unscrewed

“Tomorrow is a big day. I broke my right ankle last October, tomorrow I'm getting a couple of screws taken out that have been bothering me, after that I'm good to go. I'm doing two miles a day on my walker at about 3.5 miles per hour and I can't really tell it was ever broken, these two screws have been rubbing on something that makes my leg go a little numb, when I'm in relax mode, I can't hardly wait to get them out. Now that I've gotten everybody's attention I want to know what is everyones favorite part of backpacking? I think mine is having the knowledge that whatever happens you've got everything on your back that you need to make it, and your not scared of anything. Oh yea, the scenery is nice too.”

“Congrats on getting the screws loose!
My favorite part of backpacking is hanging out with friends being able to see Overlooks, Waterfalls, & some wildlife. I really dig the physical part of it too. Pushing myself beyond normal limits. Getting to the top of a mountain is very gradifying!”

“walkindude has always had a few screws loose.”

“Getting to the top is the best part of comming up to a mountain. When you go in a group do you always have a few power hikers that push you just a little faster than you want to go?”

“Congrats!

I like it all...I just hat the ride home knowing I'm going back to my humdrum routine!”

“Going places where 99% of the population will never go is a big draw, but lately, the sounds and smells of the wilderness have been a huge attraction for me. Have you ever been on a trail, and caught a whiff of a spearmint bush, it's heavenly!”

“trlhkr, don't push it, or you'll be screwed. Ice Ice baby!”

“I just like being in the woods. It's a different environment from the goddam city. No phones ringing, no bullsh!t, just doing what you want.

Views are good too, and sleeping under the leaves with a moon shining through.

I don't particularly care for the push it attitude, I'd rather just take my time. There's enough rushing in town. And if I just wanted a workout I could go to a gym and pump iron.”

“Rad
Thanks Bro!!”

“LOL!!!!”

“I like when i hear coyotes howling at night and without looking or hearing anything else, I can feel my wife's eye's wide open, that's cool. I like when the moon shines through the trees and cast shadows all through the woods, that's cool too.”

“trlhikr; you just described walkindude.

I just tryed to describe what it is that keeps me backpacking. I'm unable to give a good answer without getting long winded. There are too many things and some of them contradict each other.”

“Congrats on the un-screwing!

One of my fav aspects of packin' is the self-reliance. Also the views, and solitude.”

“I understand walkincrow, there are too many to count. I broke my ankle October 22, right when the hiking season in arkansas was getting started. I didn't get to step in the woods one time last year, man i am so pumped about this fall and winter i can't hardly stand it.”

“Glad to hear your back in action trlhikr!

LOL Crow!”

“I've done several trails with the OHTA and there are some serious hikers in that group. You don't have the time to look around when they are really trying to make time. I like to take it easy and enjoy the scenery, i hate it when the only thing you can see is the little white spots floating around in your eyes. That can't be good for an old man.”

“You can do 3.5 miles an hour with a walker? How fast are you on crutches?

The thing that got me into backpacking was self sufficiency. The liberation of knowing I can carry, on my back, everything I need to survive quite comfortably was very empowering. I have camped and hunted all of my life. When I realized I could walk into the woods and just keep going it was like a new chapter.

My first association with packing was some miserable experience in the military. It took me a while to try again.

I did the backpacking thing for several years before I got into day hiking. I began loosing the macho desire to kill my own food and realized that observing animals in the wild was even more empowering. I have seen hundreds of deer, turkey, and thousands of squirrels, but I always stare transfixed at the very site of them. I want to see them play and eat and make love without sensing my presence.

I also appreciate that I am too old to play basketball, football, and soccer, but I think I can hike til I die.”

“Amen bacpac, my wife and i started with day hikes but after a few years there were parts of the trails that we couldn't get to without staying overnight. that's when we started backpacking, I don't think there could be anything better for a couple to get into. Have you done much of the oht?”

“One day I'll get too old and slow down my pace. Then I'll see what I have been missing all these years. LOL”

“The exhilirating (sp?) high I get when taking in the awesome expanse of creation...the fragrances, fresh air, a feeling of peace like you will never find in civilization...”

“I love to hear a gentle breeze blowing through the pines. And always marvel at how much sound it creates.

The gurgling of a small stream.

The awesome views from a high mountain pass or mountain peak.

And just observeing nature at work in the plants and animals.

Yep.......I love it all!”

“Sound is underated as an outdoor stimulus. I hike solo most of the time and I find it unnerving when I hike with a partner who wants to gab on the trail. I love my kids, but they make as much noise as a brass band in the woods. Silence does not exist in the wild, but you have to be silent to appreciate the noise.

I can identify, birds, wind, dogs, deer, lizards, snakes, rabbits and squirrels by sound. It is part of the experience.”

“...............the sound of a bear trying to get in your food.”

“Wow, bacpac! There's a side to you I like.

And it's NOT your backside, you pervert. ;o)”

“Well said, Sunshine. And Muktuk's answer pretty much says why I am trying to move into backpacking. I don't want to just look at scenery, I want to be in it and absorb the peace of it.”

“Good luck today!

They gonna let you keep the screws?”

“I intend to ask them for the screws just before i go under. I don't know why they wouldn't let me have them. On the x-ray they look two inches long, but they probably aren't that long. I've got a nature tape that i hit everynight when i lay down to go to sleep, one of the tracks is a babbling brook and a night owl, one of them is a nature sound, birds and stuff like that, and one of them is a thunder storm, I lay there and pretend I'm in my tent and I go out like a light.”

“Ever feel like you're picking up radio signals?”

“you're screwed, dude.”

“Bet'cha can't wait to find out if they're phillips head or regular!”

“dammit, they're TORX!!!”

“How do they remove them? With a Makita? I could probably save you some money and do it in my garage.”

“I can't believe this thread has gone this long with anyone telling this joke:

What's the difference between a pregnant woman and a lightbulb?

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A lightbulb can be unscrewed.”

“Good for you trlhikr..... I hope some day to get some of mine out too, but I got a ways to go yet.

Goog luck....

Bacpac,.....I love looking through your eyes too when you`re off in the woods,...you just need to get out more and write about it. You`re a much different man when you talk about your loves,.. kids, nature, golf, hunting and such. I like that side of you very much and that is the man I`d like to one day meet up with in the wilds and share a fire with.”

“im still screwed...but anxious to hear how it goes for you...
hope you are on the trail soon! aint it amazing how flesh and bone heals?”

“OK, I'll follow my jokey post with a serious one. Several years ago my wife broke her femur (yes, her femur) skiing and they had to put in a metal rod practically the whole length of the bone with screws at the knee and hip. THEN it turned out that Aspen Valley Hospital totally fooked up the operation (rotation off about 40%) and the entire freakin' thing had to be completely undone and redone at UCLA hospital. The second time was perfect (if anyone ever needs a referral to the best freakin' orthopedic surgeon in LA, let me know) and she healed completely, had the rod taken out about 18 months later (actually could have left it in no problem for the rest of her life, but if GOD FORBID she ever got into a car accident or something it would really mess things up) and now she says she wants to start training for the marathon. Long story short, these things can really mess you up for a while, but just because they stuck a bunch of metal in your body doesn't mean that you won't come out the other side 100% fine and still able to play the violin or whatever it was you liked to do before the whole fakakta thing happened. So congrats trlhkr and best of luck!”

“I'm back, I got to the hospital about 9:00 and left about 2:30. They said everything went great. I got the screw they took out, it looked like a railroad spike on the x-ray but it turned out to be only about 1 1/4" long. The dr. decided to leave the one on that side that wasn't bothering me in. Thats ok with me it would have to make it stronger anyway. I walked out and couldn't even tell anything was done. BRING ON THE MOUNTAIN. Isn't it amazing how everybody that has responded to the question "what do you like most about bping?" has a calm aire about them when talking about what they like most, you can just feel it. ISN'T IT GREAT!”

“You should hear me when I talk about getting screwed.

Well, I guess some of you have.

Never mind.”

“fantastic trlhikr.!......i detect a great deal of exhilaration reading your post....very kewl.....
this thread was the first i read this morning and the last for this night.....
what a day huh?”

“GOOOOOODMORNING TRAAAAAAILHIKERS!!!!!

I THINK IT WORKED.

Usually the first thing i do when i wake up is stretch while in bed and when i do that that screw sticks me like crazy, this morning i couldn't feel it at all.

I thought of something else I like about bping, it's the way people look at you when they find out that you do it, that you can load up and hit the wildest expance that mother nature has to offer with just what your carring and like it (makes you feel a little superior). Most folks can't go a day without their tv.

Something bacpac said hit home. Ever since We've been hiking i stopped gun hunting, i still bowhunt a little but not like i did before. It just doesn't mean as much to me as it did. I'd rather go on a hike than hunt.”

“DID YA GET TO KEEP THE SCREWS???”

“Yea, but it wasn't nearly a long as it looked on the x-ray. The ankle bones are not as big as i would have thought. The screw is only about 1 1/4" long and it went all the way through the ankle bone (holding the two parts together) and was sticking out on the other side, the sticking out part is what was rubbing on something. I haven't felt any discomfort since it was removed. I'm happy about it so far.”