jc1234
09-11-2010, 10:34 PM
Just wanted to remind all of my fellow hikers that there is no such thing as paranoid when it comes to safety and planning. People make fun of me (especially my wife) about my over-preparedness. I dont carry a ton of equipment, but what I do carry is over engineered and looks the part.
I hike primarily waterfall trails and the waterfalls themselves. Trail hikes go faster, and waterfall hikes and their surrounding stream bed hikes go slow and are quite technical and slow. My dog and I work as a team, he helps me and help him mentally with navigating in areas a dog would normally not have an interest in going. The dog weights about 15% less than I do, so we tend to balance each other out.
At any rate my newest addition is a leash made of static rescue dry rope with carabiners on either end secured by double figure 8 knots on either end with a few stopper knots in between.
Anyway, Ive hiked this trail probably over 100 times, I know it well. Several people have been severely injured this year falling over falls, two have been airlifted out once they were carried several miles to a road. The trail has been very loose this year due to the high heat and low rainfall. I was hiking a few days ago and and even though I was watching my footing, even though I consciously knew that the trail was dry, I was complacent and stepped to far to the side. The trail gave way to a 30' 70 degree downward slope to a rocky dry waterfall bed, had I fallen I would not have suffered tremendous injury, but it would have definitely ruined my day at the very least.
Luckily, I was able to grab onto one of my stopper knots and used the dog as a counter weight to keep myself from falling more than 2 feet. The dog was only supporting about 20 pounds of weight, but it was enough to help me keep my balance, regain my footing, and get back on the trail. The whole ordeal took less than 30 seconds.
The "fall" was my fault, but my preparedness allowed for redundancy in my safety precautions (my mind and knowledge of the terrain as well as a safety rope). I was fine, my hike was only interrupted for 30 seconds and my new leash / safety rope (which I designed to help my dog if he slipped, not so much the other way around) got a good test, even if it wasnt the way I intended it.
Long story short, know the terrain, have a backup and dont let anyone tell you that you are over prepared, chances are, its the other way around. I have seen so many injuries, both minor and serious trauma this year, almost all due to unprepared individuals who did not understand the requirements of the terrain.
and no, my wife has no idea about this lol.
I hike primarily waterfall trails and the waterfalls themselves. Trail hikes go faster, and waterfall hikes and their surrounding stream bed hikes go slow and are quite technical and slow. My dog and I work as a team, he helps me and help him mentally with navigating in areas a dog would normally not have an interest in going. The dog weights about 15% less than I do, so we tend to balance each other out.
At any rate my newest addition is a leash made of static rescue dry rope with carabiners on either end secured by double figure 8 knots on either end with a few stopper knots in between.
Anyway, Ive hiked this trail probably over 100 times, I know it well. Several people have been severely injured this year falling over falls, two have been airlifted out once they were carried several miles to a road. The trail has been very loose this year due to the high heat and low rainfall. I was hiking a few days ago and and even though I was watching my footing, even though I consciously knew that the trail was dry, I was complacent and stepped to far to the side. The trail gave way to a 30' 70 degree downward slope to a rocky dry waterfall bed, had I fallen I would not have suffered tremendous injury, but it would have definitely ruined my day at the very least.
Luckily, I was able to grab onto one of my stopper knots and used the dog as a counter weight to keep myself from falling more than 2 feet. The dog was only supporting about 20 pounds of weight, but it was enough to help me keep my balance, regain my footing, and get back on the trail. The whole ordeal took less than 30 seconds.
The "fall" was my fault, but my preparedness allowed for redundancy in my safety precautions (my mind and knowledge of the terrain as well as a safety rope). I was fine, my hike was only interrupted for 30 seconds and my new leash / safety rope (which I designed to help my dog if he slipped, not so much the other way around) got a good test, even if it wasnt the way I intended it.
Long story short, know the terrain, have a backup and dont let anyone tell you that you are over prepared, chances are, its the other way around. I have seen so many injuries, both minor and serious trauma this year, almost all due to unprepared individuals who did not understand the requirements of the terrain.
and no, my wife has no idea about this lol.