My Saturday hiking semi disaster

So I decided to hike Sitton Peak which is a local easy 10+ mile loop (3273 ft). I’ve hiked it many times but had not been up since Covid. Started 6:45 so about an hour later than I planned (first mistake).Trail was really overgrown but bugs were really bad. I didn’t have my bug net (second mistake). Then since I was the first hiker it was like walking in a spiders lair with all the webs across the trail. I ended up using one of my sticks to knock them down. Hiking downhill before the final climb my left boot slipped and went to the right taking my footing out from under me and sending me to the dirt. I wasn’t hurt so I dusted myself off. It looked like loose pebbles caused it. Summit was good, quiet so I rested for 10 minutes but it was getting hot (91 degrees) so I didn’t want to wait. I checked my water, I had 3 liters to start, thought I had at least a liter left. Downhill I must have tangled my walking stick into my legs because I went down pitching forward. Luck I caught myself or I would have face planted. I was more bruised up on this fall and that’s when I thought oh I forgot my first aid kit (#3). Final blunder was 2 miles from finish ran out of water (#4). I haven’t made this many mistakes or falls for years. Hoping next weekend is better as I will be better prepared. If you are a seasoned hiker but have had anything like this happen to you please share. At least I won’t feel so bad (and stupid).2zh1x1cb1bty.jpeg
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Replies

  • annshandle
    annshandle Posts: 68 Member
    I've run out of water while hiking before, it's no fun! This summer I've been taking my camelback, which has been an improvement.
    Congratulations on a big hike!
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,668 Member
    I have gotten off trail several times by not paying attention, either while talking to someone or just following the wrong trail when criss-crossing a creek. Usually it just meant some extra miles. Once I didn't get back home until 1 a.m. after getting concussed by a bad fall and then bushwhacking in the dark for several hours. Another time I tried to bushwhack over a cactus covered ridge after I got rimrocked. Both times, I would have done better to stay put until morning, but was afraid of family calling out the rescue squad, so kept going.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,033 Member
    Not quite the same level of 'oops', one big one instead of many little ones. But I once did a one way hike along the coast with my BF (can't remember which country), intending to take a boat ride back to the starting point.
    The path was basically an 'endless' uneven cobble path which killed my feet. I barely 'made it' to the end and then ended up just missing the last boat back! So I then had to walk the whole way back again, and at a steady pace too, to make it back before dark. Usually I start arguing with my BF when I'm tired and in pain :wink: but I was in so much pain that I just zoned out, I didn't say a word the whole way back.
  • RunsWithBees
    RunsWithBees Posts: 1,508 Member
    When I was new to hiking a few years ago I once foolishly went for a hike in 104 degree weather on a trail with absolutely no shade anywhere along the route. I had plenty of water but suffered from heat exhaustion and a lack of electrolytes from drinking too much water. It happened so fast too! My bf and I started having horrible leg cramps so we turned back but we were still miles from the car. My legs turned to jelly, I was really close to vomiting and I was delirious, I couldn’t think straight or take a single step more and sat down on the ground and was ready to give up. My boyfriend also got overheated and had the leg muscle cramps as well but hadn’t drunk so much water so he was in better shape than I was and took care of me. We still didn’t have any electrolytes with us but he stayed with me and tried to shade me with his body. We just sat in the dirt until my urge to vomit had passed and we rested, then we walked back to the car extremely slowly, every single step took all the strength I had in me. We made it to the car and had some food/sweet drinks in the car and once I had some electrolytes and was in the shade of the car I slowly felt better. That was such a horrible experience. But now I know better and always take electrolytes with me whenever I go out hiking or running, not just water. Oh, and I also don’t go hiking when the weather is 104 and there’s no shade on the trail! :#
  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
    Last September our family of 5 took a trip out west with our popup camper. It was a great trip, but on one of our hikes, in Bryce Canyon, we didn’t take enough water. We really had to conserve, and it was a pretty hot and hilly hike. It turned out ok, but I felt pretty foolish having taken that risk with our kids!

    Another time (before kids) my husband and I were backpacking in the White Mountains of NH, when we got caught on a ridge above tree line in a severe thunderstorm. We hovered on our heels, hunched down, with lightning cracking right above us, and being pelted with hail. We felt lucky to have survived that trip!

    Anyway, I’m happy everything worked out for you. The pics are beautiful!
  • Clive_1963
    Clive_1963 Posts: 52 Member
    had a miss app a couple of years ago, hiked up mount Snowdon and down again and took my eyes off the track when someone asked me a question and twisted my ankle which luckily sent me running down hill into the high bank side and no over the edge. Finished the hike with a very swollen ankle that turned purple but luckily I had good strong hiking boots on.
  • Hanibanani2020
    Hanibanani2020 Posts: 523 Member
    My friend and I got lose a few hikes ago. We just went off trail following a wallaby track by accident and we decided to just head up to the peak and see where we were. Really enjoyed it and as we went straight up our butts got a great workout. We were only a couple of is off track and got to see some great stuff. Sometimes poorly planned hikes make the best memories.
  • RunsWithBees
    RunsWithBees Posts: 1,508 Member
    Not hiking but biking... I was biking on a paved trail with my bf on an unfamiliar trail and he had stopped for some reason and I went on ahead. The pavement was not very well maintained and had lots of huge cracks in it. My front tire got caught in a parallel crack just the right size to trap my tire and I was going at a good downhill speed so it all happened fast. By the time my tire popped free from the crack it had derailed my trajectory, forcing my bike towards a steep drop off to the right. I tried to brake but couldn’t stop in time and it occurred to me that I would end up at the bottom of that drop off so I tried to ditch the bike so I could tuck and roll in an attempt to lessen my impact. Before I could be completely free of the bike a tree limb seemingly came out of nowhere and caught me and the bike, halting our tumble down the rest of the hill. That tree saved me a lot of hurt!!! I was shook up and had a few scratches and bruises but was fine. I had to drag the bike back up and waited for my bf who finally caught up with me and had missed the whole scenario. I was so mad but finished the bike ride anyway. Later on that day I still had that shaken up feeling all over my body and guess I desired to feel in control of myself again so I went out and ran a 5K even though I was exhausted from the bike ride earlier. When I run I feel like my body is moving in perfect harmony and it felt like just what I needed to reset and regain a sense of control and I was much better afterwards. It really would have been a much worse outcome without that lovely tree though!

    Another time a tree saved me just in time was a day I was trail running and rounding a blind corner on the trail. It’s a very narrow trail that had a drop off to my right and the upslope of a hill to my left. I tripped over a root and fell to the left up against the hill and had only a split second to feel upset about it when all of a sudden a couple of bikes came in fast around the blind corner and zoomed past me. Since I had just fallen to the side and wasn’t on the trail they didn’t hit me but definitely would have collided with me had I not tripped over the root and fallen in the safest spot I possibly could have been in at that exact moment. I’ve run this trail many times before and never tripped on any roots before or since then, go figure. Trees are amazing! <3:)
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,329 Member
    I did a few stupid things involving water in the past. A small hike on Tenerife in summer. 31C in the shade (about 91F I think?) but no shade anywhere. 5km from the parking on a nice vantage point I kicked over my water and it went downhill from there (the water and me). Once back at the parking I had two massive lemonades that I drank in seconds. Stupid.

    Even more stupid: Lived in the middle east. In summer, at Ramadan I had the stupid idea to check out whether a nice park just 2.5km from my home was open again. Ramadan, thus could not take water along. It was 50C in the shade, and you guessed it: no shade to be found at noon. Got to park, saw it was still closed (some construction work), walked back home. Well, I tried. When I was back home I clearly had far too much heat and lay on my cool limestone floor for I don't know how long until I could finally get up and get some water. Totally stupid.
  • tnh2o
    tnh2o Posts: 155 Member
    I encountered a bear and her cub while hiking alone in the Smokies. The bears wouldn't leave the trail so I headed back up the mountain. I didn't see anyone for hours when I met a man and his daughter so I headed back down the trail with them (By then the bears had moved on). At the end of the day we hiked out in the dark and I estimate I hiked 23 miles. Now I ALWAYS carry my headlamp, space blanket, and matches. I thought I might have to spend the night on the trail.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,983 Member
    I used to get Backpacker Magazine, and almost every issue, there would be a first-person account of a hike gone terribly wrong. They would always point out that it was never ONE mistake that lead to the disaster, it's a series of mistakes and poor decisions.

    I always thought about that when out on a hike and I encounter a problem. I think...the next decision I make is going to be very important, so really think about this before you do anything. Luckily, I never had anything too bad happen, just annoying stuff like weather or briefly losing my way.

    I'm glad you're okay and didn't have any serious complications!
  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
    tnh2o wrote: »
    I encountered a bear and her cub while hiking alone in the Smokies. The bears wouldn't leave the trail so I headed back up the mountain. I didn't see anyone for hours when I met a man and his daughter so I headed back down the trail with them (By then the bears had moved on). At the end of the day we hiked out in the dark and I estimate I hiked 23 miles. Now I ALWAYS carry my headlamp, space blanket, and matches. I thought I might have to spend the night on the trail.

    Yikes! Bear encounters, especially with mom and cubs, scare me!