log, bouncing off the log, and landing on the ground on my back. My kids are laughing at me and all I can think of is to say, "See, that's why we don't climb on the wet logs."

All that I hurt was my pride. We eventually found the cache about 40' from GZ in a hole in a tree.

July 24, 2009

I rode my dirtbike up a really nasty hill in AZ today to get a cache. On the way down, the bike slipped and landed on my ankle. Bike was OK, ankle looks like it belongs to someone else! While I sit here with my leg up, tell me your worst caching injuries to make me feel better!

So far the only thing we (dogs and I) have gotten are a bunch of ticks, some spider bites, scratches, and sun burnt. Which is standard for around here. (VA) Love AZ by the way. I miss it much.

Hope it heals quickly and fully.

2.4k · July 24, 2009

In the days when we used paper, I dropped the sheet, bent to pick it up and the weight of my backpack toppled me over backwards...I looked like a beetle. Same thing happened on another expedition, and on the same day I slipped on some leaves going down a hill, twisting my knee. Not as bad as the original poster, but it hurt for quite a few days.

July 24, 2009

Well,I actually broke my arm while caching on a trail on top of a mtn. in Maine. Sadly, the cache had already been found and I decided to walk just a little bit further down the trail. Bad idea. Slipped on some rocks. Did not find out it was really broken ---couldn't be!! for 4 more days, as I was putting on an event for 120 people and did not want to go to the hospital. Used alot of ice..... I will never forget that cache though.

July 24, 2009

at a recent Cito event my gf sprained her ankle pretty bad

she had to wear one of those velcro boot things for a month

she wanted to go to meet local cachers-oops

what a way to make a 1st impression

now when we meet others cachers that were there that day they always come up smiling and say 'hey Peg'

edit to add:

I myself have suffered a few small hydraulic leaks due to thorns etc

Edited July 24, 2009 by tango501

19k · July 24, 2009

Kayaking down the Cannon River in Minnesota last year. While wading to a cache, tripped on an underwater branch, fell and hit my shins on submerged rocks. About a month later, the bump (hemotoma) became infected and had to be surgically removed by cutting almost clear to the bone. They don't stitch something like that up... it has to regrow tissue from the bottom, up, so they leave it open and you have to pack it with gauze for a couple of months until it heals.

Of course, the story I prefer to tell goes more like this:

8.4k · July 24, 2009

While I sit here with my leg up, tell me your worst caching injuries to make me feel better!

THIS should make you feel better!

On the way to a semi-regular Monday night event I host, I got pasted by a chick talking on a cell phone who ran a red light and guess what? She didn't even have insurance.

I was black an blue literally from head to toe for about 6 weeks.

I'm in the black shirt here and you can sorta see that my right leg is purple & swollen:

Other than that I had P.I so bad once that my doctor remarked he had seen pictures of severe radation burns that looked better. Howz that for bedside manner?

Edited July 24, 2009 by Snoogans

38.2k · July 24, 2009

I partially tore my Achilles tendon playing soccer in the fall of 2008. A few weeks later I stepped the wrong way on a root while out geocaching and competed the deal. I went down like I was shot and thought someone had hit me in the heel with a rock, but it was just the tendon snapping. Luckly I was close to the car at the time. Had it happend earlier I would have had to hobble 2-3 miles back to the car.

Had surgery and spent 3 months on crutches, another two in a big, plastic boot, 2 more months of rehab and a full year before I was close to normal. Then back in April I tore a tendon in my other foot. That was softball, not geocaching. Just got rid of my crutches this week and I'm in the boot again.

On the bright side I get to even out the wear on my shoes.

July 24, 2009

&^%#& *&@^@ stinging **&^@& nettle.

Apparantly im not smart enough to recognize it BEFORE it gets my legs!

@#$%^ !

(and, yes, i feel for all of you!)

July 24, 2009

THIS should make you feel better!

On the way to a semi-regular Monday night event I host, I got pasted by a chick talking on a cell phone who ran a red light and guess what? She didn't even have insurance.

I was black an blue literally from head to toe for about 6 weeks.

OHHH I could so make comments about certain locked threads..........

That must of left you with the "What the heck happened!" thought for a moment, I am glad you came through OK.

Now back to our regularly scheduled topic:

I am really new, so far the worst I have gotten is eaten alive by mosquitoes, and brushed on the arm by stinging nettles once, the first time in at least 25 years. It still feels just like I remembered it......

July 24, 2009

Never been injured while caching.

Did tear an ACL few years ago at a non-caching event and had surgery...then almost re-injured it at this cache .

I got very lucky that I didn't re-injure my knee. Recovering from surgery meant two months out of work and another 8 months before I was at full speed.

19k · July 24, 2009

&^%#& *&@^@ stinging **&^@& nettle.

Apparantly im not smart enough to recognize it BEFORE it gets my legs!

@#$%^ !

(and, yes, i feel for all of you!)

Nettle?!? Injury?!? Give it 15 minutes. No more injury.

July 25, 2009

A few months ago my Volvo was totaled on the way to a cache when a lady made an illegal turn right in front of me. Minor injuries.

Two months later, I slipped on some leaves and ended up with part of a tree stump through my calf (it took 19 stitches).

Oh. yeah, and I fell in January and broke my camera, bent my glasses and abraded my wrist. I don't go on steep trails alone anymore.

Or maybe I need a keeper.

July 25, 2009

Busted/sprained my ankle about 4 weeks ago, Ive been nursing it since. Sucks too, Im an avid runner. Biking now.

July 26, 2009

Just yesterday I was looking for the best way over to a point with a valley on both sides when I slipped down a hill pulling the dog with me. Luckily a tree stopped the dog as I let go of the leash and continued to slide. when I stopped about 30 feet later I had to try and get the dog down to me because there was no way I was going to make it back up to him. Scrapped up my elbow pretty good, have a cut on the knee. I did find the cache on the way out of the hole we were in. Then still had to walk about three miles out of the park back to the truck.

No dog were hurt in the hunting of this cache.

7.9k · July 26, 2009

Nothing very serious, a few scrapes and scratches for sure.

Probably the worst so far is a big ball of cholla to the calf, and sooner or later the OP will get the same!

Desert cachers always carry a wide-toothed comb and hemostats.

July 26, 2009

Too many small injuries to even report. Snakebite? Sure. Twisted knee? Sure.

How about getting Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever? That one was pretty severe, although not nessecarily an injury.

July 26, 2009

While doing one cache in Colorado we had to crawl under a lot of vegetation. My hand came down hard on an exposed root which went deep into my hand. There was a lot of blood but it healed very quickly. (And it justified packing the little first aid kit we pack.)

Currently I am nursing plantar fascitis which was mostly brought on by running but our crazed desire to geocache each weekend is certainly not allowing it to heal. I'm sure that there is an "Are you an Addict?" quiz for geocaching and I'm failing the question that says, "Do you geocache even when you know it will aggravate a previous geocaching injury?" I suppose that someone will have to do an intervention at some point.

Carolyn

4.8k · July 26, 2009

I smacked my hand into nettles again last night, does that count? (same hand as last time)

It was still stinging 12 hours later, if that helps put me on the list of injured...

July 27, 2009

I was night caching in a graveyard (yes, it's a no-no at night) and tore my lip open good on a blackberry vine I didn't see. With blood running down my cheek and chin, onto my white t-shirt. As I walked out of the gate towards my car, someone drove by, swerved when they saw me in their headlights and the car accelerated as he ran a stopsign to get away.

And people wonder why I'm called Unkle Fester.

4.8k · July 27, 2009

I was night caching in a graveyard (yes, it's a no-no at night) and tore my lip open good on a blackberry vine I didn't see. With blood running down my cheek and chin, onto my white t-shirt. As I walked out of the gate towards my car, someone drove by, swerved when they saw me in their headlights and the car accelerated as he ran a stopsign to get away.

And people wonder why I'm called Unkle Fester.

laughing.smileface2.gif

July 27, 2009

I once got a dnf.......

That count?

I'm new what does dnf mean? I don't know any of the anagrams here... or what ever you call those thingies. is the like a thread dictionary full of them? if not someone should make it. it woudl be really nice...

4.8k · July 27, 2009

I'm new what does dnf mean? I don't know any of the anagrams here... or what ever you call those thingies. is the like a thread dictionary full of them? if not someone should make it. it woudl be really nice...

http://www.geocaching.com/about/glossary.aspx

July 27, 2009

I'm new what does dnf mean? I don't know any of the anagrams here... or what ever you call those thingies. is the like a thread dictionary full of them? if not someone should make it. it woudl be really nice...

DNF = did not find (the cache)

19k · July 27, 2009

I smacked my hand into nettles again last night, does that count? (same hand as last time)

It was still stinging 12 hours later, if that helps put me on the list of injured...

Couldn't find what I though was a good, decriptive photo of it, but if you don't already know, learn to recognize jewel weed. It isn't a perfect cure (IMO) , but it is comforting. Best part is... it usually grows where nettles grow!

Edited July 27, 2009 by knowschad

July 27, 2009

I'm new what does dnf mean? I don't know any of the anagrams here... or what ever you call those thingies. is the like a thread dictionary full of them? if not someone should make it. it woudl be really nice...

DNF = did not find (the cache)

thank you and sorry for getting slightly off topic.

as for me I ahve yet to get hurt but I have only found one so far. I really hope I don't get hurt cuz I actually fear pain... I no like pain... it's bad......

July 27, 2009

Nothing as bad as most of you all, but I've just been geo'ing for a few days....give me time to catch up. I'm a strong Type A compulsive, so usually injure myself every chance I get.....whether I mean to or not.

So far, I've just stuck my hand in a fire-ant mound. Five of them nabbed me before I could shake them off. Here's 3 of'em:

I'm not sure if this counts, cause I wasn't geo'ing. But I DID have a GPS in my hands. Many years ago, my military unit was testing out some of the early GPS's in a night land-nav exercise in Georgia. I waded a creek (always take the most direct route to target ) & there was a nice big water moccasin waiting for me on the other side:

The holes in my leg that it's bite left have almost smoothed over now & the color is near normal. Just took it about 15 years to get this way.

P.S. Just for the record.....yes, I DID recover & log the fire-ant cache, even though they attacked me when I first reached for it. See how hard-core of a geo'er I am. I did place it back in a safer area, notify the owner, & leave an alert on the cache page. I don't care to hurt myself, but not others.

Edited July 27, 2009 by astrodav

July 27, 2009

Once I got really bad poison ivy on my hand and legs. It itched like crazy. It looked like this:

July 27, 2009

I have been very lucky. I have been exposed to many of the pitfalls above (steep, slippery terrain; boulder hopping, etc) but came away relatively unscathed. A few problems however:

Numerous bee stings (Note to self: When you hear the buzzing sound, do not accidently step on a beehive.)

While making a "poor" stop while turning right on a red light, I received a HUGE hit to the pocket book. The pictures weren't even that good.

During a CITO event I punctured my leg on a large piece of metal. Needed to visit the doc and update my tetnus shot.

Several scrapes and bruises.

We do not feel that a caching day is complete unless someone draws blood.

July 27, 2009

&^%#& *&@^@ stinging **&^@& nettle.

Apparantly im not smart enough to recognize it BEFORE it gets my legs!

@#$%^ !

(and, yes, i feel for all of you!)

Nettle?!? Injury?!? Give it 15 minutes. No more injury.

That was my point!

July 27, 2009

I rode my dirtbike up a really nasty hill in AZ today to get a cache. On the way down, the bike slipped and landed on my ankle. Bike was OK, ankle looks like it belongs to someone else! While I sit here with my leg up, tell me your worst caching injuries to make me feel better!

Tripped and fell a few months ago while looking for a cache and feel into a sapling with the bottom branches broken off - head first.. Ended up with two sets of 2 stitches on my forehead..

Still found the cache though!

Superglue works great for these types of emergencies until you can get the injury looked at!! :blink:

3.6k · July 27, 2009

Jumped off a rock onto a ledge and lost my footing on landing. When I put my hand down, I gashed in on a rock and put a 1" slice in the pad of my hand.

I was feeling shaky, and blood was flowing everywhere. It was all torn open, so I left the cache and went home, where I washed it out with soap and water and then bandaged it up and put a plastic bag around it to keep it clean.

My wife drove me back to finish the cache. We found the final, and then she drove me to the hospital where I had a bunch of stitches put in.

Oh, I also had another time where I was looking for a key holder and I leaned forward into a metal spike thing sticking out of a metal pipe on a building. No stitches were needed, but it bled quite a lot and kept flowing into my eyes. Thankfully, I had just gotten a tetanus shot from the injury mentioned above and wasn't worried about needing another one.

Edited July 27, 2009 by Skippermark

4.8k · July 28, 2009

Jumped off a rock onto a ledge and lost my footing on landing. When I put my hand down, I gashed in on a rock and put a 1" slice in the pad of my hand.

I was feeling shaky, and blood was flowing everywhere. It was all torn open, so I left the cache and went home, where I washed it out with soap and water and then bandaged it up and put a plastic bag around it to keep it clean.

My wife drove me back to finish the cache. We found the final, and then she drove me to the hospital where I had a bunch of stitches put in.

Oh, I also had another time where I was looking for a key holder and I leaned forward into a metal spike thing sticking out of a metal pipe on a building. No stitches were needed, but it bled quite a lot and kept flowing into my eyes. Thankfully, I had just gotten a tetanus shot from the injury mentioned above and wasn't worried about needing another one.

That reminds me, and should remind others. If you are going to be geocaching, it may be time to get a tetanus booster.

I know it is time for me. My last one was 22 years ago.

July 28, 2009

&^%#& *&@^@ stinging **&^@& nettle.

Apparantly im not smart enough to recognize it BEFORE it gets my legs!

@#$%^ !

(and, yes, i feel for all of you!)

Nettle?!? Injury?!? Give it 15 minutes. No more injury.

i went through a whole patch of em. could still feel my legs two days later

July 28, 2009

That reminds me, and should remind others. If you are going to be geocaching, it may be time to get a tetanus booster.

I know it is time for me. My last one was 22 years ago.

You're only 12 years late... what's one more day. :blink:

July 28, 2009

My husband got pricked by a really pointy plant at a park (the cache was UNDER it!). His finger swelled up pretty good. Luckily it started going down after a couple of hours.

I had a particularly nasty gash on my leg from going through some thorns (with jeans on!). Ugh!

July 28, 2009

I just got my tetanus booster today...good for 10 years and didn;t hurt a bit!

My ankle ended up swelling so much that it looked like I had no ankle...just a continuation of my leg to my foot. But it did not come close to as gross as the kayakers leg that needed to be drained (one of the first posts with a picture).

I was once backpacking in some remote canyon in AZ, and I tripped on a round rock in the wash. My backpack was too heavy and not weighted properly and caused me to loose balance and fall. Well, I hit my head of the rock, but the backpack made my head even heavier, so i really came down hard! We continued the three day hike with no problems (I realize I was lucky!). When i got to civilization, I realized that the entire side of my face from forehead down to my lower cheek was black and blue. Not a good look!

4.8k · July 28, 2009

I just got my tetanus booster today...good for 10 years and didn;t hurt a bit!

My ankle ended up swelling so much that it looked like I had no ankle...just a continuation of my leg to my foot. But it did not come close to as gross as the kayakers leg that needed to be drained (one of the first posts with a picture).

I was once backpacking in some remote canyon in AZ, and I tripped on a round rock in the wash. My backpack was too heavy and not weighted properly and caused me to loose balance and fall. Well, I hit my head of the rock, but the backpack made my head even heavier, so i really came down hard! We continued the three day hike with no problems (I realize I was lucky!). When i got to civilization, I realized that the entire side of my face from forehead down to my lower cheek was black and blue. Not a good look!

The booster will hurt tomorrow. Thats what is lovely about a tetanus booster.

I'm curious. Where do you get them? What is the cost? I don't have a regular doctor anymore and don't want to pay an "office visit" just to get a random innoculation.

July 28, 2009

I have recently begun losing my hair (balding) so this is my first time having a sun burned scalp..not bad, but it feels better when (more) hair was there last summer.

July 28, 2009

I just got my tetanus booster today...good for 10 years and didn;t hurt a bit!

My ankle ended up swelling so much that it looked like I had no ankle...just a continuation of my leg to my foot. But it did not come close to as gross as the kayakers leg that needed to be drained (one of the first posts with a picture).

I was once backpacking in some remote canyon in AZ, and I tripped on a round rock in the wash. My backpack was too heavy and not weighted properly and caused me to loose balance and fall. Well, I hit my head of the rock, but the backpack made my head even heavier, so i really came down hard! We continued the three day hike with no problems (I realize I was lucky!). When i got to civilization, I realized that the entire side of my face from forehead down to my lower cheek was black and blue. Not a good look!

The booster will hurt tomorrow. Thats what is lovely about a tetanus booster.

I'm curious. Where do you get them? What is the cost? I don't have a regular doctor anymore and don't want to pay an "office visit" just to get a random innoculation.

A friend of mine always goes to the county clinic, she says it's cheap and always a friendly staff.

July 28, 2009

Lyme disease.

Caching injuries

Recommended Posts

Join the conversation