My Outdoor Mementos

My Outdoor Mementos

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There I was in early September, sitting on the table in the orthopedist’s office a week after returning from my Washington state trip. We were arguing over whether my ankle was broken or not and, I lost. My fall down the scree on the Upper Skyline Trail at Mt. Rainier wasn’t as innocuous as I thought. But by not going immediately to an emergency room at Rainier I avoided a hard cast and instead, limped around in an air cast for six weeks. Another broken bone. And I also added to my growing collection of soft boots, air boots, shoulder slings and x-rays.

In addition, while waiting for my follow-up appointment a few weeks later, I realized that my medical folder has begun to take on a life of its own weighing probably several pounds and listing five of the eight doctors in the practice! Soon I will need a second folder (and a sherpa to carry it)!

The tents dry out, the blisters heal, the toenails grow back, and the stories get passed around. But, is this what I have to show for all my years of hiking, camping, backpacking, skiing, climbing, and whitewater rafting? So other than pictures what are the mementos or trophies of my outdoor adventures?

Well, there’s that scar on my left hand finger from my week in the Boundary Waters. I got it when I did a solo carry of a canoe up over my head on a portage but tripped on a rock slamming the canoe right down on my hand. Northern Minnesota is very rocky! That scar is 30+ years old but it reminds me of my old, super-woman days! Those days when I tried most anything once.

I used to ski downhill non-stop from early December through early March every weekend for almost ten years at our regional slopes. While never progressing much beyond advanced intermediate I loved every minute and winter became a new season in the out-of-doors to me. Even tried cross-country skiing but that is hard to do around here. Never feeling the cold I flew down the slopes until after a big trip to Killington, Vermont. A fall at the time seemed to be nothing but led to knee surgery, arthritis and a big scar that swells up constantly. Doctors say I need more surgery but I prefer the scar as is; gives my knee character!

And all that paddling, tough 17 mile days on lakes and pulling through rapids for days on end took me to many special places including sadly, new agony in my shoulder. I finally gave in to major shoulder reconstruction in 2003 complete with temporary pins and thankfully, a scar I can’t see (without a mirror at least!). But this scar is a testament to my determination to keep on the water; taking those rafting trips until I can’t step in and out of a raft anymore!
Canoeing 2002 before shoulder reconstruction


I have to laugh at my “awards” for idiocy though! There’s the time I broke my foot getting ready to go backpacking in the pouring rain. In my hurry to throw stuff into the back of my Avalanche truck at 5:00 pm on a Friday I hadn’t changed from my dress shoes yet. The garage door was open so rain was seeping in a bit on the floor. To avoid a puddle I slid my black flats towards the crack between the garage floor and the driveway edge. You guessed it; I caught the edge of my shoes in the crack and broke my fifth metatarsal bone. The irony is that the trip was cancelled an hour later because the trail was completely flooded out. And until my husband saw the x-ray he refused to believe I could have broken my foot just catching the edge in a crack! Oh husbands of little faith!

Now that I’m older one of my acts of stupidity doesn’t really show as much thank goodness! We were camping and some of us decided to take a walk down to a lake to see the stars. Following our advice to the kids that flashlights ruin your night vision, no one carried one. Besides, the moon was out but about halfway down the 1 mile trail we realized that it was very dark, too dark in the trees to see the trail. Like idiots we kept going instead of turning around. I was one of two people who fell down and the only one who hit a rock face first, right below the right eye. My “shiner” eventually evolved into a permanent line, now a wrinkle! Where is nature’s botox anyway?

My other ridiculous “trophy” was earned camping in February a couple of years ago. Sleeping out in a tent in the cold wasn’t the problem but getting up and down the icy hill to the freezing cold latrine was an issue. If I owned crampons I would have worn them!!! The slope was short, maybe 15 feet but the angle was wicked; maybe 20 degrees of solid ice about 12 inches thick. I did fine most of the time using the roughly hewn steps someone cut into the slope but I missed one little step one morning and slid to the bottom. I was a driver for the trip so I couldn’t leave early. Again, my husband wouldn’t be thrilled so I didn’t tell him until I got home. Besides they won’t cast a broken ankle until the swelling goes down, right? And who would have thought a little Pennsylvania ice could prove so dangerous?


Luckily my orthopedic group is totally supportive of my activities. In fact, one of my surgeons asked for referral info for family rafting out west. And I guess I’m in good company. The doctor treating the chronic bursitis in my hips groups me with his 40 year old runners with the same problem. Guess he hasn’t seen me run lately!

So, some of my mementos are the aches and pains in my feet when it’s going to rain as well as the growing mound of medical debris in the old diaper pail in the basement. Others are the big and little scars you would see if we walked up the trail together but I’ve learned to treasure them as much as the photos in my albums.

So what trip mementos do you carry around?


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MoapaPk

MoapaPk - Nov 27, 2009 8:45 pm - Voted 10/10

ankles

I'm waiting for my ankle to heal, so I just had to give you a thumb's up. I've been hobbling around on it for two weeks; gee, maybe I should see a doctor.

silversummit

silversummit - Nov 27, 2009 11:06 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: ankles

Yikes! I would definitely see one at this point....Did you fall recently or twist it? Obviously this was not the first time for me so I had a hunch.

Good luck and let me know how it turns out!

MoapaPk

MoapaPk - Nov 27, 2009 11:20 pm - Voted 10/10

Re: ankles

The full story is complicated; but I got distracted and turned my foot in a steep rocky pothole. By that point I was only a mile from the car (cross-country), so I hiked out just a little stiffly. The foot didn't get bad till after the hour-long drive home.

silversummit

silversummit - Nov 28, 2009 9:28 am - Hasn't voted

Re: ankles

I would get it looked it/x-rayed if necessary. Though it might only be a bad sprain which is actually worse than a break, it's better to get it checked out!

John Duffield

John Duffield - Nov 29, 2009 7:59 am - Voted 10/10

Outdoor Mementos

Well, that was fun. Reading this article.
The only thing that bothers me usually, is my nose. I've broken it 4 times that I can remember and it'll bleed with the least provocation. But keeping moving at our age is the best thing to avoid feeling those aging joints.
I'd forgotten nearly all of my injuries. Until I went to a spa in Quebec a couple of years ago. It was 20 degrees below freezing and they had outdoor hot tubs and a waterfall that actually was liquid. The move was to jump out of the hot tub and go stand under the waterfall. I felt everything I'd ever broken. The body remembers.

silversummit

silversummit - Nov 29, 2009 8:29 am - Hasn't voted

Re: Outdoor Mementos

Thank you saying it was fun to read; I try to look back on my falls etc. with humor!

"The body remembers" is so true; you found it in Quebec when you least expected it. Ouch!!! What a dramatic way to remember your past. Thanks for sharing.

Hotoven

Hotoven - Nov 29, 2009 11:11 pm - Voted 10/10

Out of Control!

I really enjoyed this article, and hope to have at least half of the collection of "experiences" you have on your body! Keep going till the dirt covers the coffin!

silversummit

silversummit - Nov 30, 2009 7:21 am - Hasn't voted

Re: Out of Control!

I'm sure you will, given the places you are going! Thanks for reading!

DrJonnie

DrJonnie - Nov 30, 2009 7:47 am - Voted 10/10

any scars left?

Hi Silversummit,
used to get ragged hands from jamming them in cracks on rock climbs on gritstone, but they always faded away. The only lasting scar was when one of my friends (?) kicked a 3lb boulder down on my head as we were climbing a route (on separate ropes) in Llanberis. Luckily my climbing helmet took most of the damage but as it split it created a nice vertical scar on the forehead. Now with hair receding this shows up a bit.
cheers Johnnie

silversummit

silversummit - Nov 30, 2009 8:15 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: any scars left?

Well Johnnie! Only one scar that you got to hide for many years! That's not fair; it's time for you to bear your scar proudly! If I were you that boulder might grow a bit each year as your hairline recedes......

Enjoy your holidays!

DrJonnie

DrJonnie - Dec 1, 2009 10:14 am - Voted 10/10

Re: any scars left?

you could be right, I didn't get to weigh it on the way through so it could have been heavier, as luck would have it, after beaning me it went between my feet thus preserving my PAs from damage and letting me keep my toenails for a bit longer.

DTressler

DTressler - Nov 30, 2009 4:33 pm - Hasn't voted

Nice to know...

...there are kindred spirits out there. I don't know about you, but I find sharing stories with others who have had similar experiences is a lot more satisfying than sharing them with folks who've never been there. Those who have been there know you're not bragging. Hope to meet you on a summit some day.

DTressler

DTressler - Nov 30, 2009 4:34 pm - Hasn't voted

Nice to know...

...there are kindred spirits out there. I don't know about you, but I find sharing stories with others who have had similar experiences is a lot more satisfying than sharing them with folks who've never been there. Those who have been there know you're not bragging. Hope to meet you on a summit some day.

silversummit

silversummit - Nov 30, 2009 8:29 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Nice to know...

I agree! People who haven't struggled to get up a hill or been cold or wet or totally happy to just find a trail in the dark might listen politely but they just don't understand!

I hope we both get to meet some of the great people on SP someday!

yetibob3

yetibob3 - Dec 5, 2009 10:56 am - Hasn't voted

great story

You are one tough gal; keep going with care. In 40+ years of Sierra scrambling, I've only managed to collect a bunch of minor cuts, bumps, and scrapes, and lost a few toenails. Very lucky in a couple of pretty good falls, and a hit by a microwave oven size chunk of granite that sent me flying but left only a deep hip/thigh bruise. Remember, they can rebuild you, they have the technology. But you might have trouble with airport metal detectors...

Marmaduke

Marmaduke - Mar 8, 2010 10:43 pm - Voted 10/10

Funny stories

Enjoyed your article, It's funny how often we all go against what we know is right. Greatful nothing ever serious has happen.......yet. While camping I was chopping a branch that had a whole of tension on it, it snapped and cut me good across my neck. A deep scar from putting my legs in the river to push off an ensuing rock, got pinned between rock and raft. Jumped off granite wall in a lake, about 30 feet down or so. Didn't bring my arms to my sides at entry, 6 years later one shoulder is in constant pain. Went camping in late October and got it by a snow storm, no gloves or boots, just tennis shoes had a minor bout with hypothermia. Thanks for all your thoughts, enjoyed them!! Troy

silversummit

silversummit - Mar 8, 2010 11:13 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Funny stories

Thanks for reading it! You definitely have a few great 'war stories' too! And the best part to me is that we just keep doing it and smiling!

Thanks again, Troy!

JRB

JRB - Sep 24, 2013 6:25 am - Voted 10/10

Fun article

I followed to your page after your vote on my TR. I really enjoyed this article and your attitude toward life at your young age. Really an inspiration!

silversummit

silversummit - Sep 24, 2013 3:42 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Fun article

Thanks JRB for reading my musings. You have to have a decent sense of humor to "enjoy" the rain, pain and cold out there :)

Kathy

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