(Almost) One Year

[I wrote this because my computers clock was off (a GMT versus MST problem) and so daily image archive viewer showed me the wrong day; it's actually tomorrow.]

It has been one year since my first Death By Mountain hike. Not a great year. I was very motivated right up until the surgery. Then I was bedridden for months, then I was unmotivated. As of today, I still have a broken ankle and I'm not allowed to walk or even drive.

I get around town in a recumbent hand pedaled tricycle that I borrowed from Warren. I get my cast off on Tuesday. Hand trikes are hard to ride because I'm weak in the arms.

My first post-accident yoga class is Tuesday as well. We will see how that goes in a giant plastic boot.

Overall I'm better off than I was a year ago. My change in diet rid me of illness, seasonal allergies, skin infections, and much of my happiness. I miss eating fried potatoes and chocolate as my primary diet. But, I used to be bed-ridden from illness for a week at a time several times a year, and it hasn't happened once since making the change. I used to devastated by allergies when the junipers bloomed, but this year my eyes itched a little. I used to have recurring problems with flesh eating bacteria on my bicycle seat and legs, and they have gone away, and I used to have infections on my fingernails, and they have gone away too (except when I binge on sugar).

Uphill and Downhill

Up until I broke my ankle my primary method of transportation was to ride my bicycle. With my broken ankle I'm not medically allowed to even drive, so for a little while I had to get rides everywhere. I still get rides, but I borrowed a recumbent tricycle with hand-cranks so that I'm not totally dependant on other people. The most amazing thing I've learned is how "hilly" Socorro is. I've learned this because it doesn't take much of a hill to suddenly make hand-cycling very hard.

In other news, I had a terrible reaction going on under my cast, but I assumed the pain and discomfort was a normal part of having had surgery after a broken ankle. I had started to get hives though, and they didn't go away with diphenhydramine. I went in to the clinic, and they gave me a cortizone related shot. It hurt a lot for the rest of the day. Serious pain, and I wasn't able to sleep either. But now, my ankle has about as much discomfort as it did before I broke it. I get those hives from Juniper, but a single diphenhydramine cures them for an entire year, and juniper season is long gone. I'm worried it is the staples, or the screws. I have the staples until the 22nd. Some of the screws have to be removed or I'll never be able to walk again, but not all of them are coming out. I'm kind of creeped out by the idea of metal inside my leg and I would really like it all out. But I suspect that the surgery to get that all back out would be just as major as it was to put them in, and that's a lot of trouble to go to.

Failure

I was very gung-ho to get back to this, but with a broken ankle it's all ground to a stop again.

Surgery Today!

I have surgery today. The little bone has torn free of its ligaments and needs to be bolted to the big bone. It also needs a plate bolted onto it and four screws in addition to the big bolt.

Summary of weekend

I slept in a bed last night. The night of rest has given me a lot of confidence and strength on the crutches. But on to the summary.

Friday night me, Lewis, and Brad arrived at Turkey Creek. There was someone camped where I usually camp, and after a short search no other camp sights showed promise. So we headed across the three river crossings. The deepest was barely three feet, which is quite a bit better than the Forest Service had warned us about on their website. We made good time up the canyon and were about 300 meters from the hot springs when I fell in a hole in the stream that was full of slippery algae. I twisted side to side several times trying to hold my balance with me trekking poles. One pole broke and then I spun around and pitched over face first. Then I couldn't walk. In the morning I still couldn't walk, so I wrote out a note with all the info I knew SAR would need and sent Lewis out. He found a forest ranger and handed over the note. The forest ranger said it was the best first contact he'd ever seen because all the info he needed was there. I didn't expect any SAR to arrive until midnight, but a team showed up before dark. They had just had a rescue in the area and were all there and packed, so it was a fast roll out for them. They stabilized my leg, put some ice on it, and we hunkered down for another night out. Sunday morning it was quickly established that I couldn't walk even with the crutch. So I crawled. Mostly on my stomach. When the stream was deep enough I floating and crawled down it. Sometimes when the ground was stable I hopped on on foot holding onto Lewis and using the crutch they had brought up. Eventually I reached the mule team. I was put onto a mule, and thankfully not tied to it, and led out to incident base.

Death By Mountain: Failed

I didn't die out there. I did have to crawl for six hours to the mule rescue team because they couldn't reach me. Not allowed to walk, drive, or bicycle in the meantime. Showering seems too hard so I'm staying dirty.

My Pack

2x Nalgene 2.24kg
2x bigger Nalgene 3.30kg
Fresh cherries 1.08kg
Pair of Leki trekking poles .37kg
tp .14kg
toothbrush and ziplock bags 0.04kg
headlamp .23kg
Tell All by Chuck Palanhiuk .33kg
sunscreen .15kg
silnylon full of food 2.29kg
Gila map .10kg
Waterproof digital camera with spare battery .18kg
2 pack towels 0.06kg
rain jacket and rain pants .78kg
hammock .59kg
water filter .43kg
silnylon tarp .21kg
stakes and rope .11kg
junk bag .99kg
bivy .56kg
smartwool long unerwear .36kg
sleeping bag in silnylong bag .76kg
backpack with gps attached 1.68kg

16.7kg total. About 37 pounds. Of which 5.5kg is water.