Has anyone here been injured while soloing?

I've been all over the BWCA and Quetico. Both with friends and soloing. This last trip I had was the first injury I have gotten. I was taking a fish off and it took a bad shake and I got two treble hooks embedded extremely deep into my forearm. I was able to tell the person who was with me how to get them out. This got me thinking... I don't think I could have done this myself if it had been embedded into my right arm. This is the first hook I've ever gotten embedded into me since I was a kid and I do a ton of fishing.

Just wondering if anyone has gotten injured and how you dealt with it while soloing.

In the future I'm thinking I may crimp the treble hooks just to be on the safe side. What are your thoughts on that? I do crimp the hooks in the Quetico and I'm not sure if it affects the amount of fishing I'm catching or not. I'm not diligent about crimping the hooks in the BWCA though as I use the lures again when I get back home and I don't want them crimped while fishing at home. Thoughts?

I got my foot wedged in a rock crevice with my pack and canoe on my back. Hurt like hell at first, but Ibuprofen kept it down to a dull throb for the rest of the trip. I did come out a day early since I was going to run out of it before I could complete my planned itinerary and I didn't want to do the long 400+ rod portage without a full dose.

Other than that, I've had some nagging little aches and pains on hikes. I nicked myself field dressing a deer once, but it wasn't serious. I guess I've either been lucky or careful, maybe both.

I've been lucky in my 9 solo's so far and on all of my other trips as well, only one guy who had the runs for a day or so, all most ran out of tp:)

On my last solo a few weeks ago, I fell on top of my kayak paddle and bruised my hip. I usually fall on at least one portage and end up with a bruise on every trip. No depth perception can make a person rather clumsy once in a while.

No major injuries but I did cancel one trip due to heart symptoms on the first portage. A few falls with bruising that might last up to a month, one landing on a pine log just between the broken off branches. That one got me thinking and left breathing a bit painful for awhile. Thanks for the post. It gets us all thinking. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Nothing very serious - I slipped at a portage landing about an hour into a trip and busted a knuckle. It swelled up and is still bigger than the other hand years later, but wasn't bad enough to impact the trip much. I haven't fished on a solo in several years and rarely use anything sharp. I have the usual assortment of old age aches and pains though.

Just a broken leg (fibia) on one of the small portages between Phoebe and Grace in 2013. I did finish the portages all the way to Sawbill with my gear, although my son carried the main gear pack. I carried the food pack and the canoe. It worked out OK. Had to wear an inflatable boot for 6 weeks after that until it healed. Good as new now.

Doh! I realized today that it made it sound like I was not on a solo. Actually, I was on a partial solo. My son, his buddy, and I headed out for about 8 days. After the first two days, they split, so I was on about a 5-6 day solo. We met up again the last night in the woods, and then headed in together. Lucky for me, they were available to carry part of my gear that last day. The waves on Alton were really nasty that day, and it was rough going in my Prism.

Tomster

Last month's trip ending after 5 days (of a 14 day trip) in WCPP. After taking 3 hours to do a TRIPLE portage of a 130 rod portage of average difficulty, I knew I was done.

Luckily I carry a satellite phone, so I dialed up my outfitter and arranged for a fly-in pick-up. This proved to be a little problematic since I was on a rather small lake with a limited run length for takeoff ... so much so that I was "shuttled" out to a larger lake before transport back to Red Lake.

Diagnosis: Probable heat exhaustion and dehydration. (This was more-or-less confirmed by a post-trip medical exam.) The temperatures were pushing into the upper 80's and with almost daily rain; it was very humid.

Keep in mind, I DO train for this scenario by regular walks/hikes at distances beyond 5 miles at temperatures ranging from 95 - 100. In addition, I was throwing back LOTS of water. However, I SWEAT!!! (As in, after a few minutes of working under a load, you don't have a stitch of clothing on that is dry.) It's not uncommon for me to drop 5 pounds on one of my walks, despite drinking in excess of 32 ounces of water. So, I guess I finally got to the point that I couldn't "make up the difference" by my level of water intake.

I do know about dehydration and can generally recognize the early onset. However, in this particular case, I didn't have any of my usual physiological indicators that I was about to get slammed.

ANOTHER LESSON LEARNED!!!

dd

Wow, dd! Glad everything turned out OK.

I've found that I just don't "handle" the heat and humidity as well now that I'm older. I often find myself dehydrated on trips from not drinking enough fluids while traveling.

quote boonie: "I've found that I just don't "handle" the heat and humidity as well now that I'm older."

Since I've got 5 years on you, I can tell you that its not going to get any easier. Five years ago, I would had been able to blow thru the portage in question doing a double portage without difficulty, even WITH the heat and humidity.

dd

That kind of sucks DD. You plan for a long time and then have to cut it short. I get in trouble with the heat too. Dehydration can cause you to make some poor decisions. Sounds like you were able recognize it enough to call off the trip. Did you have any electrolytes along to supplement the water intake?

quote hobbydog: "That kind of sucks DD. You plan for a long time and then have to cut it short. I get in trouble with the heat too. Dehydration can cause you to make some poor decisions. Sounds like you were able recognize it enough to call off the trip. Did you have any electrolytes along to supplement the water intake? "

I did have electrolytes along, but I didn't get on top of it soon enough.

It sucks big time when you spend more time driving up and back than the amount of time you get to spend on the paddling part your trip. (After pulling out, I still faced a 3 day drive to get home). But for me, it was absolutely the right call. I was spent, and I knew it. It took a full week after I returned home before I was back to a normal routine again. Staying out longer would simple have been fool hearty, IMHO.

At least there is no evidence that my problem was cardiovascular in nature ... something else that was gnawing around in the back of my brain.

So, I'll definitely "train up" for next season and start my intake of electrolytes as soon as I start sweating.

dd

Yes, I need to do a better job of hydrating before I start. I took a Sawyer Water Filter Bottle last year, which is helping me to drink me to drink more as I travel since it's simple - dip and drink.

Exhaustion and dehydration are valid concerns and an injury I had not considered. I started a blood pressure med this summer and it is really working for me, but forgot that it leeches electrolytes. I see banana chips in my future. While I hydrated well and I had energy snacks readily available the Tusky following the half mile from Round Lake did me in this summer and I spent a layover day resting. Wise of you, DD, to do the same.
While it does suck to have to plan trips around the limits aging requires, it is still awesome to be planning trips and I really hope I can keep going for a long time.

Fortunately nothing serious for me - just minor slices, bumps, and burns. I chalk part of it up to luck, and part of it to consciously being just a bit more careful when in a remote area alone.

quote dentondoc: "
ANOTHER LESSON LEARNED!!!

dd"

A few years ago I started packing along powdered Gatorade and mixing a strong quart at the beginning of the day whenever it was warm and humid. If it was really hot and I was working hard or sweating alot I would mix a second quart. Drank it like water through out the day.

I forgot it this year on a solo in July, and at the end of a pretty strenuous day trip I felt exhausted in a way I haven't in years. I think now it was due to not having the Gatorade all day.

i've never been injured but i have had a neurological problem pop up that put me out for a day. i can't plan on these but they are a part of my plan. in this case i was backpacking and everything i needed was on my back. i set up camp right where i was and waited it out.

Not while I was paddling but out on Isle Royale, my pack was packed full of amenities and my left knee and hip got really bad after my 3rd day of 12-14 mile hiking. Had to make a sturdy cane/walking stick. I ended up at Daisy Farm and left a note for the ranger to get a pick up there instead of at Rock Harbor. Next day I was good enough for 20+ hike up to Ojibwe Lookout and to bushwhack into Angleworm lake. I was unpleasantly surprised by my body's inability to manage the hike.

No. Thank goodness. I wrenched my neck in Woodland Caribou when my Knu Pac slid off the yoke and the horns jammed in the small space between seat and yoke. I was stuck and the canoe fell with it still attached to the Knu pack and that attached to me.. my neck was killing me. Just a muscle thing though.

I threw the fing thing in the woods. Did the whole trip intending to pick it up on my return. It was gone.

Another time I fell to my waist in quicksand. I almost pushed that emergency button on SPOT. I finally swam out.. hanging on to my canoe. After all they tell you to stay calm, have a smoke and think, right?

Scary post, really makes a guy wonder why there are not more stories on the news about rescues!

My first solo last year nearly ended when I walked into a sharp stick while out gathering firewood. It hit me lift a sledgehammer in the chest and it took a minute or so to start breathing again. Weirdest feeling ever, didn't know what happened, thought someone shot me maybe. Continued my trip but was scary sore a couple days later so I turned around. X-ray afterwards showed it was only bruised, was terribly lucky, maybe an inch up or down and could have punctured.

I'm leaving for my second solo in a week, will be more careful.

Stay safe everyone.

I embedded a treble hook from a Rapala in my hand while on a solo on Ella Hall. Ella Hall is a little visited lake with either one very long single portage or a two portages through Mud. I worked on it for probably half an hour, I couldn't get it to back out, get the shank of the hook cut to push it through, or get it off the split ring. My options were to wrap the whole thing up with part of an ace bandage in my first aid kit leave everything behind and try to flag someone down once back at the Fall Lake end of the portage or keep working on it. I chose option 2 and finally got it to back out using the locking forceps I use for deep hook removal. Lots of blood and pain, and of course it got infected a few days later.

JD