Babs had been collecting monthly samples from Lilburn Cave and this time was able to invite me along. We had a long weekend for the holiday and drove out to Kings Canyon National Park on July 4th. Babs and I picked up another caver and drove out. Encountered a little bit of push-back when we arrived, trying to get the correct permit, but made it through. Boy, it was insanely crowded with tourists for the holiday.
We met up with 3-4 other cavers and began the 4 hour hike downhill to the Ranger Station where we would be staying. This was my first time coming to Lilburn, and my first time with my new backpacking backpack. Babs told me to pack really light, so the majority of my backpack was filled with my sleeping pad and sleeping bag. Well, I guess I packed poorly because the weight was a little off and I wasn't be cautious enough on the decline and I took a tumble and twisted my ankle pretty bad.
After some coaxing by Babs and some borrowed walking sticks from another caver, we were able to finish the hike and arrive at the Ranger Station. When I finally got to look at my ankle it was swollen to 1.5-2x its original size, and all purple and blue. It didn't hurt much but that was likely the adrenaline that was allowing me to get to safety. After I slept the first night, my ankle was hurting immensely the next morning as I climbed down the ladder from the attic/ elevated sleeping area.
Babs and I had some breakfast then walked around the site to look at the nearby streams for surface water sampling spots. We took a couple samples and headed back. After that, I primarily stayed at the station with the other cavers who were there sort of as back up. I helped with the station work, which included clearing tree limbs that might fall on the station or degrade the roof, sawing down trees to use for firewood or supports, and general cleaning and organization within the station. Later that night, we felt one strong shake of the Ridgecrest Earthquakes and could see the large trees swaying a good while after the shake.
At this point though, Babs and I were weighing the options. I couldn't go into the cave with her to sample like originally planned. So we could either have Babs go with another caver to retrieve the samples or we just hike out now so we could get me to a hospital and have other cavers collect the samples. We decided to try to hike out while I still felt like able enough to walk. We packed up what we brought, minus my sleeping bag that I decided to leave, and headed back out with only a couple samples on hand.
Once we got back in cell service we both called our partners and let them know we were "okay" after the earthquake and additional ankle damage. We drove to the nearest Kaiser and they let me go with notes to just ice and elevate.
Back home, I was actually able to heal up pretty quick. My ankle looked almost normal just four days after I twisted it. We eventually got the rest of the samples and were able to put this event in the books.
Photo: Full map diagram in the Ranger Station at Kings Canyon National Park.
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