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I came to for a moment and Reuben and Kelsey were each massaging one of my legs. I looked at them both and said, “I’m in real trouble.” Once my legs had stopped torturing me, Reuben left to call his sister, a nurse and friend of mine. She recommended moving me to the shade and finding water. There was shade sixty feet or so up the trail but there was no water anywhere nearby. I hobbled my way to the trees ahead, then as the spasms hit again, I blacked out once more.
I would come to and then fade out again. I remember Kelsey telling me that they had called Search and Rescue and that they were sending people to come help me. Another time she told me that I was saying and doing all sorts of strange things, and that I had been demanding that she and Reuben leave me there and save themselves. Apparently I was insisting that a woman was coming to get me and that I’d be okay. Another time I insisted she bring me a spear so that I could protect them from whatever was coming over the mountain. Another time, I apparently got up and started wandering into the woods in search of “them.” None of us knew who “they” were.
I don’t remember any of it.
Somewhere in the middle of it all, I insisted on a group photo. Search and Rescue was still a ways away, and you know me… unconscious or not I’ve gotta have it documented. My friends obliged, with nothing but time to kill and none of us realizing just how serious the situation was. In this photo, I was completely out of it. It’s probably the most haunting photo I’ve ever had taken of myself because I don’t remember taking it at all.
Eventually I came to my senses again and this time I more or less stayed there. Search and Rescue said they were only a mile away (as you’ll recall from the last post, it was a doozy of a mile). The three of us equally shared the last quarter bottle of water. It was emptier than the last time I saw it because they’d been giving me sips while I was in and out of it.
I stayed parked where I was. My body felt heavy and dry and hot. My lips were beginning to crack and peel. I started to experience an intermittent pounding headache. Things kept going in and out of haziness.
What’s crazy is, even at that point, I still didn’t know just how dangerous a situation I was in. I didn’t know that I was showing early signs of heat stroke (an often deadly condition). I didn’t know that my body’s electrolytes were probably completely out of whack, something that can stop your heart. I didn’t know that I was in a true medical emergency.
What I did know was that at least one or two Search and Rescue volunteers were on their way up the mountain and would be there soon. I assumed they’d be packing a whole bunch of electrolyte filled drinks and that after replenishing my liquids, I’d be okay to walk off the mountain.
This is where lack of education can kill you, I guess.
And thankfully the people that showed up were a lot more educated than I was, or I’d probably be dead right now.
TO BE CONTINUED.
(click here)
Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing
PS. Have you ever been told of things you were doing that you can’t remember? Are you thoroughly familiar with heat related illnesses? Would you know what signs to watch for? Would you have done anything differently, or would you have been in the same boat as me?
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Someone beat me in saying "Holy crap! I'm glad you're ok!", but I didn't think that in this case you'd find it to be redundant. So , Holy crap! I'm glad you're ok! I have to be careful with Southern Florida's heat and humidity when I skate because I do some pretty serious mileage. 9 miles is fairly average for me (at least until my next surgery) so I always have my Vitamin water with me. I've heard Gatorade is better for you, but I cannot tolerate the taste... ulck. It tastes like sweaty Kool-ade to me. I've heard of some gel band that you can freeze and then wear around your head or neck or where ever... that sounded like a reasonable smart thing to try.
Me too, Jacquie, and the suspense is killing me!
Get blocked when trying to access the story
I was out geocaching last year at a mega-event. Since no one in my family shares this hobby, I was alone on this trail (a move which will henceforth be known as Mistake #1). I also left the phone in the glovebox (#2) It wasn't terribly hot so I didn't bring any water because it's heavy(#3), but it was very very humid and the trail between caches was much more treacherous than I thought it was going to be. A whole bunch of up and down and up and down. My legs burned, my chest throbbed. I was so very thirsty, and it was too humid to tell if I'd stopped sweating or not. I stumbled upon the hike-in camp and there was a picnic table. I laid down(#4), and rested. A little voice in my head said "Go on. Go to sleep. You need the rest." A louder and more rational voice said "DO YOU WANT TO DIE? Get back to the car!" Somehow, I managed to get there. I'm pretty sure it was a major bushwhack by the most direct route since I actually marked the car on that trip, the one thing I did right. I finished off three bottles of water in the parking lot.
@coyotesgirl OMG It wasn't last year, it was two years ago. Last year we had sleet.
only when i was drinking.
Yep, after a long nite of drinking and karaoke at the dive bar!
Hate that when it happens! Makes ya feel like a alien! xD
No but I tell my hubby about his sleepy-time adventures (that he says he has no memory of) all the time. :)
Wow that last pic of you was kinda creepy, like you just weren't there at all!! glad you made it out!!
I was home in bed once, quite ill with a fever. I had checked my temp. and realized it was high and needed to tell someone. While I zoned in and out of it, I kept repeating the number to myself. When my kids got home from highschool I somberly told them "I am the river." They had no idea what made me say that, and thought I was really loopy, so called my friend for advice. What I was telling them was that my temperature was 103.7 which is a local radio station called "The River". We laugh about it now :) Scary to realize how easily we can "lose it".
I completely blame your misfortune on your sleeveless man shirt.
I just have a thing against man shirts without sleeves, I think tank tops and sleeveless shirts are great on the ladies but I just think they look weird on dudes, no offense intended :)
GATORaid??
Pregnant, contractions but not progressing. Morphine shot and an ambien. All I know is that my ex said I got a little crazy, but it didn't hurt anymore.
Have read the back story up as far as today: Drawbacks of hiking with others include inattention to surroundings and conditions missed cues in weather and topo features, as well as a reluctance to turn back BEFORE getting in trouble. Grab a copy of Andrea Lankford books mentioned here: http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/review/2010/ranger-confidential-living-working-and-dying-national-parks5641
@Jessica-that happened to me in Jr high as well. My mom refused to take me to the Dr for strep. They Said I was hallucinating and had a fever of 105° for 4 days. The Dr said I almost died. I don't remember talking to the wall when I was hallucinating.
Yes!!!...
Yeah. I used to sleepwalk on a regular basis, and I still sleep talk some times. I also had _almost_ scarlet fever when in junior high; I'm told I was delirious. I don't even remember being sick.
Yes- i've been told my entire life i ripped most of the skin off my ear in a fit of intense jealous rage when i was 2. There's no scar and absolutely no memory-guess i just have to take my family's word for it
Yes, I've lost about 5 hours after I crashed on my bike
Yes! Once I got sun poisoning with shock and said that we (America) bombed our own Pearl Harbor!
you are so very lucky to have gotten off the mountain at all...in this heat, very very little humidity....luckkkkyyyy
Yes!!!
April, Is your mom and dad on vacation? We are having a girl cousin reunion on Sunday, August 5th. Cousin Pat Naderman will be in town and would like to see everyone. I sent your mom an e-mail message but haven't heard from her. Marla
Wow Dan! That is a truly frightening experience! So glad you are a-ok!! I can only think of 2 times when I didn't know what I was doing. #1 would be sleepwalking a few times around age 11 or 12. #2 was after son #2 was born, and I was still pretty high on Demerol. My mom told me I was talking up a blue streak, but not making one iota of sense. I only recall trying to tell her how much I liked the wallpaper border in the birthing suite. LOL! Everything else is a blur! Well....except for the fact I had another son. :)
I went hiking today in the Santa Monica mountains trying to get to Sandstone Peak, the highest elevation point. I was well hydrated, stopping to use a restroom TWICE on the way up, and brought about 2 liters of water with me. In Malibu, it was 66 degrees. At the trailhead, my car didn't register the degree differential, and my cellular service was out. As best as I can tell, it was about 90 degrees with high humidity. I made it 1 1/2 miles before I was struck with a throbbing headache, intermittent nausea and dizziness. I figured the best thing to do was turn back around, and then fell down. Hobbled back to the car, where I saw my face was practically purple and I was no longer sweating. When I got back down to Malibu, I stopped at a fire station to see about my scrape. The firefighter told me I was smart to come down, as I looked as though the heat got to me. Next stop for me would have been heat stroke, and as I was alone... I don't even want to think about it. All I know is that my body went into shock at the heat differential... I'm not necessarily low carb but I can't wait to hear what you think that contributed to your body's breakdown. I'm still in bed with a wicked headache.
Awww man! This cliffhanger stuff is killing me, Dan!!!! And that's knowing it obviously turned out ok. Thankfully. So glad this is a blog from you and not some tragic story in a paper.
How about same place, but WAAAAYYY earlier, so we can read more of this awesome story! And how about the rest of it? Please and thanks! *waiting anxiously in anticipation
Carol, same time and place! :)
Once we were hiking up to a falls in which we intended to swim. It's not much of a hike, but it gets a good 117 degrees in the shade up there. We found a girl passed out in the trail with a gigantic boom box next to her. Apparently the people she'd been hiking with had been drunk and gone down ostensibly for help, leaving her alone and waterless. Luckily we had plenty and were able to do first aid on her. The ONE good thing they'd done is called Search and Rescue, because it wasn't much more than 45 minutes until the chopper came to just above where she was to pick her up. Booze and heat= not a happy mix.
wow! yeah, i've been in a similar situation while hiking in california. i wasn't a hiker or into drinking water at the time.. i probably had a few sodas earlier in the day. at first i was having a hard time staying upright.. losing my balance and such... i just wanted to get to the top of the trail and back to the car. about 100 feet from the car I just remember seeing the asphalt coming quickly at my face. My friends were trying to keep me hanging on by having me recite The Walrus and the Carpenter! I barely remember coming to while they were pouring water on me.. and I'll never forget the feeling. It was like my dry sponge of a body was soaking up every drop of water it could. It was definitely scary! I can't imagine going through that and being 6 miles in!! It's never really hot here in Alaska were I live, so I haven't had any issues since then. I'm proud of you though for getting out there! Its such a big beautiful world... and now you know more about your body, what it needs, and what it can handle. Come up to Alaska, and we can go on some awesome hikes WITHOUT the excessive heat ;) The invite is open!
Just awful!
Dying to know what happens next, pure torture having to wait. Same time and place tomorrow?
That is a scary looking picture! You can tell just by looking in your eyes that you are in very very bad shape. So glad you lived to tell the tale.
I don't think I would have been attempting a 7-mile hike in the mountains because I'm not all that outdoorsy or athletic. But I have worked summer harvest crew on the desert high plains of extreme western Kansas, eastern Colorado, and southwestern Nebraska. These are areas of the world that routinely see daytime temps in the 100 - 115 F range. And, of course, there is zero shade in the middle of a corn, bean or wheat field. Inevitably, at some point during the hottest of hot days ... the a/c would go out in the semi-truck I was driving. Also inevitably, the boss-man would procrastinate a day or three before going to town to buy freon because we were cutting and time was money -- blah, blah, blah. So my solution to the high temps, no shade, some times no a/c, and working outside all day everyday for weeks on end was to water down my Gatorade 50/50 -- half water, half Gatorade. I'm not a big fan of straight, plain, luke-warm water ... so I mixed it down with the Gatorade to give it a little bit of flavor. ;) Straight Gatorade is okay for a short-term solution, like after football practice. But if you're going to be out there for awhile, you really need just the water to stay hydrated. So, it wasn't on top of a mountain, but I have survived high temps and potential life-threatening situations buy using my head and a lot of water. ;)
in college I was part of a field botany class that takes place in Baxter State Park (North end of the Appalachian Trail). we took a planned hike, with ranger input, that should have taken most of the day going slowly but nothing too rigorous. at the end we would meet our van that was parked there waiting for us. we ate breakfast before leaving and took only food for lunch, and enough water to make it for a 'day hike'. luckily we also took a water purifier, compass, map, flashlight and matches/lighters. turned out that several parts of the trail were completely washed out and we had a hard time staying on the pre-determined path and at one point lost the trail. used the map and eventually got to our van...which was parked on the other side of a huge gully where the bridge had been washed away and fast, angry moving water separated us from our way home. long story short, we spent the night over night on the side of a mountain in Maine in May. bear sightings didn't bother me as much as the onset of dehydration and fatigue. glad you're OK!
Dude. We gotta hear the rest of this.
When I was 12,woke up in the middle of the night with a screaming headache and sore throat. I told my mom, who felt my forehead, said I was running a fever and probably had a cold. The next day my fever was worse, as was my throat. The third day, my fever was so bad that no otc fever reducing medication worked on my fever. She was still convinced I had a cold. By the fourth day, I was sound asleep on the couch when I suddenly sat up, turned, and began a conversation with the wall. That's what convinced my mom that there was something wrong with me. I hallucinated all the way to the Dr.'s office. When they saw my throat they yelled at my mom for waiting so long to bring me in and that if she would have waited another day, my throat would be completely closed off and I would suffocate to death. Apparently my tonsils were so swollen they were just about touching. My diagnosis? Strep throat. My mom felt guilty, I spent the first day of school sick at home, and got all the ice cream I wanted. I don't remember talking to the wall, or the ride to the Dr's office.
While I was in labour with my daughter, who is now almost 4, I was apparently moaning to my husband to take me home, because I wanted beer and nachos. The pain was so intense I don't remember this, but I believe it. Beer and nachos can make anything all better!
I gave myself heatstroke when I was 20. I'm 43 now. I say "gave" because I too ignored symptoms that I knew were signs of trouble. Ever since, I am prone to heatstroke and know that if I don't drink ALOT of fluid, even if it's just hot... or cold... or windy... anything that depletes your fluid, I start getting a "numb" feeling in my arms and my mentality. That's the only sign I let myself get to anymore. I have found that copious amounts of high spf sunscreen helps a little too. It keeps your skin from turning against you as well. Very glad that every thing worked out. Looking forward to tomorrows post.
Thankful that as of now, it appears you survived your ordeal. I do hope you don't have lasting effects from it.
Aw, I was hoping that this was the final chapter. (For some reason I thought it was a three post deal.) Looking forward to tomorrow.
And you have lived to tell the tale..... So glad! This is scary! Can you post the next part now? Please! Sooooo impatient!
This sounds completely horrific - like one of those Reader's digest stories -WOW!
And yes there was a time when I had a concussion because a 45lb olympic bar fell on me when I was at the gym. I went home and went to sleep (bad idea) and the next morning I think I bathed 3 times because I couldn't remember if I had used soap. I drove to work. Eventually my co-workers decided I was incoherent and called my BF to take me to the hospital. I don't remember much of that day. I was concussed pretty badly but I had survived the worst of it. I should have been seen much sooner.
I hope you learned to take water and not just Gatorade when you are going hiking :)
Once you get heat stroke you are VERY suseptable from there on out. Please do the best to take care of your self. You may not be able to do things you once did. Glad you are okay!
Dan, I feel your pain. I have heat related things happen to me my whole life. I literally cannot take the heat, I get sick, woozy, out of it, you name it, it has happened to me. I had a boyfriend at one time, we had done something fairly strenuous outside and it was summer. I don't remember if we were hiking or doing yard work or what have you. I knew I was very overheated, I felt drowsy really really drowsy. I had been lying on my couch for about an hour, I really don't remember. I just knew I felt super sleepy. He finally figured out that I was semi conscious, he had medical training and knew the signs, I was hot but not sweaty. He drug my butt up and put me in a tepid shower, I felt really crappy that rest of that evening and most of the next day but, I was fine. I shudder to think if he hadn't been there, I was so out of it I had no idea I was so sick and could have died.
Holy crap! I'm glad you're ok.
Dan, I'm starting to think you should just stay home and do less risky things. :P So glad you're okay!
Wow! Again, glad you made it out alive. I will say the first time I saw that last pic of all three of you posted, I thought he really looks ill. I watch a lot of survivor shows, just because it is interesting and probably something that would happen to me (bad luck). One thing that did impress me about those shows are the amount of times people had gone on vacation and knew absolutely nothing about the location or what to do in an emergency. What you don't know can kill you evidently. I can't imagine being in some of those horrid situations with my kids! Glad you are fine and I guess sometimes we all have to learn the hard way.