Ouch! (queezy Types Be Warned)

December 9, 2004

Reading a recent post about an ankel broken while geocaching stirred a question in me as I am typing with the left side of my body in a harness to imobilize my shoulder.

What gorry, disturbing, insightful, funny or just interesting Geocaching Injury stories are there out there?

My Story: I had just finished logging The Polk Extention and was heading across town on my mountain bike to visit the bench where my mother-in-law's ashes were spread (with the goal of hiding a cache on or near the bench). As I entered Dallas City Park for the first time in many years, I was stunned by the beautiful setting that I did not remember as grandly as it appeared to me just then. Suddenly my bicycle bucked like a wild horse and as I was trying to gain control it jumped again the lauched me over the handlebars. As I was flying through the air with my feet well over my head, trying to figure out what the heck had just happened and what was about to happen, I realized that I had just hit the most agressive speedbump I have seen in several decades. Next, my head hit the pavement with surprizingly little pain (thank you Bell Helmet!!!!). Then, I felt the impact of my shoulder and the sharp crushing pain the surely meant only one thing . . .

As I reached with my right arm (the one that worked) to picked up my Garmin Geko 301 from the pavement and inspect it for damage (none visible) I realized that I was blessed with having a fanny pack on. Yes, blessed because, by turning the fanny pack around to my left side, I could use it as a shelf hold my left arm up. A local heard my loud cursing and asked what he could do. I asked him for directions to the local Hospital which he provided.

The bicycle was undamaged. The chain went back on using only one hand, albeit awkwardly. The hospital was about eight blocks away. My wife is still mad at me for rideing my bike to the hospital instead of getting a ride with the local. I am now several thousand dollars poorer than I was a month ago. But, I have pictures I would never have otherwise had. I can now set off airport metal detectors even if naked. And, I have a good excuse for not doing dishes for another 5 weeks. Granted, the doctor's description of my shoulder being a lot like Humpty Dumpty may come back to haunt me.

My shoulder with staples in it. Possibly disturbing to some.

X-ray of shoulder after surgery.

10.1k · December 9, 2004

And I thought I was doing bad sticking my eye into a tree twig! It was red for a week! I have to be careful of my eyes after cataract surgery.

Then there was the curious case of lepidopterism. A caterpillar fell down the neck of my shirt. Probably a gypsy moth. Lepidopterism is a severe allergy to caterpillar fuzz. My neck was bright red, itchy and bumpy. It took a doctor's visit, a prescription and a week for it to subside.

December 9, 2004

. . . sticking my eye into a tree twig! It was red for a week! . . . a severe allergy to caterpillar fuzz. My neck was bright red, itchy and bumpy.

Pictures? :lol:

2k · December 9, 2004

Get well soon. :lol:

3.8k · December 10, 2004

I've been perforated by sharp thorns (who hasn't??) but always worry about the stick in the eye. Had one get me good right in my tear duct area and it hurt, but considering the alternative, I was pretty lucky. :lol:

December 10, 2004

as one who has dumped my body off a mountain bike a few too many times all I can say is take care Puzzler and I hope you heal quickly.

6.5k · December 10, 2004

I have been pretty lucky so far. Nothing worse than a tweaked knee. I have been caching in the park outside of Nashville where my good friend horsegeeks broke his ankle; it is easy to imagine how he did it. But that shoulder is even nastier than my wife's wrist after a severe fracture in a car wreck a few years back. Heal well and fast, Puzzler. I pity the locals in your area. I'm sure you will be dreaming up some nasty puzzles while you are off the trails. :lol:

6.5k · December 10, 2004

My shoulder with staples in it. Possibly disturbing to some.

hey in that x ray there looks like a wire or something above your new 'hardware'. was it picking up the stitchs or what?

December 10, 2004

On my first real attempt at a cache, I walked through burrs and thorns for 20 minutes. After coming out, I had some scratches on my hands (I was wearing long sleeves) but that was it (so I thought). I noticed later that night, a bump on the back of my head. I get the occasional "blemish" on my head, so I passed it off as a pimple. 3 days later, it hadn't gotten any smaller, so I had my wife look at it. She saw a large red bump, almost boil sized. She claimed there was a black dot in the middle that looked like a scab, so she messed with it. A minute later she says "Holy Crap!" The black dot turned out to be a 1/2 inch thorn jammed straight into the back of my head.

Long story longer... It's out, i'm fine.

December 10, 2004

hey in that x ray there looks like a wire or something above your new 'hardware'. was it picking up the stitchs or what?

Those are the staples, now removed. Apparently stitches are old-school these days.

I've been thinking about attaching a magnetic key holder to my shoulder and posting it as a traveling cache, but then, traveling caches aren't being approved any more. Oh, such a loss. :lol:

December 10, 2004

Had one get me good right in my tear duct area . . .

That must explain your avatar? :lol:

2.7k · December 10, 2004

I'd give a a Nelson "Ha-Ha!", but that bruise just looks too nasty... ouch.

3.8k · December 10, 2004

Had one get me good right in my tear duct area . . .

That must explain your avatar?

ha!

almost... it's a popular "face" of mine, actually!

1.8k · December 10, 2004

the large naked and damp log was slippery. As I slid off, I "pulled" the large muscle area inside my right thigh quite badly. Months later, I aggravate it easily, and I think it will never be quite whole, and I'm extra careful every time I maintain that cache.

3.9k · December 10, 2004

As I reached with my right arm (the one that worked) to picked up my Garmin Geko 301 from the pavement and inspect it for damage (none visible)

Glad to see you have your priorities straight. I'm really impressed you rode your bike to the hospital. I would have been crying for them to air lift me. I don't know what happened. I used to have a very high tolerance for pain, now... you know when you wear a hat all day and your hair starts to hurt? That's my worst caching injury so far, and I didn't like it.

December 10, 2004

the large naked and damp log was slippery.

Me too while visiting Oregon. I actually whiplashed my neck...never knew your trachea could be so sore you couldn't touch it. You just don't see that in Illinois.

Edited December 10, 2004 by Charles Street Gang

1.7k · December 10, 2004

Welcome to the surgical implant club, I'm up to 5 screws and a knee to ankle rod. You'll never know they are there, although you may find yourself able to tell when the weather is going to change, a tool that has been useful for me sometimes when I am caching.

3k · December 10, 2004

I used to have a very high tolerance for pain, now... you know when you wear a hat all day and your hair starts to hurt? That's my worst caching injury so far, and I didn't like it.

Joe, the people in my office are wondering why I'm sitting here laughing out loud!!

Stop it!!! :lol: :lol:

December 10, 2004

The circumstances: Went spelunking in a local cave reported to have a geocache in it. Never found the cache, but had a great time exploring the cave nonetheless. That is, until we decided to leave. The entrance (and exit) to the cave has been marked by someone with a can of spraypaint as "The Abyss"—a sheer drop onto solid rock. My friend, always trying to be helpful, decides to prove to me the timelessness of Newton's Theory of Gravity. It works, with wonderful effect. He plummets about 20' onto solid rock, using his face to break the fall. He was wearing a helmet, but sadly he had it unstrapped so it fell off on the way down. He fractured his cheekbone, and to this day his face is a bit flat on one side.

The results: Photos for the decidedly unsqueamish.

December 11, 2004

He fractured his cheekbone, and to this day his face is a bit flat on one side.

The results: Photos for the decidedly unsqueamish.

Ouch! I have a bone chip in my ankle from a stupid stunt that ended in a 20' grounder, long before geocaching. But I've never managed to hurt my face, thank goodness.

> ... you know when you wear a hat all day and your hair starts to hurt?

Now, that's serious. Ouch. I just can't imagine how painful that much be! :blink:

December 11, 2004

Worst so far was a grand case of poison oak all over my arms. Truly exquisite itch & burn, along with the weeping (wounds and me). I know, what a wuss! Got it when going after This Cache. In my log I refer to it as a "minor case". That was a couple of days after I DNF'd, foolishly unaware that PO just gets much worse before it gets better. I still have light red splotches on my arms weeks later.

December 12, 2004

You need a better Mountain Bike. Are there Mountains in Dallas???

December 12, 2004

I got an inch-long splinter full under my fingernail--I thought I was going to pass out. Now I know why they sometimes use it as torture.

And Lyme Disease. Very bad.

December 12, 2004

I think we have all experience the occasional stick in the eye. I have tried wearing sunglasses, but it seems as soon as I take them off to search for the cache - boink!! Right in the eye!

The worst I have had is last week when I walked into a low barbed wire fence. Called the doc and found out that the tetnus shot was up to date! :anicute:

December 13, 2004

No matter which sport or hobby one participates in there is a chance of injury. We have enjoyed this last year immensely with the new hobby that was introduced to us by nittany dave. The broken ankle was a let down but it sure hasn't diluted our enthusiasm for geocaching. I will probably be just a little more careful in the future but probably by just looking for a safer way to do some of these caches. The only good thing about the broken ankle is it happened on the last afternoon of our 4 days and 5 nights in Nashville having the time of our lives. Thanks to all of our new friends for their get wells and offers of help.

December 13, 2004

Though my injury was prior to Geocaching, it did lead to me finding the sport, and was the inspiration for a cache I hid called Ode to My Leg

December 13, 2004

Almost a month ago, I twisted my leg when I decided to jump down into some bushes (not a wise idea). The ground that I landed on was uneven and one foot kinda got tweaked. Fortunantly I had my walking stick and after about 10 minutes, the pain subsided so I could hobble back down to my car.

The pain has is pretty much gone, but I've learned now that injuries don't heal as quickly as they used to.

December 13, 2004

. . . my injury . . . was the inspiration for a cache I hid called Ode to My Leg

Great story!

5k · December 13, 2004

My geocaching injury pic looks much more gory than the injury really was. While doing some cyclecaching, I walked into a barbed wire fence. I had blood all over my leg for the next couple of hunts. This picture was taken when I got home:

December 13, 2004

I sprained an ankle stepping on a loose rock enroute to Ditch Mountain. Nothing unusual about that, except the sprain is nearly painless. I have swelling and black bruising down the side of the foot, but almost full range of motion.

This gives me the opening to brag about our cat, Levi Strauss. He's a big (16-lb) American shorthair with a square head, semi-crossed eyes and, frankly, not a lot of smarts. But when anyone's sick or injured, he's on them like white on rice. Spent a fitful night last night sleeping with this big cat embracing my swollen foot. Which made it swell more, I guess. But it's kind of comforting to think that ol' Levi wanted to protect or cure my busted foot. He's a self-applying poultice--a poultice-cat! :grin:

December 13, 2004

It was hot. I was wearing canvas trail runners. Stepped up onto a log, and it disintegrated beneath my feet and I was instantly swarmed by thousands of fire ants. AAAAACCCKKKKK! Took more than 100 bites on my feet and spent 3 weeks on steroids. Nights are really long when your feet are screaming at you, and the only way to shut them up is to leave them soaking in cold water. All night. Every night. For over a week before I could stand it. Still, I went caching the next day. OK, not for long, but that was before I'd convinced myself I was going to have to visit the doctor...

And it was a DNF, because the cache had gone missing. Sigh.

December 14, 2004

In May of this year, I rode and cached the "Youghotomac" trail, which comprises about 320 miles along the Youghiogheny, Cassleman and Potomac Rivers from near Pittsburgh to Washington DC. The first leg of my journey was on my bicycle at night. Normally, the trail at night would be sufficently illuminated with my headlamp but with the fog I didn't see the rock.

It was the kind of 10 cubic foot mosnter that trail maintainers place at crossings to keep the rednecks from riding their trucks on the trail. I didn't see it and hit it square on, sending me over the handlebars to take the impact in the chest.

Fortunately, I didn't break any ribs and was able to ride my damaged bike 5 miles to civilization (Connellsville, PA) where I used a bike rack as a lever to pry my front fork back into position and ride on.

December 14, 2004

Can't say I've had any serious injuries but I thought I'd throw in here.

Place: Phoenix, AZ

Time of year: August

Time of Day: around 3:00pm

Lead-in: A day of caching, found two and this was the third and then I'd call it a day. I get to the top of a hill, nice breeze blowing, got water in my camelback pack, got enough daylight to see, and got decent shoes to tromp cross-country.

What happened: August in the valley of the sun?! What was I thinking?! First off, I SHOULD have known better, I've worked in construction here for the previous 13 years. Yeah, got heat exhaustion during that trek but being the stubborn tough guy who's worked in temperatures from -7 degrees in Montana to record heat here in Arizona of +122, 'I'll do it'.

Well, since I've worked with heat exhaustion before, I figured no biggie, just take it easy and I'll be ok. WRONG. I tromp through some brush, lose my footing and kneel down on some jumping cactus I think it's called. Found out a tip here, use a cloth to wrap your needle nose pliers to pull out those types of stickers, oh, and yank fast, least amount of pain that way.

Also, did you know, jumping jack cactus needles penetrate leather? I found out that little bit trivia, yup, the hard way.

And a final word of warning: TELL someone where you are going and what you are doing if you go alone! I get home after catching my breath and had to sheepishly go tell my wife that I did a really stupid thing that day. She's a nurse practitioner so you can imagine what kind of 'information' she gladly gave me.

Oh, did I mention? I never found that cache and to date, I haven't looked for any. Not because I gave it up but because my school session started. I am returning to caching, but this time, I'll carry a cell phone and I have adapters that I can use to power up any low batteries in my truck.

December 15, 2004

. . . spent 3 weeks on steroids. Nights are really long when your feet are screaming at you, and the only way to shut them up is to leave them soaking in cold water. All night. Every night. For over a week before I could stand it. Still, I went caching the next day.

Wow. I would have never guessed that fire ants could cause such trouble. I'm still laughing at the images in my mind of someone trying to sleep with their feet in a bucket of cold water.

December 15, 2004

cache injury

Not even any stitches, but made for a good pic against the snow!

December 16, 2004

Date: Sep. 24th 2004.

Cache: Razorback (GCJWWC)

The accident? Fell 40' from a cliff..

The story: is here.

3.8k · December 18, 2004

While I was looking for Jury Duty Day 1 – Get Out of Jail Free, I managed to poke myself in the eye with a tree. :lol:

I realize that this is a fairly common thing, but it's not all that common for me.

When it was all said and done, I couldn't wear my contacts for most of the next month. So, I had to wear my glasses, which are a bit out of date. That brought on a headache the likes of which I have never had before. And, it lasted nearly 3 weeks!

Just to make it more fun, it appears that I may be allergic to whatever sort of tree it was. I dunno what it was, I couldn't see it. My tear duct decided to swell up, and it felt like I had a pea in there.

Things have finally settled down, and I can wear my contacts again. Which is a very good thing. I was getting tiered of running into stuff.

December 19, 2004

I recently had my most expensive DNF ($877.00) due to injury. Careful to the squeamish - graphic pictures in log...

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...f1-506475a589a4

December 19, 2004

just read this much more than an injury.

Scavenger Hunt Turns Deadly

LAST UPDATE: 12/14/2004 6:50:00 AM

Posted By: Carly Miller

A man out on a scavenger hunt, ends up dying while searching for the treasure.

Police say it looks like 64-year-old James Max Chamberlain fell off a small cliff at Eisenhauer Park, off Northwest Military Highway.

Chamberlain went on the scavenger hunt Saturday morning using a hi-tech GPS system he had just bought.

His wife called police Saturday night after he didn't come home.

Chamberlain's body was found Sunday morning after an all-night search in the park.

"From the evidence, just leads us to believe right now, that he was walking along the trails, got to his destination, and he either slipped and fell down the ravine, or was trying to walk back up the little incline and slipped back," said Lieutenant Rosie Vasquez.

Chamberlain's death appears to be an accident.

He found the scavenger hunt online and was alone when he died.

December 19, 2004

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...a9-c2b77953749d

This was the cache the man was hunting for. I pray for his family.

Ouch! (queezy Types Be Warned)

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