solo, injured & outdoors
without having the experience being in a situation with an injury during an outdoor adventure or other, it is hard to imagine the personal impact especially if you are all by yourself. but if experienced, the perception that can be gained can simplify your relation to life and to the elements.today's equipment are be considered to be on a high technical standard and it is impressive what a difference it can make to ease and extend the personal challenges and more important, it can reduce the risk of getting into serious trouble. nevertheless it seems to be common to loose more easily knowledge and sense about your own physical & mental abilities by relying to much on technology. it won't be an issue unless it does fail and that you find yourself stranded and helpless. but even a traditional printed map and a needle compass needs to be looked after, before only the knowledge out of the memories are the only source to get out of an serious situation.
my own experiences in some challenging situations and with having few injuries on my individual solo adventures, have been a great reveal to me i do most appreciate.
unlike most people imagine, panic isn't the matter in most such situations after an accident, but anger or disappointment are more likely at the beginning and can turn into a thoughtful experience so longer you are in such or similar situation.
if you gain a passion for outdoor sports or individual adventures, than you are getting aware of the risks and accept the danger in the environment you are in. in case you are going solo, you seek the challenge or meditative experience to realise and learn about yourself anyway.
i experienced that i got very rational, finding myself most focused and if necessary braking down plans or actions in simple patterns to keep going or to deal with the pain. ..
japan / fracture of the malleolus
(summary)2009 i had an accident in one of my hikes in a mountain in japan. i broke my ankle, which with i had to walk out by myself for two days. an operation on it in kyoto has been necessary and got two titan screws which have been removed after a year.
(extended story)
when i was travelling throughout japan for a year and was then on my way back from okinawa to tokyo, to visit my friends once more along, before i had to leave this beautiful country i got so in touch with, it happened that i broke my ankle at daisen san.
after i left the buddhist temple at takahashi, i did live for a while before, i went to my last mountain hike to daisen san with all my belongings for a planned three to four day trip. i did attempt this mountain two times before and failed, because of heavy snowfall and road closures.
the volcano range has been still covered in snow mostly and went up the first late afternoon from daisen-ji temple to the hut near misen peak. the crossing next day over the ridge of the kengamine was pleasant and easy and did choose a relinquished route thereafter to hike to another shelter. the route over that ridge was very eroded and overgrown i could not stay on, after half the way. i decided to descend at one point along the east side and not long after by misplacing a step, i slipped on the steep hillside and did slide with the big backpack for roughly 150m downhill not able to burrow the ice axe sufficiently to stop and hit a trunk with my left foot in between.
when i recognised the cut in my right knee and found my left crampon dislocated out of the boot, i wasn't aware of what happened to my ankle until i tried to carry on. the ripped trousers and the bleeding knee made me disappointed first but did not care any more when the pain in my ankle made me concern. an extra stick to walk with and the ice axe was necessary to make each step for the next 3 hours bearable to solve three slow climbs and to find the small hut before dawn in about one kilometre afar. at that moment to focus on a walking pattern and finding the most easy route became major.
that evening i was still hoping, that it might be just a stress fracture, made myself comfortable in the hut and studied the map. next morning was nearly unbearable to get up for the toilet and had to make up my mind what to do next. the foot has been swollen massively and started to turn purple. my food was not meant for more than another two days and it was off-season on a less used trail. the technology wasn't an option either, because it is a bit complicated owning a mobile in japan as a foreigner.
because of the day before i calculated two long days to get out, if i could stand the pain. a tide bandage and the boot in the crampons did support the ankle as much as possible. i found a long strong stick to walk with and gave it a try, but with some struggle at the beginning before i figured the pattern to endure. beside to focus onto the walking itself it was an additional task to find and keep the right trail in the snow to avoid steep serious challenges. after eight long hours and four kilometres i managed to reach the road and camped out one more night before i could hitch hike to kyoto to meet with my japanese friends. on the fourth day after the accident i was able to go to the hospital to find out about my fracture of the malleolus and that i would have to have a surgery.
three days later i got into a special hospital for two weeks and knew that i could not continue travelling for a while but achieved therefore a different great experience.
after returning to germany and ten month later, the two titan screws have been removed in a second surgery and could continue travelling overseas after another 2 month.
australia / metatarsal fracture
(summary)2010 after walking ~550km with a backpack of ~30kg+ at that time, a pain in my left foot occurred. but i did continue for another 100km with a stress fracture and completed the australian alps walking trek.
(extended story)
in 2010 i could experience the winter sports season in the snowy mountains at the kosciuszko national park and did enjoy snowboarding, when i had some time off from my work in a ski lodge in jindabyne during the 3 month.
at that time i learned about the australian apls walking trek with it's length of ~660km from walhalla in victoria east of melbourne to tharwa in nsw near canberra and wanted to take this new challenge.
when i studied the trek,i got confronted with the major issues of managing the food and long escaping routes in case of an emergency.
as many times before i did choose not to have any food drops, an emergency beacon or a gps system, because of my personal attitude and the fact of having a limited budget as a traveller. food was the biggest concern and did calculate it very careful to solve the first 430km until i would be able to buy new supplies in jindabyne, when i would pass thredbo at the dead horse gab. the result was to carry more than 15kg only on food at the beginning, with the option to get some supplies at mt hothom, if necessary. the backpack was approximately 37kg in total including a minimum of 2 litres of water for a day, if a source wouldn't be sure in the end of the day.
my previous experience i gained in japan to carry a heavy backpack, have been essentially important to make this plan successful.
(.. beside i got a side story with a dog i named silly)
unfortunately with less weight on my shoulders and having walked approximately 550km, i suddenly had some pain in my left foot just before i reached kiandra. i did decide to walk to the next hut some kilometres ahead to observe the pain in case i have to end the hike. the pain was bearable as if a tendon or muscle have been strained but kept limping to avoid most of the pain. i did rest the next day at the hut but continued the day after, because it didn't get worse. slowly with certain walking patterns i completed the australian alps walking trek except of the last 15km to the information centre, after eight days of the incident.
because of that incident i met the outdoor education guides of outward bound and have been invited to stay overnight at their base camp before they gave me a lift to canberra, where i could visited my friends i met during snowboarding.
after an x-ray at a medical care centre i got shown my metatarsal stress fracture and have been forced to have a more intense rest as intended but could avoid an operation that time.
soul moves
solo moves
if the backpack became your home, when you will feel life..