[dudley]

Ok I got this stuff on the brain now...

What the scariest, or most disturbing thing that ever happen to you while hiking
I've done some pretty dumb stuff myself... and survived
I've also run into some large beasts...
Hard to choose ......you go first

[dudley]

Alright then, I'll go first. A spill and a chill

Back when I was in high school I was a backpacker. I went as often as possible. My friends got tired of going with me so a lot of the time I went by myself.
I had some pretty good gear for the day and my age, but I hadn't got the hang of carrying light weight food yet
I was young and strong (and stupid) so I didn't care, besides the "backpacking " food of the day sucked.
This was also before the "cotton kills" mantra that you hear so often now-a-days.
I, like most everyone else, wore jeans and a flannel shirt. A wool jacket when it was cold.

I had gone into Lincoln for resupply. Dinty Moore canned stew, canned beans....heavy stuff.
My pack weight was way up there.
As I walked up the Kanc it was getting late and I started looking for a place to cross the Pemi so I could find a campsite before it got dark
Well I didn't find a bridge so I decided I would ford the river. I found a spot that looked doable and I went for it.

I didn't make it
I went face down in the river with that 60# pack on my back... under water for some distance. Probably not as far as it seemed though

......When I finely made it to shore I was exhausted but relieved I was still alive
Everything was soaked and it was getting dark
I set up my tent, made a fire, and hung all my wet stuff in the trees to dry.
Then it started to snow....
I'd go on but that's all I remember. But that much is something I'll never forget

Oh, turns out there was a bridge just up around the bend

[Andrew]

I have one instance that clearly stands out as the most frightening, but I was camping, not hiking.

Five or so years ago I drove down to Pocono Pennsylvania to watch the NASCAR Pocono 500. We had camped about six or seven miles from the track at a little campground that seemed to cater to race fans. (Actually, everything within ten miles of the track, or any track for that matter, caters to race fans)

It was Sunday night and we were partying at the campsite following the race. Our plan was to stay there Sunday night and drive home Monday morning. That way we would beat the race-day traffic. If you have never been to a NASCAR race, the traffic leaving the track can be simply incredible. It's not uncommon to sit in traffic for three or four hours if you stay until the checkers and not duck-out early.

I was badly sun burnt, exhausted from the day and moderately tipsy from the beers and grilling we had done once we got back to the site. At about 10pm I went to my tent to crash. I knew it was going to be cold at night (maybe 40) and I had brought an air mattress, a pillow, and some blankets. I thought I would sleep like a baby. (I know, not really roughing it)

The campsite was on the edge of a little river that was maybe fifty feet across. My tent was about 15 feet from the edge of the water. The sound of the water was great, very relaxing to sleep to. Needless to say, in like ten minutes after lying down I was out cold.

Well....

At about 2am I woke up, opened my eyes, and realized I was about to be sick. Actually, I was already being sick. It took all I had to franticly break out of my cocoon of blankets, unzip the tent, and run outside. I bent over and became violently ill.

It was so strange, I had not drank 'that' much. I was cold and clammy, but felt like I had a huge fever. I felt my head, it was cold and dank. I got sick again, this time more violent than the last. I was burning up, breathing heavily and began to disrobe to cool down. Nothing helped. My head pounded and I felt like I could pass out. I leaned against the picnic table began to get scared. This had come on so fast, and with so much effect, I must be dangerously sick. Maybe food poisoning I thought.

I had not even realized it in my delirium, but it had begun to rain. I'd gathered it must have rained a lot actually during the night; the river bank had risen to within a few feet of my tent. I stood in the rain, hoping it would make me cool down and feel better, but it didn't. I swear I had a temp of 100+. I was walking around in my boxers, in the rain, pondering lying in the water of the river to cool down before my core overheated.

The cause....

During the night my air mattress had blown a hole and left me lying on the ground. Additionally, my tent was leaking. So, I was laying in a pool of freezing water, covered in freezing wet blankets, resting my head on a water-logged pillow. I was in a deep enough sleep from being so worn out from the day that I had not even realized it. From the level of water in my tent, and just how wet everything was, it must have been raining for most of the night.

In hindsight it's obvious, but at the time it did not occur to me that the fever I was feeling was actually my body giving up trying to heat itself. I was not hot, but very cold. I wasn't shivering or anything, it had gone past that. Hypothermia had begun to set in. God knows how, but I was able to get myself dry, find some warm clothes in the car, and find a dry place to sit and warm up. This was all after about an hour of being sicker than I have ever felt. I can't even express how "strangely sick" I felt.

I did some reading up on Hypothermia when I got home. It turns out that victims experience a sense of being hot, not cold. Victims are commonly found laying in ponds, or snow banks, with calm expressions on their faces as if they simply "lay down to sleep" and never got up. I can't tell you how terrifying it is to think that I was so out of it, so confused by the cold, that I had stood by the edge of the water, in my boxers thinking, "I'll just lay down for a second and break this temp"

[Soulfrk]

Two years ago, in early September three friends and I (two of them healthy but inexperienced hikers) hiked Mt Washington. We hit the trail pretty early. It was a beautiful day, clear skies and the forecast claimed it was going to stay that way… We went up Tucks Ravine once we got the top of the headwall a thick fog rolled in and it got a little chilly. On went the extra layers, and we continued up. About half way up the summit approach, we literally couldn’t see each other if we were more than 10 feet apart. Half jokingly every now and then I’d yell back “Marco” and wait for the response “polo”.

we hit the pavement of the auto road and it started to rain… so much for clear skies on went the rain gear and we headed towards the gift shop for some chili and hot cocoa. I think we spent too much time at the summit. The group wanted to wait to see if the rain let up…I wanted to get down before the sun set, knowing I had forgot to pack a headlamp or flashlight (stupid).

The rain let up and we proceeded over slippery rocks down Lions Head. The clouds started to clear, Crazy New England weather. It was right around Alpine Gardens that I heard a bit of a rumble I looked back towards Tucks Ravine and saw Dark Black Clouds looming just past the headwall… I suggested we speed up the pace being about an hour from the tree line I’d rather not get stuck in a thunderstorm… The clouds moved faster than we did, about a half an hour later we had lightning nipping at our heels as we tried to quickly make our way over slippery rocks.

We did make into the trees before the storm was right on top of us, but with a storm right on top of us about 2 or 3 hours before the sun set, making our way down a steep slick trail, the tree cover provided little consolation.

In hind sight I realize this wasn’t exactly a life threatening situation, but never the less I was scared as hell. It was easily the worst thunderstorm I’ve been since I was a little kid… and by far the worst one I’ve been stuck in when hiking. The lightning felt like it was striking right next to me, the thunder was deafening, and rain water was rushing down the trail around us.

I guess I’m pretty fortunate that that is my scariest moment on the trail. *knocks on wood

[Darwin]

About five years ago I responded to a thread on VFTT for a hike up MT.Moosilauke during an extreme cold snap. One of the hikers was a member of the AMC 4k commitee. He and a couple of other hikers had attempted to climb the moose in -15 temps with high winds and a wind chill of about 40 or 50 - but had to turn back just before the summit. So they wanted to give it another try. The next week and the date of our hike was to be about the same temps, so after a few pm's we agreed that it would not be safe to hike the moose with the exposure above treeline. I suggested Mt.Hale instead. It seemed like a good idea at the time.I had hiked this peak many times with no problems but never in winter. So we all agreed this was a far better option. We arrived at the top of the Zealand RD. about 8am and man was it cold! We talked briefly and set on our way on the two or three mile slog to the Hale brook trailhead. I had made one major mistake. I had waited to this day to try out my new insulated camelback. Needles to say by the time we made it to the trailead my water was FROZEN! Temps were probably about 5-10 below. I did'nt say anything because the people I were hiking with were kind of big wigs in the New England hiking community and I certainly did not want to seem inept. So we kept on going to the summit with no problems. On the way down I was feeling quite ill so I finnaly let on that my water had frozen about five hours ago. The most experienced member of the group offered up some water he had boiled in the morning and kept in his pack to keep from freezing. I took a couple of swigs off of his jug and started to vomit violently. I thought I was going to die right there! We all started hiking down to the road and I was still feeling horrible and dehydrated. The same guy offered me some more water and I took it and threw up again. At that point I Knew I just needed to get to my car so I just started hoofing it hard, leaving my friends behind. I finally made it back to the parking lot after a long slog on Zealand RD. We planned to have dinner toether but I just could'nt gather my thoughts, so I took a little nap in my car and then headed home! On the way home I was still feeling very ill and I had to pull over at the concord rest area and sleep a little bit. When I finnaly got home it felt so good! I usually get home from hikes at around five or six but did,nt get home till nine so my wife was very worried. My wife had mentioned my name so many times that night that my neighbors son had decided to name is hamster after me "Shawn"!!