Mount Townsend — Wednesday, Jul. 13, 2005

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

Four of us went to Mt Townsend - two of us had been numerous times, 2 had never been. Lots of wild flowers and a beautiful sunny day. Luckily we stopped at the Ranger Station in Quilcene and found out the Penny Creek Road was closed for a portion so they redirected us to Lords Lake Rd and FS 27. So glad we had checked. This hike is never disappointing and the views were stupendous. After a leisurely lunch we headed back down. Unfortunately Lisa had a mistep and slid off a step just as we were coming down. She landed on her elbow and was in a lot of pain. She got a little shocky -and when she tried to straighten her arm we could tell something was very wrong with it. While she waited for the pain to subside we tried to devise a splint for her. By accident we found the perfect splint. By putting her empty backpack on frontwards - she could slip her arm in through the shoulder strap and it gave a place to rest her arm in one position and keep it close to her body. She was able to walk down the trail in relative comfort. She went to Urgent Care and found out it was dislocated - so she is in a splint for 2 weeks and hopefully won't have to have surgery! But - it reiterated the fact of how important it is to have the extras with you - ie - first aid kit, extra clothes even tho it is hot, matches, etc. We are all pretty good about that, but it sure reinforces it. Also - she was lucky not to have been alone. But - all is well thankfully and we still really enjoyed the hike. PS No bugs either