+greyhounder Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Hi! I'm new to geocaching and wiped out finding my very first cache. I thought it was just me being a bit too out of shape, but here it is two days later and I'm a hurtin' unit. I went to my water aerobics class this evening and was really able to locate my aches and pains. I apparently twisted my entire right leg, bumped the right hip, bruised up my butt (that was mostly from the first fall of the trip. That was a simple slip on a patch of ice. The other was a sacrifice fall to the cache. I could see it from the trail above, but the terrain was icy and I had to sort of crash down to get at it.) And, the worst of it is someting owie in my lower back. Nothing serious, but I'm no young pup here. Not that it will stop me at all! I expect to make even more spectacular diggers in the name of geocaching. But it left me to wonder what other people have injured during geocaching adventures. Share your stories, if you dare to tell them! Thanks! Bec Quote Link to comment
+quills Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 ouch greyhounder i read the post on the other topic. i hope it doesn't discourage you. it really is a great time especially in good weather. Quote Link to comment
+fosterbass Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Don't let it turn you off! A friend of mine struck out on his first hunt (and got hurt, as shown in this log). He tried again today and found it, plus two others! Quote Link to comment
+greyhounder Posted January 20, 2004 Author Share Posted January 20, 2004 No -- not discouraged in the least. Falling is an art form for me. In winter, I do it about twice a week. I really laughed all the way down the slippery slope. Even funnier was watching my dog come sliding down after me (with much more grace than me). I just thought it would be fun for others to share their stories. It would make my pain heal so much better....... As of tonight, I have found another 3 caches. Haven't fallen since. Bec Quote Link to comment
+Team GPSaxophone Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Not that it will stop me at all! I expect to make even more spectacular diggers in the name of geocaching. Digging for caches is against the guidelines. Quote Link to comment
+quills Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 good job on sticking with it. i've been there when hurt. i screwed up my knee pretty good this summer shortly after we started caching and had to give it up for a while. kind of hard to cache when you can hardly hobble along lol. now if would only warm up before late april or early may hmmmm Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Just about exactly a year ago, I was caching (ok, it was in the dark 1900 miles from home and I was alone) and seeking "Forbes Mill" in Los Gatos (ish) and earned a trip to the ER for 7 stitches for a head injury. The PA in the ER commended me for having exactly the right gear in my backpack and doing exactly the right thing. The dude in the 711 where I went to clean up and cool it down wasn't so amused since I bled all over his floor. (I don't know if you're familiar with head injuries, but they bleed a LOT. It's that brain thing...) I remember being really mad becuase I did this at, like, 7 pm and I figured I still had another 6 hours of caching, but by the time I was out of the ER I decided to call it a day. Quote Link to comment
+DemonicAngel Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 I did a good one today... I was out caching at the Fly Gap today and there was this little "jump" down to the next ledge where I thought I could get some really choice pics. Well I ended up jumping on a tree root with part of my foot and the other part of my foot was on the ground. I managed to twist my ankle pretty darn badly. But that didn't stop me from getting 4 more caches today. The only drawback to it was that by the time I got home my ankle was swollen HUGE!!! Quote Link to comment
+MissJenn Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 Falling is an art form for me. In winter, I do it about twice a week. I really laughed all the way down the slippery slope. Even funnier was watching my dog come sliding down after me (with much more grace than me). May I put in a request for some video next time? Please? At least one digital pic would do, too. Keep up the searches and finds, though! Quote Link to comment
+Planet Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 (edited) Greyhounder, May I recommend one of El Diablo's beautiful hiking sticks? It will help you keep your balance and can act as a brake. You gotta be careful! Edited January 21, 2004 by Planet Quote Link to comment
+greyhounder Posted January 22, 2004 Author Share Posted January 22, 2004 I have already taken a peek at El Diablo's walking sticks. I will be purchasing one very shortly!! I just wonder what sort of injuries I will get from the walking stick (trust me, it will happen. I was shooing my greyhound out of the way last night and sprained a finger!) Bec Quote Link to comment
+Sparky-Watts Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Greyhounder, May I recommend one of El Diablo's beautiful hiking sticks? It will help you keep your balance and can act as a brake. You gotta be careful! I wonder if he also makes them in the form of a crutch? Could be very useful! Quote Link to comment
+Right Wing Wacko Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 good job on sticking with it. i've been there when hurt. i screwed up my knee pretty good this summer shortly after we started caching and had to give it up for a while. kind of hard to cache when you can hardly hobble along lol. now if would only warm up before late april or early may hmmmm I also hurt my knee this last summer while caching. The worst part of it: I was on my way home from work to start a 10 day vacation that was going to be 10 solid days of caching. However there was this one cache that had just showed up on the radar and I stopped to score it on the way home from work that night..... Instead of 10 days caching, I got 3 months of hobbling around It still bothers me somewhat, even now. I did still manage to go camping with the kids that week, but only scored 5 fairly easy caches instead of 10 solid days of caching. Quote Link to comment
+Kordite Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Excerpt from my Foreign Finance Fund #2 search: "As I neared the cache location through another route I was sure I was on the right track. Plenty of hiding places. I was having difficulty with signal reflection but stood back, got an angle and went in. Couldn't find it. Looked some more. Still couldn't. Widened my search. As I was shimmying along the face looking in every conceviable hole and crevace, a branch that I was holding onto for stability broke off. There was a Wille E. Coyote moment of stopped time, leaning out over a precipice with the full realization of what was to come and stark reality of there being nothing to prevent it. Lesson Number Nine: Gravity is a harsh mistress. WHAM! I hit the trail, barely missing a two foot branch/stump that would surely have impailed me. WHUMP! I slide off the trail, too narrow to stop my descent, to another muddy ledge below. SLASH! Through the thorn bushes. THUD! Down to the muddy bank. SPLOOSH! The back of my head ends up in the river. Aside from some minor cuts on my hands and having the wind knocked out of me I survived the twenty foot drop, head first and backwards, down to the river. " There is also two logs for a nearby cache called Not New (Stantion) But! (I-76 West Bound) that has one of the worst injuries I seen. At least, by a geocacher I actually know. Lep's Log, Part 1 Lep's Log, Part 2 Quote Link to comment
+fishingfools Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 I broke the my radius on the way to the Serpentine Cliffs cache, slipped in a mossy stream and WHAM, SPLASH, SNAP. I was pretty sure it was broke, but then I noticed I was only .3 mi from the cache so I kept on going. Wife thinks I might not be right Quote Link to comment
+Ducky Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 I have a problem with my lower legs which in laymen terms means my muscles are too big for my legs This means too much walking causes cramps,spasms and general pain. I did 6 caches in one day most of which involved a min of an hours walking by number 4 I was getting spasms and by six I was a cooked goose. It took 4 days to recover after that one but stupid me was right back at it Quote Link to comment
+Ed & Julie Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 5 bouts of poison oak in the last year (each worst than the last)...'nuff said Ed Quote Link to comment
+Theseus Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 Other than the usual bumps and bruises I've only taken one good digger. And I brought it on myself. As I approached Hell's Fells I actually thought to myself "gee, this really isn't a three-star terrain" right before slipping on a wet rock. My hand smacked the rock (as did my eTrex). I looked down to see a chunk of my hand about the size of a quarter hanging on by a sliver of skin. Pulled it off like a bandaid. Thankfully I was close to the cache and managed to log the find before traipsing back to my car, stopping only to wipe the blood on the periodic unsuspecting leaf. Was out for more caches the next day, of course. Quote Link to comment
+joefrog Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 5 bouts of poison oak in the last year (each worst than the last)...'nuff said Ed Last year? Heck, I picked up a helluva case on Saturday! Quote Link to comment
+DyverDown Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 Earlier ths year I went out to place a cache and do maint on an existing one so I decided to ride my mountain bike... I placed the cache fine, took about 1/2 our building up the site with rocks (it is in a very exposed area) After that is was a fair ride to the new cache area, so off I go down the trail. Being a male (and so genetically predisposed to bad judgement) I was flying along the trail wayyy too fast when I encountered a number of large ruts fom the local dirt bikers. I almost crashed on the first series of ruts (these suckers are deep... about 18 - 20 inches and full of green ick water) So, the male hormones kick in and instead of slowing down, I decide to go faster to be able to hug the side of the trail better and avoid the next set I can see I am approaching... Well... I avoided the ruts initially, that is until the 2" tree that I did not notic was hanging across the trail caught on the visor of my helmet and began to skid down across my face (lucky I had those polycarbonate riding glasses on...) As the branch hit me, I was still in Male mode and kept pedaling, causing further momentum to add to my already ill fated foreward motion. The tree, had a small "nub" sticking off it where someone had previously snapped a branch off it sticking out the side of it. This nub, found it's way into my mouth as the stree skided across my glasses, turning my head and neck violently to the right. The nub, happened to be perfectly positioned that it stopped all my foreward motion by hooking on the inside corer of my mouth, tearing me off the bike and depositing me face first onto the bike that was now sitting in the closest (and of course deepest) rut filled with green ick water... As I got up, I didn't initially realize what had happened, I thought I had just been knocked off the bike, then I spat out a mouthful of blood and chunks of what I later discovered was the inside of my mouth and gums. Once I noticed I was "bleeding" I tied to clean out the ick water which I had been doused in and found a heck of a lot of blood coming out of me where it wasn't before (my mouth). I was concerned that I had poked the nub right through my cheek and tried to feel it from the outside but had on gloves (covered in mud and ick water) and was concerned I would make things worse by poking a hole full of mud if there was one. So, I dug out the digital camera and turned it on myself to try to see what kind of damage I had done... the pictures were very hard to see on the lil screen on the back and I didn't want to bleed all over the camera so I really couldn't tell. Then the male hormones took over and since the cache location was only about 100m away I decided to go there, do the maint and then go back to the car.... It turns out, the reason I went there (to check on a travel bug), I completely forgot to do, so it was a wasted trip anyways. On my way out I took a different route back to the car and passed a few hikers who stared at me, blood streaming out of my mouth and covered in mud riding like a demon. Got to the car, put the bike on the rack and cleaned off a lil mud so I wouldn't destroy the inside of the car. Got in and drove towards home, looking in the mirror I saw my mouth swelling all up and blood all over me now. Then I noticed the corner of my mouth had been extended (ripped) by my tree interaction. As I was driving I headed down Canal Road (it boarders the Welland Canal) and is a federally owned road.... As I round a corner I notice a Police Officer standing off to the side of the road in an orange traffic vest and think, oh no, they are running radar. I glance down at my speedometer and find myself doing 20km/h over the limit and begin to pull in even before the officer waves me over. I think to myself... I should have stayed in bed today. As he approached the car, I recognize him as one I have worked with before and roll down my window, he looks in and asks "what the hell happened to you!" I laugh, and reply (now in pain, 'cuz it really did hurt to laugh) 'I think I had a little accident". He asked if I was heading to the hospital and I replied I was and he told me to get the hell out of there.... which I did... Later that evening when I go to pick up my wife, she thinks I am just acting like an idiot when I can't talk right till I show her my face.... I have the pictures I took somewhere, if I find them I'll upload them. Although they are not that great... It's hard to compose a good picture when you are panicking Quote Link to comment
+greyhounder Posted February 13, 2004 Author Share Posted February 13, 2004 Being the sick puppy that I am -- I am loving these stories!! Thanks for sharing. Stay tuned, I'm sure you'll be hearing some great tales of self-destruction from me in the future! Bec Quote Link to comment
+Cachew Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Well, I saw greyhounder scale a 20 foot cliff last weekend -- no problems at all -- except that the cache was really at the bottom after all. LOL!!! ~Cachew Quote Link to comment
+greyhounder Posted February 15, 2004 Author Share Posted February 15, 2004 Hmmm...yes, Cachew, that was a rare moment for me -- climbing without injury. Got some lovely bruises and scrapes from the adventure for sure. But had a great time (again, thanks so much for all your help!!) Bec Quote Link to comment
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