Your most frightening or dangerous hike.

[Wasatch Rebel]

What I'm really after here is what happened to you unexpectedly on a hike that could've ended in tragedy, but thankfully didn't. My own event happened on Mt. Timpanogos. My son and I were hiking early in the season, and there was still a lot of snow up there. We began from the trailhead at the Timpooneke Campground, and so our approach to Emerald Lake was from that side, where normally there is a talus slope on the final approach to the lake. This time though, there was a snowfield, maybe seven feet thick. The snowfield went nearly to the edge of maybe a 100 foot cliff. For some stupid reason, I decided that it would be easier going for us if we walked along the top edge of the cliff, instead of across the snowfield, so I got closer to the edge of the snowfield to take a look, and sat down to scoot closer. As soon as I sat down, whatever material my pants were made of slid like crazy on the snow, and I flew off the edge onto the narrow trail below. Thankfully, it was six feet wide instead of three, or I'd have been a goner.

There have been some other close calls, but none that scared me more than this, and none in which I counted myself as lucky to have not been killed.

Okay, I'd like to see what others have experienced.

[R]

It's funny and weird that you posted this, since I just blogged about it an hour ago. Here's how I talked about it on my blog...

Life is inherently risky, and you can't live without enduring some risk, no matter how careful you are. I tend to be fairly fearless about my adventures, since I am a believer in the maxim, "Go out on a limb; that's where the fruit is." But once in a while, I go too far, as I did in the autumn of 2002.

Abby and I got married at Delicate Arch in Arches National Park in eastern Utah in October 2004. It was my third visit to the arch; I had been in November 2002 and March 2004. In '02, while Jamie and David sat in the sun enjoying the view of the arch, I crept around to the "far" side of it, the one that faces the adjacent canyon. There are two sandstone outcroppings there on the otherwise smooth slickrock that slopes steeper and steeper into the canyon. You can see them just below the arch in this fisheye photo I made that day...

http://myweb.cableone.net/abbysm/pix/demighthavefallen02.jpg

Here's why this photo, and the mere act of remembering taking it, scares the crap out of me. To shoot it, I had edged my way down the increasing slope of the canyon to this point...

http://myweb.cableone.net/abbysm/pix/demighthavefallen01.jpg


When I think about it, I imagine that I was just one step away from death. One missed step.

There, but for the grace of friction, go I.

Blog entry here... http://giantmuh.blogspot.com/2009/05/photo-that-scares-sht-out-of-me.html

[erial]

I went to the opera tonight.

I have made a safe return.

figaro, figaro, fig a row.

[shaggy125]

Canyoneering in Neon Canyon we had about a 2 foot long, 10 inch thick rock roll in and fall about 15 feet from where we were standing. That was pretty scary. I've been lucky and haven't had anything too scary happen other than that. I'm pretty conservative when it comes to taking risk's outside though.

[Scott P]

See November 22-23, near the bottom of the report:

http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/378565/Father-and-Son-Adventures-in-Peru.html

http://www.summitpost.org/images/medium/360594.jpg

It really wasn't that dangerous because of where we were, but I guess if it went off when we were near the top of the peak it could have been worse.

Once a few years ago we almost got creamed by a falling rock the size of a beachball while doing Pool Creek, but there isn't anything we could have done differently to avoid something like that (other than staying home or being lazy). We were stitting there at the top of the rappel and we could here the rock falling, but we couldn't see it until it fell off the final ledge. It landed in the middle of our group and showered us with pieces after exploding when it hit the ground. A piece also damaged and core shot the rappel rope. If anyone happened to be on rappel at the time it might have cut the rope causing them to fall. If the rock would have landed on someone they would be gone.

Anyway, especially in the past few years or decade, I don't like to do anything dangerous at all. Safety should be the #1 concern. As long as you learn to play it safe, things like mountain climbing or canyoneering can be very safe. The vast majority of the time, it's only when you are doing something wrong that it becomes unusually dangerous. I'm glad I know what I do now and to do things very safely. I wish in my younger years I also used better judgement, but we were all young once. It's always important to play it safe.

[Bo_Beck]

15 years ago I was making my 3rd ascent of Prodigal Son with the first ascencionist Ron Olevsky. I had previously done my very first aid climb on the same route with Ron years earlier, but I just jugged and cleaned each pitch. This time I had an opportunity to lead every other pitch. I was leading the 6th pitch and semi hi-stepped placing some gear when I heard whoosh and SPLAT right next to me. The wind created by the rock falling from above very nearly knocked me out of the aiders. The rock hit just 2 feet to my right on a slight bulge. It showered Ron some 150' below with shrapnel. If it had hit me it would have been all over. I heard Ron scream from below, "Hey you ^$$h*LE$, stop throwing rocks!!!!!!!!" I guess that some irresponsible folks from on top were chucking rocks from the top! Anyway...It was a wake up for me.

[RedRoxx]

1. Flash flood Paria Narrows just out of Buckskin, unplanned overnight just below East Clark bench. I remember waterfalls near the end of Buckskin and diving thru the then open Rabbit hole at the Rockfall and almost flat out running to the confluence.
2. Rappelling in a mine shaft in a major closed mine told to us by a retired miner about 3200 feet deep. We were looking for a level. I was rope tender, my boyfriend let the rope get away from him and it was hanging mid shaft and I had to get on rope and go down and get it to him. We both ascended on the rope, and I was freaking out thinking about all the sharp metal around us, and us on a piece of dental floss 3000 feet up.
3. Bad air in a cave, I wrote about that one on the cave forum
4. Hiding from gun toting ( looked like AK-47) drug runners in the Huachuca mountains on a day hike. I can lay still in weeds for a long time.
5. Running out of water ( accidental spillage) on a ridgeline, with a missing trail, in an oncoming storm, in a remote mountain range, the Galiuros, on a backpack. Had a cold supper, found the trail the next day, and found water a few hours later.
6. Looking down the barrel of an irate ranchers' shotgun, trying to locate access into a historic canyon near the Arizona, New Mexico border. Border patrol came up and everything settled down.
7. Seeing a mountain lion ( my third time) up close and personal in the Santa Teresa Mountains on a backpack. My heart speeded up a bit,but he/she ran away very quickly.
8. Falls-- bone/shin exposure in Anza Borrego, almost falling off a cliff in the Dirty Devil region, etc.

I'm sure there are some more, I try to be more careful nowadays but doesn't always work.

[Cirrus2000]

I think the scariest moment for me was last month, building my first deadman anchor (solo, so no meat anchor backup!!) and committing myself to an overhanging 40 foot rappel off of it. It wasn't a dangerous moment, but a stressful one. Rather a dry mouth as I went over the lip.

As far as hiking/scrambling go, I was doing a peak a couple of years ago, with a rather inexperienced fellow along (as well as one other moderately experienced hiker).

We were descending from the peak, and had to scramble down a cliff band. It was tough to see the best line (hard to see where we'd come up) so I started down a few steps, and decided we needed to move over a bit.

This other guy said, "No, no - right here!" and started down from above me. He knocked a big rock (bread box sized) down toward me - it slid along a sloped ledge, and dropped a foot or two before reaching me. I was able to mostly swat it away with my right forearm, though it also struck a glancing blow to my right thigh on the way down. I still have a couple of scars on my forearm, but at least it didn't knock me the 20 or so feet to the ground.

I cursed floridly and extensively. Won't go on trips with him anymore, and warn friends away...

[Rented mule]

My first ever rattlesnake encounter ended up with three rattlers, that day!
Wow!

I was hiking in Zion Extened (the I-15) entrance and it was the hottest day of summer, a few years back. Virtually no one other than drive throughs
came into the park. I, on the other hand decided to go for a hike. I went down the trail to the big arch. I turned off the trail and bushwhacked my way up a moist stream bed all the way into the head of it and scrambled up the pouroff up to the saddle on the slickrock. It was late afternoon. I started back after admiring the views from my perch and started back as late afternoon came and shadows lengthened across the valley. The slickrock had turned from red and orange to a fluorescent deep burnt orange as if admitting its own light and glow. I scurried down and mostly jogged along the winding creek side. I ran up a little sandy hill and scooted down the other side almost mimicking a roller coaster. In fact, I was laughing all the way up and down the turns.

Then, BAM! right there on the sand, directly in front of me, I slid to a hault right in front of a rattlesnake. It immediately curled up and struck at me! It hit my trek pole and I felt the vibrabation hit like a largemouth bass on a plug! But, I didn't want to hook this one! I screamed my loudest bestest 9 year old girlie man scream and by reaction, I flung my pole upward to the sky. I somehow hooked the snake and watched it
slilde part way down my pole, staring at its whitish underbelly and I somehow flung it over into the manzanita or shrub oak. I don't really remember which kind of bush. Botany was not on my mind at the time.
I next, let out a series of whooops whooops whooop whoop that sounded like a howler monkey at the San Diego Zoo!! I gathered myself together, laughed my arse off at how I reacted and moved on up the now, darkening trail. I stopped part way up the trail and sat on a rock.
My legs were burning from the hill climb too fast. I got up in about 3 minutes only to take three steps back up the trail and have another rattler lunge out of the brush at me. Luckily, the trail was wide, and this fat boy did some amazing moves! The snake actually got hung up in the brush and fell down to the ground and immediately retreated into the brush. I looked upward into the evening sky and asked for some divine intervention to please make it back to the trail head????
At the trailhead, I tossed out some trash that some ignorant slob threw on the ground and stood there in the afterglow of Zion. I took three steps in the poor lighting and wanted to read the trailhead sign about if they showed the name of the creek bed I walked off trail (bad boy tsk tsk)
and guess what? As I turned around, a rattler was behind the garbage can rattling like crazy! It was open for business!!

C'mon! my first ever rattlesnake experience? D'oh!!

I've been much better, now. In fact, I see about four of them a year.
The biggest one, ever and this was one thick snake was in Orderville!!

[Don]

Worked as a wildland firefighter summer of 2000 for the DNR. We were up on the Stansbury range along with a Flamingo (Flame-n-go) crew from the state prison. One hell of a summer thunder storm rolled in on us and was dropping lightning all around us. A buddy and I were sharing a garbage bag under a little shrub bush for shelter from the painful hail and watched a nearby (nearby = about 30 feet away) little shrub bush get vaporized by by a lightning strike.
The flamingo crew was up hill from us and through the storm we heard them blowing whistles as an emergency signal. Three of their guys huddled together under a tarp had been struck. Two died on the scene and the third lived. We ran up to give aid and hack a landing zone out of the hillside for medevac. Lightning still in the area, three guys down and us using tools to cut an LZ scared the shit out of me.
Was a long walk off the mountain that day.

RIP Michael Bishop, Rodgie Braithwaite