Disaster on the trail

“Like I've said in previous threads/posts, I'm fairly new at "backpacking". What are some of the bad things that's happened to you out on the trail? Did you forget to bring your food? Did a storm brew up and cause a tree to smash your tent?”

“I woke up with a hang over once.”

“never expect a trip to be 100% OK!

something always goes wrong thats the fun in it!”

“Mostly lots of Rain and maybe a few minor burns, cuts and scratches, <G>. No major catastrophes YET (knock-on-wood).”

“Mostly lots of Rain and maybe a few minor burns, cuts and scratches, <G>. No major catastrophes YET (knock-on-wood).”

“And the usual déjà vu.”

“The flashlight bulb went out on the first night of 19. Hiking alone, I found out for 19 nights that I could do just fine without a flashlight.”

“A girl broke her arm on one of my trips. With all of us working together, we were able to get the horses to come in. SnowDude was the hero on that trip doing the extra 10 miles of hiking to get help.

SnowDude left his tentpoles at home, and it rained on us that night. He set up his tent by using nylon cord between the trees and the tent survived. Me and the other guy had bivys, so we couldn't share. (This was before we started dating)”

“.....but no disasters. Everything always works out. There's always a way to fix things.”

“Does dating somehow make you smaller?

If so, I will have to try that dating stuff again....


j/k”

“no, no, no.... I used a bivy when I was single, I didn't want to carry a heavy tent. That's why he had his own tent.”

“Dating makes you smaller. Marriage makes you fat.”

“Last summer our water filter broke on day 3 of 8 and all we had was enough iodine/neutralizer to treat about 2 days of water. It was a blessing in disguise as we quickly learned how much more convienent the iodine/neutralizer tablets were. We also drank from some pristine springs. I'll never carry a filter again...(unless I'm planning to drink from a cow pasture)”

“well the worst thing that ever happened to me on a backpack trip was to have a hemorrhoid start bleeding - hiking with a wad of TP stuck in my butt was for the most part not too bad but it was messy and smelly. I had some wet wipes with me so cleanup wasn't too bad and overall the trip was still fun - just a little different (grin).”

“oh I did not want to know about that...JEESSSEEESSS”

“I've had things that looked like disasters when they happened, but turned out OK once I figured out how to deal with it. For example: 10 miles into a hundred mile hike I slipped fording a stream and got a big bleeding gash in my foot. I couldn't imagine it healing while I walked 90 miles on it. First aid, regular breaks to clean the wound (and let it air)- as well as having one clean liner sock to put on the wounded foot everyday got me through it. We were only slightly slowed down by this and finished the hike less than 8 days later.”

“Man, Hog, that was quite graphic.”

“I've only been on one trip, but the worst thing that happened was seeing an extremely old naked man get into the same hotspring me and my buds were soaking in.”

“what can I say - I tell it like it is (or at least was)”

“Well hog, I'm glad that it WAS and not is. :)”

“Newgirl was that you in the hot spring?”

“Made a serious miscalculation as to how much fuel I would need for my stove. Ran out of fuel after 3 days of a 5 day trip. Cold Mountain House food does not taste that good, but it does fill the tummy void.
Solution: don't miscalculate fuel usage”

“Me and my buds were in that particular hotspring . . . is that what you mean? I don't follow?”

“I was in a free standing tent once in the Badlands and the wind kicked up and blew me two flips across the top of a butte. It was like being in a nylon car wreck. It was lightening and raining outside too. My 3/4 thermorest got punctured by cactus. It's an experiance. I was laying there trying to find the door and all my junk was everywhere. All I could do was hope my tent wasn't completely destroyed. As it turned out, the tent was fine.
Even while it was happening I knew that in hindsight it would be funny. It was/is.”

“I ate too many magic mushrooms and got lost!

8)”

“That sucks Mike! LOL!”

“Well Newgirl, it could have been worse... it could have been an extremely old naked man with the problem HOI described getting into the hotspring with you.”

“Oh Gawd, Ped, that would have been awful. Actually, in hindsight I kinda' felt like, "Damn, if that guy got his arse up here w/out oxygen and had the balls (old as they may have been) to come over and hope in a hotspring w/ 20-something chicas, he deserves to be as naked as he wants!"”

“I tore ligaments and chipped a bone in my ankle solo hiking, but was able to stumble out to the trailhead.

My old POS Coleman Peak 1 decided to spray white gas everywhere whilst lit and start a small fire, but I doused it with dirt before it could blow up real good.

The ONE time I tried to take my wife backpacking, we forgot the tent. I still have not heard the end of that one.”

“ROTFL NG!”

“Well it was fun but getting lost and it was cool.

The lighting bugs were way cool!!!!!!

8)”

“This suddenly reminded me of an old joke:

Q: What happened when the Lieutenant's wife backed up into the propeller plane?

A: Disaster!”

“Got claustrophobic in pal's small tent at the start of a (planned) 4-5 day hike when a huge rainstorm hit. Rain wasn't bad (just sat outside with rain gear on), but had to cut trip short after that one night to keep my sanity. Now I always bring MY tent.”

“Oh man HOI, TMI, TMI!!!

Walkindude: That's some funny ass #&%!$!”

“I still got that tent but haven't used it in a long time.

Once I caught myself on fire with a white Gas stove (Peak 1 Featherweight 400). Burnt all the hair off one leg and an arm up to my elbow. Also singed a bit of head hair. Other casulities were a foam pad, stuff sack, and 2 granola bars.”

“Way to go WalkingDude!

8)”

“HEY! whats wrong with naked old men?

the worst I have had was 50 flat tires in a single day while bike touring.So far I havent had a single problem while backpacking worth mentioning.”

“Only disaster I have had was letting an ignorant, "know-it-all" newbie on a multiday backcountry trip.

Several times she pleaded for us to leave her. We were sorely tempted.

Newbies don't bother me. Ignorant people do not bother me. Those who think they know it all and don't listen REALLY bother me.”

“But I apologized a million times for that, Pathman!

J/K”

“Myself, well I've been backpacking for 20 YEARS and have never had anything go wrong. And I don't use radios, or cellphones, or trekking poles, or GPS, etc.”

“Your living room doesnt count”

“towndawg needs to tell his lodt boot story on a 50 miler!! Its awesome!”

“Just wet stuff that had to be dried, and broken stuff that had to be taped or sewed--all part of the experience.”

“Lots of minor stuff in 25 years of doing this. Nothing I would call a disaster. If minor misery is your worst case then you are just fine.”

“You think YOU had it bad? There was fifty of us living in a hole in the road and every night our father would come home and kill us with a broken bottle.”

“lyndyS, it couldn't have been you. This woman pulled brand new boots out of the box, at the trailhead. She cried when it rained, she cried when the little used trail disappeared, yet we could show here exactly where we were on the map. She cried when she go diarrhea from camping in cow manure. She cried when the bees attacked the bright yellow and red stripes on her socks. She cried when she got blisters. She cried when we didn't want to stop and camp in cow manure. She cried for seven God forsaken days.”

“This thread is cracking me up.

When I was 12 my dad and I were awakened by a couple of rifle-toting hog hunters (really) who told us that we were camping on their land. We skipped the oatmeal that morning.”

“LMAO Vann--for reals. Glad you survived. MP”

“I was walking from my tent to the stream to get water for breakfast in boots that I hadn't laced up, and sunk up to my knee in mud after slipping off a log. Of course, on pulling my leg out, the boot didn't come with it, and I had to dig. It took me a good fifteen minutes - after I had limped back to camp and gotten my trowel - To dig the thing out. The hole in the mud had closed, and I coudn't see the exact spot I had gone in.

Fun fun fun.”

“Yeah, this thread just gets better and better.”