Today I decided to go for a bit of a hike pretty much by myself. I was in a popular country park. Nothing bad could happen, right?
Wrong.

Coming to a drop about 10 to 15 feet with a small river below, I decided that I would rather just walk across the log that spanned instead of taking the long route.

About a quarter of the way across the log I felt my feet slipping. Realising that I was going to have a hard fall I split my legs in the hop of just hurting my... eh... self but not my head.
Unfortunately, I managed to hurt my...self... and then slide around the log to fall headfirst on a rock about 10 feet below.
I then flipped heels over head and landed in the river.

When I managed to get out my head hurt and I had a lump the size of an egg right at the back of my skull.
But worse than that, my back REALLY hurt.

So, deciding that I was very stupid and ver, very, very lucky, I headed to the hospital.

I don't have concussion and after X-rays they are sure that the only damage to my back is a pulled muscle.
So it's rest and no Muay Thai or working out for a few weeks.


Lesson learned. Some risks are just not worth taking.


Luckily my new tweed kilt survived the fall in better shape than I did and I came home to my shiny new copy of The art of kiltmaking. (Thanks to the Scottish Tartans Museum.)
So I can rest in bed and learn how to make a kilt.


At least I didn't break my neck.

Glad to hear that you are not seriously hurt, rest up my friend.

Ouch!

Glad you haven't got any serious injuries - a bang on the head can sometimes have serious consequences. We all love a challenge and when things go wrong its all part of life's learning curve.

Ouch! Those multiple bangs are the worst!
Hope you get to feeling better soon.

Well - at least your kilt is ok... :wink:

Seriously, I've taken a few bad falls out flyfishing by myself. The last one taught me to take the long way around. I'm glad your injuries are limited - take care.

Oh the mental images that your post brought forward.

Ouch again!!!!

But the most important question - Was your kilt damaged?

You are indeed lucky. It could have been much worse.


For future reference, the safest way to cross a log is:
1. Sit on it
2. straddle it
3. use your hands to pull yourself forward, bit by bit.
There's no risk of falling and hurting your... eh... self... but this might be a bit tricky in a kilt.

This tip comes straight from the show "Man vs. Wild."

Better the head than the, uh, self! Just glad you, the boys, and the kilt all came home in pretty good form.

Kind of makes me want to go hiking, though.

If you feel yourself start to fall, trust me, your gonna fall. No one has yet to sucessfully break the LAW of gravity, your best hope is to make a good landing, minimizing the damage. Failing to recognize my own advice 3 weeks ago, I slipped on a wet tile floor breaking my big toe! Note to self don't do that again

Ouch! Glad to hear there were no long-term injuries.

Dude! Go buy a lottery ticket - you are one lucky guy!

-T

It could have been worse----it could have been me!Seriously though,you have to be alive to feel lucky.Hope you are back on your feet soon.All the best.

You're a lucky lad Arlen. Apart from all the REALLY nasty stuff that could have happened like knocking yourself out & drowning, there could have been a busload of tourists see you going over upside down & be able to tell the world the answer to THAT question :lol: Hope you heal quickly, & my best wishes for your recovery

Glad your ok Arlen

Thanks for all of the well wishes.
I am on the mend and my kilt has dried out and is just fine. Still fits just fine and not even a stain on it. (Though I will probably get it dry-cleaned anyway.)

I'm just glad I didn't hurt myself seriously. And I will be sure to always cross the safe way from now on.
At least it has given me time to really read The art of kiltmaking and start making plans for the two sets of fabric I have.

See? Every cloud does have a silver lining...

An amusing but rather painful sounding experience in your story. Using your head to break a fall was probably not the lesson you had in mind, I'm guessing. Glad to see you're only slightly battered and the kilt is back in good shape.

Any landing you can walk away from . . .

Being a hiker and a scot, I think chosing a head first fall rather than the smaller brains would cause the least damage.:shock:

I like to hike alone also but after a good scare I always rethink that. I sprained an ankle really bad once at least an hour into the hike which made it a 4 hour hobble back to the car....sheesh. glad your OK I still hike alone to clear the head.

Looks like your pride was hurt more than your body, so you were very, very fortunate.

Brian

I was fortunate indeed. I learned a lesson and even my MP3 player survived in good shape.
From now on I'll leave the risk-taking and try to have a buddy with me.

hmmmmm....I often hike with only my dogs as company. Maybe I should rethink that, eh? Glad you're not badly hurt and I hope that your noggin' and your...self are back in 100% condition soon.

:)

Yeah. My dog was my only company. He was nice enough to come and check on me after I fell.
I think he'd do a good job of playing Lassie and finding someone to help me out.
Still... Ouch.