Dissapointment Trail - TR

“Was this trip a dissapointment? I wouldn't say that - a little change in plans and a shortening of the trip may not have been what I was expecting heading into this trip, but I still had a good time and it felt good to get out there, and the Boundary Waters is always beautiful no matter what happens.

I can't load any of my pictures right now, if you're interested you'll probably have to wait a while - Prosecutor or ChinMusic might have some to show.

I arrived at the trailhead at 3:30, 15 minutes early and chinmusic was already there, I let the dogs get to know each other and they tore around the parking lot as we waited for prosecutor. With a mismarked map and everything working against him, he didn't show for another 45 minutes. But, before long we were on the trail.

After 3 miles, we were on a logging road and where there was fork we continued on the logging road about a half mile out of the way, retraced our steps and got back on the trail. The trail was quite rocky, wet and slippery, and steep in places and chinmusic had some trouble with his footing and he was slipping every few steps. One of these slips he tweaked his knee and he was in pain, he can't recall the exact moment that it happened, but somewhere along the line he could barely walk any more. He decided to push on to the campsite, then he rolled his ankle. By now it was getting quite dark but we pushed on. Prosecutor got out his headlamp and chinmusic followed right behind him watching the trail as I continued behind him.

One misplaced step and a slip on the mossy rocks sent chinmusic's hands into the air, as his right foot shot out to catch himself it found nothing but air resulting in him cartwheeling 10 feet down a steep hill. His screams of agony had me quite worried as my first responder skills kicked in - "what hurts, can you still feel your feet?" As he settled down, he was a bit shaken, but not hurt. We concluded that with his knee he was not fit to carry his pack any more, so I hurried ahead to the campsite which wasn't more than 1/8th of a mile away, prosecutor carried chinmusic's pack and I returned to help with the packs as chinmusic limped into the campsite.

By now it was completely dark, we set up the tents, built a fire, and cooked dinner. Then we headed to bed after sitting around the fire for a while.

By morning, chinmusic's knee wasn't feeling any better as he limped around the campsite, so prosecutor and I decided to go on a day hike after breakfast as chinmusic stayed behind and did some fishing. Prosecutor and I headed out on a 10 mile loop, along the way we saw several nice views and ran into a few people on day hikes or on canoe portages, and one pair of guys backpacking with duluth packs with heavy cotton sweatshirts hanging off of them. The going was slow as we ran into many deadfalls and rough terrain. We covered the 10 miles in 7 hrs, including breaks, it was a nice hike.

We returned to camp to find chinmusic doing well - the only fish he had caught was on his third cast before we had left the campsite. Then we cooked dinner - chinmusic was generous enough to share some of his vegetables and chicken. As it got dark and we got tired we made our way to bed.

By morning ChinMusic was feeling better, we took our time packing up and eating breakfast before heading out a day early. The hike out went well, chinmusic seemed to be doing much better, we made it back to the vehicles fairly quickly and headed back into town where we ended our trip at the Ely Steakhouse.

Overall, it was a great trip, with a little bit of unplanned excitement added, but thats what adds the adventure. I'm sure the others will have something to add - chinmusic had a long drive home, and prosecutor was heading out for moosapalooza on isle royale.”

“Nice report, simer190. Hope
ChinMusic recovers OK. It sounds like he may have done some damage.”

“Wow, poor Chinmusic.”

“Dang, ChinMusic sounds like he got banged up pretty good. Nice to read he was able to make it out.

Hope to see some pictures later.”

“First off, Happy Birthday prosecutor!!!

Simer pretty much summed it up. I was having trouble with the slippery rocks right from the get-go. I'm not sure when the knee went, as it might have been a combination of slips that did it in. By about the halfway point it was shot. Going flat or up was OK at best but going downhill was terrible. To add to it, with about two miles to go and it getting harder to see the trail, I twisted my ankle on the same leg.

Sim and pros kept an eye out for a substitute site but nothing presented itself. I was starting to wonder how far I could go. To add insult to injury my final slip had me bouncing off the trail down a hill. I have NO IDEA how I didn't get seriously hurt on that fall. Pros said I first landed on my pack and did a complete 360 in the air before landing on my pack again. I came to rest right next to a rock. My back hurt like hell and the first thing I remember was my puppy, Mugsy, licking my face. After a few minutes I was shocked that I was feeling fine from the fall. Nothing was hurt. All I got was a tiny scratch on a knuckle. Luck was definitely on my side on that one.

Pros took my pack and we continued the short distance down the hill to the campsite.

I knew I wasn't going anywhere on Saturday. The original plans had us coming by this site on Sunday so I knew Saturday was going to be a rest day for me.

Simer and pros were kind to take some of my stuff in their packs to lighten things for me. It worked. Taking it much slower, watching my steps more closely, and DAYLIGHT made the return 6 miles pretty uneventful. I was SO pleased to see my car.

The knee is still sore but seems to be getting better each day. 46-year-old knees take awhile to heal.

As pissed at the world as I was on Friday evening, I look back at the experience now with a smile. I'd truly like to thank Simer and pros for taking care of me and adjusting their trip. I hope to be able to take care of someone in need in the future.”

“Glad that you can still smile about this trip after what you went through - i was gettin worried that you weren't enjoying it.

And you're welcome - I'm just glad that everybody had a good time.”

“Glad you hear you survived ChinMusic. Take it easy on that knee/ankle for a while, and hope to see you again on future trips, after you recover.”

“Thanks for all the kind words. I did a nice, easy 4-mile walk on our flat, paved bike trail tonight. It felt pretty good. Walking on it is a lot easier than getting out of a car at this point. That twist you have to do to your left leg when you get out of a car bugs it.

I plan on hitting the trail again in late October in Iowa.”

“Holy crap! Glad you're okay, ChinMusic. But please.. in the future, try not to live up to your trailname. :-)”

“Well, I am back from Isle Royale where we met a backpacker hiking out with a broken arm and Ruby rubbed her heel raw. But I had never saw a tumble as bad as Chin Music, and could not believe he did not break his back. Chin Music was disorientated after the tumble off the ledge. Back at the campsite, he wanted to go back in the dark and look for the GPS unit that he had hanging around his neck. I told him to wait for first light, but he found the unit 10 minutes hanging around his neck in the back. Simer190 triaged him quite well. I am glad there was no permanent disability. Other than that!!!, it was a well planned out trip that I would do again any day.”

“triage?...


glad you had a good time pros”

“The "triage" primarily consisted of Simer190 asking Chin Music if he could feel all his extremities, and Chin Music saying they all hurt equally bad.

photo of ledge Chin Music fell from & Simer190 & Forest on day hike”

“Prosecutor, I got to give you credit, you are one hiking fool (emphasis on the hiking part). Bitpusher, of course, is always my posting role model, but you're my hiking hero.”

“Wow, I didn't know you took a pic of the area I fell. Thanks. I do feel quite fortunate that I came out of the fall with only a scratch. I don't know how I got so lucky.

The knee is about 75-80% now and seems like it might take awhile to get to 100%. In day-to-day life it only bugs me walking down steps and getting out of the car. I'm walking our local bike trail as if nothing happened and am back to lifting weights with just a small wrap to keep the knee tight.”

“ChinMusic, heard about your fall from Prosecutor on the IR Trip. Hope ya heal up soon!”

“Snake Eyes, I went from a 'maybe" to a "for-sure" on this trip as a result of the email you sent me so I could meet you, and you never showed up. You missed aN otherwise great trip even though Chin Music got hurt.”