Moment of Greatest Danger...

[brad nicholson]

What is everyone's moment of greatest danger when outdoors? A choice epic on a remote climb, a close brush with a wild animal, or.....just wanting to get something rolling here!

[wayne-o]

i'm pretty careful by nature, but one that got my adreeline flowing was in colorado at indian peaks,
the trai lwas covered in snow and it was a drift on the side of a twisty switchbacks and i missed the trail and started the slide and i had to self arrest and slid for about 20 ft, the part that scared me was i was heading towards about a 50 - 60 ft drop, never can be too careful.....

[brad nicholson]

getting caught in a thunderstorm on "the daddy, 5.6" in the amphitheater at linville gorge, nc when i was about 20, way back in 1996. it is a rather remote climb that is about 4-5 pitches. we got there late in the day and after the bushwack to the climb we decided no way to bail so we tried to race a storm up the climb as it was coming down from north to south through the gorge. end of fourth pitch my hair was starting to stand and gear buzz, we were soaked and cold from a temperature change from about 80 degrees to 60, and the lightening was only increasing. as i passed the lead to my friend to finish us off the top he climbed up through the rain and belayed me from the top...true to form the storm moved on down the valley, the sun came out and we spent the rest of the day drying gear on the rocks...but as my first big experience with bad weather it ranks up there and i learned a lot.

[TonyB]

Picked this one out of the archives on the old board: it still applies, tho.

Taum Sauk Mountain in Missouri. Four of us on a 4 day pack trip in the late spring. We just finished dinner and cleaning up after a 10 mile day over rolling granite hills, so it's about 9:30 p.m. I succumb to the "nature call", but my flashlight is cutting out on me as I tromp through the scrub oak to find my "special place"...I finally find enough dirt to dig my hole...I set my flashlight and other accoutrements down...drop my drawers...squat...and then this unearthly SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAM/Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrroooooowwwwwl comes from the scrub oak 5 feet away from my face...I stand up, hands clenched (that's not all) around my waist band, frozen...unable to move...heart pounding, all my muscles tensed for the "flight or fight" reaction... then one more growl/scream from the creature and I cover the 250 feet back to the small camp fire in about .0003 seconds and three steps....shorts still unzipped....my buddies were wondering what the noise was as well, but were too busy laughing to be concerned. After the laughter died down, we heard the cat growl/scream every 20 seconds or so, until it went quietly over the top of the mountain.
Since that time, there have been several mountain lion sightings in that general area, so we're pretty sure what it was.

Needless to say, I didn't complete the task that night. It also took me several years to perform "nature calls" after dark. I'm better now...the 12 step program is a success. :)

[GreatDivide14]

Philmont Scout Ranch, NM, 1999: I was a stupid kid (some things haven't changed, come to think of it), and we were camped on a fairly high, though wooded, mountain with a sweeeeeet easterly view at one spot. I woke up early when it was dark, and I decided to mill around the area for a bit and see what I could find. You can probably guess what came of that. No compass, no nothin'. I wandered around for a few hours, more or less convinced that a mountain lion was going to eat me and seeing raw evil in everything that touched me. I eventually found a nearby campsite and got directions back to my site, and somehow still got to my camera in time for the sunrise. You can probably guess what the Responsible Adults had to say about that.

High Peaks Wilderness, NY, 2002: I was on a 4-day solo backpacking trip (my breakthrough trip, after which I was a Certified Backpacker), and as a sidetrip, I climbed nearby Mt. Seward. There's no official trail to the summit, so my general direction of travel was up and nothing more specific. I've done plenty of easy bouldering and rockhopping, but I'm not an expert climber. Even if I was, scrambling over about 15 feet of air unroped wouldn't be the smartest idea. I doubt I would have been found in the dense scrub forest if I'd gotten hurt. Happily, nothing happened except for some minor scrapes and scratches from the 35,000,000 carnivorous trees and bushes that dominate the top 2/3 of the mountain.

Capitol Peak, CO, 2003: I didn't do anything too transcendendly stupid (let's skip the absence of spare headlamp batteries), but Capitol takes balls. I mean, the rock under your left foot is at times the ONLY thing between you and Pierre Lakes Basin 1000 feet below. Well, almost. It's not quite a freefall, more of an avalanche that tenderizes you piece by piece instead of all at once. It went without a hitch, but a few times, I almost regretted not having brought a change of underpants.

So, I've never had any particular exciting moments, just plenty of missed opportunities. I aim to miss as many as I can, but any of these could have turned out worse than they did.

[EdK]

Rattlesnakes! I have a "fear" of being bit in the backcountry. This fear has not immobilized me, as I get out just about every weekend, so maybe it's just a real healthy hyper-awareness. Living in the southwest, some of the areas I frequent are more heavily populated with them than others, and on one very hot hike 2 summers ago we ran into 4 of them, with 2 of the encounters being too close for comfort. In reality, those two times I was close enough to be struck, just rambling down the trail, but in both instances they were true to their shy nature, sounded off and retreated. They're an amazing animal and I love the privilage of seeing them, it's just that I don't always see them first......and that's the problem! Ed

[KeithEA]

Mine was the night that I took Boonie Lee Bilbrey and a 12 pk down to the river. Enough said! Keith

[brad nicholson]

one of the funniest things i've read on this forum!

[walt walkabout]

Mine was last year on the Manistee River. I camped by the river and set up the inner part of my Light year as the night was warm and dry. Night had just fallen and I was laying down with my head by the door reading when there was this rustleing of leaves and the chittering scolding of something right behind my head. Talk about your instant cold sweats! Man I sat up in nothing flat,spun around and shined my light but what ever it was had left. It must have been a racoon or muskrat that was letting me know it wasn't happy with me in its' territory and I laugh when I think about it but at the time I was sure I was going to have some angry critter trying to tear my head off. Like one of those Loony Tunes cartoons where the cat does the buzz saw dance on Elmer Fudds head! Took me an hour to get the old blood pressure down.
Walt

[JohnK]

I wanted to give this one some real thought before I posted my answer, and last evening it came to me. OK, here goes ...

Last summer I met and started to go out with a woman climber. At first I was real excited as our climbing level was about the same, she is really into outdoor activities, doesn''t mind peeing in the woods, and she was attractive. Climbing together was awesome and we would hit the Gunks on the weekend, and meet during the week for some climbing at a local crag in CT near where she lived. What more could a guy ask for right? Wrong!!! A problem emerged the first time - don't laugh - that we did 'the wild monkey dance" - she beat the living crap out of me!!! Now I have always prided myself in having a fairly strong labido, but coming out of it bruised and battered was not my cup of tea. The problem culminated on a backpacking trip in the Catskills that I organized. As we prepared to set up an evening camp on Slide Mtn, my girlfriend was tugging at me to set up our tent away from the others - literally fearing for my life, I mouthed "Help me" to my other friends who just looked at me, smiled, and gave me a wink. Real nice!!!

[GreatDivide14]

Anywhere close to Grayling? I know, there's a lot of Manistee, but my grandfather has a summer cabin near there-- right on the Manistee, actually, about half an hour's float down from Shel-Haven canoe rental-- and I've spent a large portion of my life aboard an Old Town. I haven't seen anything obviously unhappy with me, though the area doesn't seem to have any shortage of muskrats and minks. Beautiful country, isn't it?

[treeman]

:) johnk

since i've led a kind of sheltered life, if your not still dating that fine woman can i get her phone #? :)

[NoKnees]

Sounds like a rough problem. Unfortunately not sure that you'll get a lot of sympathy from folks around here. Although I can relate... But that another story...

Other than the standard "did a cartwheel in my Dad's SUV when I was 18" story, the following is the only one I can come up with.

I was 13, in the Boy Scouts doing a 100+ mile 16 day backpacking trip in the Emigrant Wilderness (California Sierra). On day 11 or 12, can't quite remember, we took the wrong turn up a canyon. We needed to be one more over. So, our fearless leader (17yr old Eagle Scout) decided it'd be the best investment of time and energy to just hop over the ridge between the two. A long day right after a food resuply just got longer. Anyway, when traversing down the far side of the canyon, we encountered a nice open patch of glacier polished granite with a little bit of water running over it. Most everyone else managed to cross it without much incident, but not me. My trusty old hiking boots were out matched by the slighty mossy we granite. I started sliding down this pitch, in a tucked position. I tried to put my hands out to the ground to slow down, but I was moving to fast. The hand I put down quickly snapped back behind me and under my pack. This spun me just enough for another scout to grab my other hand pulling me off that slab into some low angled brush. I was bummed because I felt like a clutz and my right wrist was soar. As I dusted off I took a look 30 feet further down the slope to see nothing. That little granite patch I was sliding on just dropped off 50 feet or so to trees and rocks... I had no idea how close I was to a messy ending... Nore did any of the rest of the us when we cut across that exposed slab..

Anyway, we ace bandaged my wrist and I gimped my way through the next 4 days and 30 miles or so. Wrist was still a tad swollen and still a bit painfull to the touch after a couple days at home so I visited the emergency room. Nice spiral fracture and no baseball for that summer... Cheap lesson learned though..

Great trip though. That was the first year of 6 or so that I participated in it as a scout or leader. Good times...

[walt walkabout]

About 5 miles south of Mesick off M37 just below the Hodenpyl Dam there is a 24 mile loop along the river. A beautiful trail that gets to much traffic on the weekends.
Walt

[Gam]

in the Congo...crap I can't think of anything.

[Lynne]

I wanted to give this one some real thought before I posted my answer, and last evening it came to me. OK, here goes ...

Last summer I met and started to go out with a woman climber. At first I was real excited as our climbing level was about the same, she is really into outdoor activities, doesn''t mind peeing in the woods, and she was attractive. Climbing together was awesome and we would hit the Gunks on the weekend, and meet during the week for some climbing at a local crag in CT near where she lived. What more could a guy ask for right? Wrong!!! A problem emerged the first time - don't laugh - that we did 'the wild monkey dance" - she beat the living crap out of me!!! Now I have always prided myself in having a fairly strong labido, but coming out of it bruised and battered was not my cup of tea. The problem culminated on a backpacking trip in the Catskills that I organized. As we prepared to set up an evening camp on Slide Mtn, my girlfriend was tugging at me to set up our tent away from the others - literally fearing for my life, I mouthed "Help me" to my other friends who just looked at me, smiled, and gave me a wink. Real nice!!!The important question here, of course, is how did the tent hold up? ;)

My moment of greatest danger was not being caught in that lightening storm on Half Dome, or getting lost in the Sonoran Desert at dusk with no water. It wasn't even the time I was mugged in DC or knifed in a restaurant. It was back in graduate school when a man who had been stalking me broke into my home. Fortunately for me, he brought a knife to a gun fight.

[Lynne]

ooops! You said in the Outdoors (of course). I guess it was the Half Dome incident, well documented in this forum's archives. Or maybe it was the time I came face to face with a rabid dog in the Shenandoah. Luckily I was right next to the river and jumped in. He didn't follow me.

[DefJef]

....May 03.2003.....East Hampton Long Island NY.......on beachhead........I faced the greatest danger of them all.......my wedding




;P

[Dusty Dan]

I didn't really have a good post for this one until this past weekend. Went on a trip to Cranberry Wilderness in WV with a friend from work. We went to bed Saturday to 55 degrees and raining. We woke up Sunday to 30 degrees and snow flurries. We got a little ways up our trail and came to a stream crossing about 30 ft wide. Air temperature was 24 degrees F. Water temperature was probably below freezing, since the current was so swift. It started sleeting just to piss us off. With no way around it, we had to ford the creek. Off with the boots and socks, roll up the pants and wade into it. Turns out that at midstream it was literally crotch deep. Pants got wet needless to say. I have had little experience with this type of thing, so I took a shaky path at first and had to get back out and try again. I was in the water a long time and it was stunningly cold. Almost lost my balance 2-3 times, but the trusty hiking stick came through as a life saver. When I got out I was mildly hypothermic, with uncontrollable shivering (not constant but bad enough). I could not feel my hands and pack towel touching my legs and feet - they were quite literally numb. My toes felt like frostbite. Maybe some of you guys do this kind of thing all the time, but that was the hardest thing I have done in 30 years of outdoor adventure. After getting dry and reclothed, stoked with some M&M's and water, and hiking for maybe half an hour, I was finally getting warm. Just in time for the second stream crossing. Air temp was 22 degrees F this time, but it was a piece of cake being only a little above knee deep. Quite an experience, and I learned a lot. My Marmot ATV pants rock. They were a Christmas present from the wife. They were dry by the end of the hike at the top of the mountain.

Did I mention that I have always HATED cold water?

Dan

[brad nicholson]

i had something similar happen to me about two years ago in harpers creek in north carolina, same sort of thing; stream crossing, walk, strip, stream crossing, walk strip, etc....glad you are back and warm!

[Dusty Dan]

It is very good to be warm. I guess I could never be a Navy SEAL, eh? And probably for more than just that reason too, lest some of the aforementioned badasses think I'm being presumptuous.

Dan

[NoKnees]

Nice little report... Actually what I like the most about it is the equipment review... Just snagged a pair of Marmot ATV's a couple weeks back on sale at REI. Glad to hear they live up to the rep that the 3xdry schoeller fabric seems to have.. Good stuff..

The hike sounded pretty nice to, give or take a little mild hypo. action... It's kind of nice to get to experience those things every once in a while just to remind yourself where you stand in life. Total comfort all the time spoils you..