I remember the leader of a group that my friend and I hooked up with on Skyline last year. Just before flatrock area I saw her give some young guy that was sitting on the side of the trail some pills after talking to him for a moment. I didn't hear what they were talking about but according to another hiker he was aiming for he tram but turned back at flatrock because he was dehydrated and felt crummy. Said she gave him some salt tablets. He looked around 25 and I thought he just didn't read the Cy link and ran out of water. He was hiking alone.
Yesterday my friend and I did Skyline again and ran across a group of four who were stopped just before the traverse. Laying flat on his back was this 57 yr old man. Doug said he was recovering from leg cramps and would soon be ok because two other hikers that had just passed gave him some pills.
Now I am wondering what these pills are so he says they were electrolyte pills.
I caught up with those two hikers that helped him and they said the same thing. They were experienced hikers and always carry them.
At the top of the trail Doug was hiking fine and feeling great.
I asked him what happened and he really couldn't figure it out. He hikes regularly and has for many years and this is the first time that it had happened to him. He had done this Skyline many times before. So many that he could not give me a number. "Lost count". The other three in his group were less than 45 year old so I was thinking maybe he was trying to keep up with them. I asked what he ate or didn't eat the day before and he said nothing different than he has in the past. He drank plenty of water during the hike but w/o additives like added salt. Maybe that's it. Maybe it's just this hike.
He did say that his leg cramps were so severe that he could not move. That they tried several times to get up and go after several 10 minute breaks but legs just froze up.
He said that if it weren't for those pills he would have had to be carried out by SAR. Wow. Looks like this could happen to anybody regardless of age or fitness. Hard to imagine being out on some hike and my legs are paralyzed. Has anyone seen this happen on other trails?
Seems almost every hike I go on or trip report I read I learn of something new that can go wrong.
My pack is going to explode from all the things I'm carrying now.
I am definitely going to carry them now and not just for my self but for anyone else I see that needs them.