4 ms·

> A thought came into my head, momentarily paralyzing me: these might be your last few minutes. I have had this feeling twice. Both times my overwhelming thou

by gumby 3y ago

> A thought came into my head, momentarily paralyzing me: these might be your last few minutes. I have had this feeling twice. Both times my overwhelming thought was “Wow, I’ve been an idiot.” The article describes how that can happen: when your enthusiasm and risk exceed your skill (or luck). Also both times I was doing something I tell my students never to do, which is be alone in the back country. Your dog is not a substitute for another human.

jjtheblunt 3y ago
I know what you mean, but feel important to add a clarification: your dog might well seriously expand your collective backwoods situational awareness. This obviously depends on the characteristics of the dog, and in my case the dogs were not designer AKC fashion breed types, one has feral parents, and anyway had a preternatural awareness of things like other wild animals minutes earlier than i could.
- VS1999 3y ago
  A dog is a dog. They're more likely to draw aggro from a bear and bring it to you than warn you of the presence of another threat. This is one of the reasons that when hiking you're advised to keep your dog on a leash. My state government is pretty open about that risk.
  - djtango 3y ago
    The image of a dog MMO style Leroy pulling a bear causing you to wipe on a hike wasn't a laugh I was expecting to find on a discussion about drowning and hiking misadventures
  - mattpallissard 3y ago
    > They're more likely to draw aggro from a bear. Nah, bears generally don't like dealing with dogs. Although I do agree that leashing is a good idea. Source: I live in Alaska.
    - hollerith 3y ago
      OK, but I've heard a bear expert or 2 (on Youtube) say that it will increase the probability that a bear will attack you if you bring a dog with you.
      - mattpallissard 3y ago
        Maybe, I don't claim to be an expert. But I have watched dogs tree aggressive bears with my own eyes.
- gumby 3y ago
  Indeed in one case where I was lost in the snow my dog saved my life.
jtriangle 3y ago
I've had this once, in the middle of a car accident, while things were still unfolding, and that thought was "this is going to suck". It did, in fact, suck, though, not as much as I'd imagined I suppose. Car was totaled, I walked without a scratch, went to the ER where they handed me a scrip for 30 800mg Ibprophen and 30 Vicodin, and then told me I could call the doctor's number on the scrip if I needed more Vicodin.... I wound up just going home and taking a couple advil, went to bed, and woke up feeling like I, well, had totaled a car, took a couple more advil, and that was that. Funny though, how, at our most vulnerable, there's an odd clarity about it, none of the day to day BS in the way, quite literally living in the moment, which may be your last.
arrowsmith 3y ago
Can I ask what specifically happened that made you think that?
- gumby 3y ago
  One time I was in a blizzard while making camp in the back country. I had worked later than planned, checked the weather by looking out the window, and set out late. I couldn’t find a safe place to make a shelter and made a quick makeshift shelter in a tree well — not that safe under a tree but conditions seemed worse in the open. Dog and I basically huddled together all night. I didnt sleep and I doubt he did. I have made camp in a blizzard, but never in such conditions and always with a human companion. Second time I was on a trip with a group of friends in Atikaki park. In the almost three weeks we were out we never encountered another human. Anyway, part way through I just needed some time by myself and so after we made camp I just went off in a canoe by myself. No map — we’d emptied the canoes, but I wasn’t going to go far. No clothes but a swimsuit. But there were a lot of islands, there was some wind, and a current, and I was tired, and got lost. So I just pulled up and stayed put and luckily a couple of others came out in a canoe looking for me and found me after dark!
factsaresacred 3y ago
> I have had this feeling twice. Both times my overwhelming thought was "Wow, I've been an idiot." Same experience here. I'm a beginner swimmer and got caught in a rip tide in Bali. The thing was, it was terrifying yet so calm at the same time. Everybody on the beach continued to bathe, unaware, and a few metres away I was frantically but silently fighting for my life. The helplessness is especially haunting. You exert this primal will to life, and the force of nature just brushes it aside. Anyway, I made it out, spent that evening binging Youtube videos about rip tides, and have developed a healthy aversion to ocean water.
- bamboozled 3y ago
  At a beach near my place, 3 young athletic men went swimming after soccer training at a fairly elite level. Got stuck in a tidal rip on a fairly calm day. 2 died. Hard to believe.
- flyinghamster 3y ago
  Rip currents aren't just a hazard on the ocean, for that matter. Seiches on Lake Michigan can produce both rip currents and rogue waves, and people have been killed by them.
mattpallissard 3y ago
Me too. I was stuck underwater in a creek, tumbling end over end for multiple minutes, fighting for dear life and the only coherent thought in my head is "Fuck, I'm going to be that guy in the newspaper."
kulahan 3y ago
Just once for me. Leapt into a mountain lake and it was much colder than I could’ve determined from the shore. I really wanted to stop swimming back because it was so cold. Seemingly at the same time, I had two thoughts: first, that if I stopped, I would only get colder, and second, that if I stopped, I would most certainly never start again. Super creepy to recall.

by gumby 3y ago

jjtheblunt 3y ago

I know what you mean, but feel important to add a clarification: your dog might well seriously expand your collective backwoods situational awareness. This obviously depends on the characteristics of the dog, and in my case the dogs were not designer AKC fashion breed types, one has feral parents, and anyway had a preternatural awareness of things like other wild animals minutes earlier than i could.

VS1999 3y ago
A dog is a dog. They're more likely to draw aggro from a bear and bring it to you than warn you of the presence of another threat. This is one of the reasons that when hiking you're advised to keep your dog on a leash. My state government is pretty open about that risk.
- djtango 3y ago
  The image of a dog MMO style Leroy pulling a bear causing you to wipe on a hike wasn't a laugh I was expecting to find on a discussion about drowning and hiking misadventures
- mattpallissard 3y ago
  > They're more likely to draw aggro from a bear. Nah, bears generally don't like dealing with dogs. Although I do agree that leashing is a good idea. Source: I live in Alaska.
  - hollerith 3y ago
    OK, but I've heard a bear expert or 2 (on Youtube) say that it will increase the probability that a bear will attack you if you bring a dog with you.
    - mattpallissard 3y ago
      Maybe, I don't claim to be an expert. But I have watched dogs tree aggressive bears with my own eyes.
gumby 3y ago
Indeed in one case where I was lost in the snow my dog saved my life.

jtriangle 3y ago

I've had this once, in the middle of a car accident, while things were still unfolding, and that thought was "this is going to suck". It did, in fact, suck, though, not as much as I'd imagined I suppose. Car was totaled, I walked without a scratch, went to the ER where they handed me a scrip for 30 800mg Ibprophen and 30 Vicodin, and then told me I could call the doctor's number on the scrip if I needed more Vicodin.... I wound up just going home and taking a couple advil, went to bed, and woke up feeling like I, well, had totaled a car, took a couple more advil, and that was that. Funny though, how, at our most vulnerable, there's an odd clarity about it, none of the day to day BS in the way, quite literally living in the moment, which may be your last.

arrowsmith 3y ago

Can I ask what specifically happened that made you think that?

gumby 3y ago
One time I was in a blizzard while making camp in the back country. I had worked later than planned, checked the weather by looking out the window, and set out late. I couldn’t find a safe place to make a shelter and made a quick makeshift shelter in a tree well — not that safe under a tree but conditions seemed worse in the open. Dog and I basically huddled together all night. I didnt sleep and I doubt he did. I have made camp in a blizzard, but never in such conditions and always with a human companion. Second time I was on a trip with a group of friends in Atikaki park. In the almost three weeks we were out we never encountered another human. Anyway, part way through I just needed some time by myself and so after we made camp I just went off in a canoe by myself. No map — we’d emptied the canoes, but I wasn’t going to go far. No clothes but a swimsuit. But there were a lot of islands, there was some wind, and a current, and I was tired, and got lost. So I just pulled up and stayed put and luckily a couple of others came out in a canoe looking for me and found me after dark!

factsaresacred 3y ago

> I have had this feeling twice. Both times my overwhelming thought was "Wow, I've been an idiot." Same experience here. I'm a beginner swimmer and got caught in a rip tide in Bali. The thing was, it was terrifying yet so calm at the same time. Everybody on the beach continued to bathe, unaware, and a few metres away I was frantically but silently fighting for my life. The helplessness is especially haunting. You exert this primal will to life, and the force of nature just brushes it aside. Anyway, I made it out, spent that evening binging Youtube videos about rip tides, and have developed a healthy aversion to ocean water.

bamboozled 3y ago
At a beach near my place, 3 young athletic men went swimming after soccer training at a fairly elite level. Got stuck in a tidal rip on a fairly calm day. 2 died. Hard to believe.
flyinghamster 3y ago
Rip currents aren't just a hazard on the ocean, for that matter. Seiches on Lake Michigan can produce both rip currents and rogue waves, and people have been killed by them.

mattpallissard 3y ago

Me too. I was stuck underwater in a creek, tumbling end over end for multiple minutes, fighting for dear life and the only coherent thought in my head is "Fuck, I'm going to be that guy in the newspaper."

kulahan 3y ago

Just once for me. Leapt into a mountain lake and it was much colder than I could’ve determined from the shore. I really wanted to stop swimming back because it was so cold. Seemingly at the same time, I had two thoughts: first, that if I stopped, I would only get colder, and second, that if I stopped, I would most certainly never start again. Super creepy to recall.