Blodgett Peak (Colorado Springs) — A Cautionary Advisory for Hikers with Joint Disease, Joint Replacements, or Neuromuscular Deficiencies

© 2011 Peter Free

 

03 August 2011

 

 

For people with physical limitations, Blodgett is not as easy a hike as Internet route guides make it sound

 

I post this review to warn people who have joint disease, neuromuscular problems, and/or joint replacements against underestimating the challenge that Blodgett Peak poses hikers who have physical limitations.

 

The route guides I found on the Internet all seem to have been written by people with normally functioning limbs.   Their reviews generally indicate that the comparatively short trek is a breeze.

 

The hike is not easy for people with physical impairments — even for those who have significant wilderness travel experience.  When the body’s shot, experience doesn’t compensate.

 

 

Some caveats regarding the worth of my opinion

 

What follows is flavored by the fact that my hiking generally tries to emulate the feel of pre-twentieth century travel.

 

I always hike alone.  No one knows where I am.  I carry a compass, but no map.  And I generally bushwhack whenever I can, frequently going in directions that most people would not undertake.

 

That behavioral style makes mishaps more critical, even on trails.

 

 

First, Blodgett is steeper and more slippery than advertised

 

There are two trails up the peak.

 

The shorter and more popular is accessed from Colorado Springs’ open space.  The second and longer winds in from the adjacent Air Force Academy grounds.

 

Neither route is well-marked for significant distances, and neither is properly maintained in key portions.

 

Both approaches involve steep and granite gravel up-slopes that are long enough to accumulate risks for falling — especially for people who lack the ability to make instantaneous, dynamically-controlled movements.

 

The fun-est and arguably safest way down on both routes, for athletic people, is to run or foot-ski on the gravel.

 

Cautiously picking one’s way down invites slips and falls.  Runners and sliders can use dynamic motion to overcome lapses in balance.  Pickers often can’t.

 

The terrain is steep enough that a tumble can involve significant impacts and very considerable slides.  Not exactly the stuff that makes the dynamically-impaired light up with enthusiasm.

 

 

Using me as an example of decrepitude

 

I’ve had significant orthopedic problems all my life and am accustomed to their pain and my limitations.  But my customary bulling through no longer works.

 

At 65, joint disease and neural complications now limit my ability to make rapid controlled movements.  Especially so on slippery up- and downhill circumstances on uneven ground.

 

Though I can still outpace many athletic younger people, while going uphill on stable ground, I am a pathetic loser when circumstances get slippery.

 

Relevant here is the fact that all the joints below my waist are pretty well trashed.  One hip has been replaced.  The other and a knee are so bad, that they’re ready for the same.  Both feet and ankles suffer from the anatomically incorrect compensations made necessary by the other failing joints.  And both seem to suffer from neural problems originating in an unhappy spine.

 

You may share some of these limitations.  What follows reveals how similar impairments might impact you on Blodgett Peak.

 

 

The threat posed by joint revisions

 

Keep in mind that fracturing a joint replacement’s receiving bone (like the femur for a hip) is a disaster.

 

Joint revisions are difficult enough for surgeons to cope with.  The uncontrolled fracturing due to a fall makes revisions even harder.  And, in any event, revisions never work as well as the original replacement did.

 

 

Hips and knees are critical on Blodgett

 

The steep gravel on the peak makes each step uncertain.  Even athletic young people say that going up (on the steeper slopes) involves sliding backward on the granite gravel overlay.

 

My joints and neural circuits no longer make the quick and flexible corrections that are required when I slip or lose my balance.  Going up Blodgett (on both approaches) means that I have to creep on all fours in some places.  Getting down is (i) a very slow, painful picking of foot placements or (ii) a squatting slide that tortures both knees.

 

 

Beware of the self-protection that arthritic joints reflexively do — at the expense of the whole body

 

It is important to be aware that arthritic joints generally compensate in ways that put the rest of the body at risk.

 

For example, my replaced right hip lacks the proprioception that it used to have, even after three years of balancing exercises.  The arthritic left hip retains proprioception.  But its surrounding musculature attempts to protect it from the painful movements.

 

Consequently, in fall or near-fall situations, the left hip spasms in a protective position that prevents the left leg from acting appropriately.  Until one has repeatedly experienced this, it is difficult to foresee just how debilitating the reflex is.

 

 

If you share similar ailments, be prepared to turn back early — the slippery sections don’t get easier

 

When one has a number of impaired joints, Blodgett becomes mind-grabbing challenge.  Especially on the way down.

 

Rain on my hike yesterday increased the potential for injury.  Wetness made lichen-covered granite rocks as slippery as ice.

 

 

If you have impairments, be cautious on Blodgett Peak

 

One of the adjustments we have to make as we age is to pace ourselves wisely enough, so as to prolong our ability to move.

 

Voluntarily taking on the risks and joint abuse that I did on my hike yesterday was foolish for a person with multi-joint limitations.  I’d still like to be walking if I make it to 75.