REALLY strange trip - Part 1

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Cross Country
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REALLY strange trip - Part 1

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This is a TR that is probably the strangest, most bizarre TR you've ever read.
Back in the day I was pretty hyper, VERY active and sitting around getting board was almost never an option. This was to an extreme degree.
While playing softball I suffered a quadricep tear. I was in a cast for 5 weeks and thought when I got out I'd be just fine. To my surprise if bending my knee at a 30 degree angle I was in a lot of pain. Of course the doctor with me was not. I asked him when I could run carefully and he said "several weeks". I asked him what I could do and he said I could walk as much as I wanted. I said "good, in 3 days I'm going on a backpacking trip" and he immediatly said "DON'T GO". I said OK I won't go. I didn't even hint at how diffulct would be the terrain. In my condition I knew I couldn't go over the Monarch devide becuese it would be covered in snow. It was June of tipical snow year.
My wife "saint" Diane and I drove to Kings Canyon and the next day set out for Paridise Valle and the first day we could only make it to lower paridise vally becuese I had a horrendous limp. We hung our food between 2 trees and ate dinner. There was a bear with cubs walking around close to us. She "huffed" her cubs to a halt 3 times and they got it that they were supposed to stay put. She then ciricled our camp putting us between her and her cubs. Diane said "what's she doing" and I said I thought she was putting us between her and her cubs to trigger an action to charge us. Diane said "what do we do" I said when she carges in, we charge out.. She charged into our camp hissing or huffing not growling. We went out as fast as I could limp. She found our food line aroud the trunk of a trip and climbed and got the rope in her mouth and started heaving the rope and sack with 10 days of food inside. Slowly but shurly the food was lowering. To our great luck she slipped, nearly falling out of the tree at about 12-15 feet. She couldn't reach the food and wouldn't go back up.
When she left we came in and got our sleeping gear and left. We met a solo hiker. He had eaten and hung his food between two trees very close togeater with wire. I told him with his pack like this the bear would get his food and sure enoght the followin day we found his pack torn to bits. He had to cancel the next 8 days of his 9 day trip.
When the 3 of us laid down under the stars to sleep at the lowest end of Paridise Valley the bear came very close to us and was growling and scaring the hell out of us. We hiked to a campsight just below the vally (campsight taken out by park service 2-3 years later). It was a lot more difficult for me hiking downhill instead of up with my ingury.
The next day we discoverd his pack and got our food down and left hiking to a little past the woods creek and river junction on the river on our way to Kid creek.
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Re: REALLY strange trip - Part 1

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Kid Lakes
This TR gets better
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Re: REALLY strange trip - Part 1

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Kid Lake with Diane and Jack Smith on a previous trip. Me too.
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Re: REALLY strange trip - Part 1

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Grouse Lake
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Re: REALLY strange trip - Part 2

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On this trip because of my injury and heavy packs due to 10 days of food I didn't take a camera. The 3rd day we only hiked to the base of Kid Creek on the river. Iv'e been up the creek twice and down once. Hiking up I mentioned to Diane how diffucult the climb was and she said it wasn't. I thought so because of my REALLY bad leg.
The 4th day of the trip we finally arrived at Kid Lake (middle fork, middle lake). I caught a few fish and had a fish dinner.
The 5th day: The sides of the lake were under snow. We had to hike on top of it. Because of my injury I could only put weight on my leg in a locked position. Every step I salted up to a locked position and with ever step put a great deal of pressure on the leg. Walking to the head of the lake Diane said we should go back because the going was diffulct for her not to mention how nearly impossible it was for me. Oh no, not Mr. Hyper. I had to hike slightly around the lake because I thought the fishing would be better there. She refused to go with me and patiently waited a short distance behind me. On one step, the extra pressure of the step made me sink my bad leg deep into the snow, throwing my weight back and locking my leg in the snow. It bent 45 degrees. I'll never forget what it felt like and what I believe it sounded like. It was extreme ripping. While trying to avoid the bending I fell sideways and started to slide into the lake but was able to stop a few feet short of falling into the lake.
I sat down on a nearby rock, covered my leg with snow and started to cry - not from the pain which was significant. I was crying because I felt trapped at Kid Lakes, far far from civilization and couldn't imagine hiking out. I thought how fortunate I was that Diane was with me and had been over the Monarch Divide 4 times and could probably find her way out for the first time in her like orienteering herself cross country. While sitting on the rock I GOT BORED and started fishing. I actually caught 3 fish for dinner.
Wih her help we hobbled back to camp in about 45 minutes a hike normally of 10-15 minutes.
Back at camp I laid on my bed for almost an hour and GOT BORED. I sort of crawled to lake but caught no fish.
I had a fairly sizable air mattress and finally when it was time to sleep was able to get my self into an odd position which put minimal pressure on my injured quadricep. A few hour later I awoke to a new pain. In the process of my fall I had twisted my leg more than I thought and and had a pulled groin. The odd position on the air mattres exacerbated what would have been a minor injury to my groin. I had to get into a position that put a little pressure on my quad to minimalize the pain from the groin pull. It was very uncomfortable for each but not greatly painful to either. I got some sleep but not much.
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Re: REALLY strange trip - Part 3

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The 6th day I was a little better and couldn't catch fish in front of out campsite but thought I could on the other side of the lake, this time at the lower end of the lake. I asked Diane to hep me cross the creek but she had some of her own cross - cross words for me about what a hyper idiot I was and said she wanted no more of my lunacy. I stewed for a while but eventually gave way to my hyperness. I couldn't walk on the rocks in the water to cross the creek so I crawled on the rocks to cross the creek with minimal wetness. There in my horrible condition I caught dinner and crawled back. My wife was a very unhappy camper.
That night I was a little more comfortable and sleep deprived and got a reasonable nights sleep.
In the morning I felt a little better and decided with Diane's help I could hike down to the lower lake and not have anything to bad happen to me because of her caring for me.
Diane never swore but this time she said some VERY unkind words for me, in the process calling me some names.
I realized of course that apart from initiating the trip this was the craziest thing I had (was about to) do.
It was very difficult hiking down to the lake and a little easier hiking back up. Of course I caught dinner. Of all the Kid Lakes this is the only one that 35 years latter had fish and the fishing in this lake was actually better on my later trip with Gregg Kawczynski.
After 6 days of lunacy we were about to head out. I was hoping I could hike with a pack on. My entire walk from these Kid Lakes to the ones on the south fork I had my hands on rocks almost every step of the way. A hike that was usually about 1-2 hours took us most of the day and we camped at the lake.
The 8th day was the test (I thought). We had to hike over Monarch with a lot of snow. We were able to hike almost intirely off of snow. A hike normally off of 3-4 hours took ALL day and by dinner time we were at Grouse Lake. I did virtually the entire hike with my hands going from rock to rock. It was one reason it took so long. The hikes were much longer and obviously I walked laboriously slow.
The 9th day WAS the test. I had no rocks to help my leg with my hands. At first I told Diane I thought I couldn't hike out. It's about 1/2 hour cross country and 4-5 hours on the trail. I decided to try to hike on "crutches" I got 2 tree branches and fashioned them into poles that I held in front of me for each step off my bad leg. Hiking up was diffult but NOTHING as diffult as hiking downhill. I taped a sock to each pole and held my hands on the socks. Dispite this by the time we reached the car both of my hands were bloody.

The addendum to this story is that 8 days latter we went on another trip to Sphinx Lakes. It was much easier but NOT close to easy or normal.
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Re: REALLY strange trip - Part 1

Post by k9mark »

This whole event could've turned out tragic. Glad you made it out but plz listen to the doctor.
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Re: REALLY strange trip - Part 1

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I wrote what I'm sure is a VERY interesting trip report and only K9mark thought so too. I anticipated that no matter how interesting a report I might write that this would be the result. That's why after all this time this was only my first TR. It was my last.
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Re: REALLY strange trip - Part 1

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The truth is the truth no because of who said it but because it's the truth. Something interesting isn't interesting because of who wrote is but because it's interesting.
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Re: REALLY strange trip - Part 1

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Not because and it not is. I should have proof read it.
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