Is Hiking Dangerous? How I Accidentally Joined An Extreme Sport

Hiking Injuries Happen

So recently, someone got fairly seriously injured on a trail. He’s okay now—praise be to the hiking gods and maybe whatever committee of forest goblins handles miraculous landings—but it shook me to my core. It was the first time I’d actually witnessed something like that on a hike.

Sure, you hear stories—those cautionary tales people swap around the campfire or on a trail, usually ending with “but he was totally fine after six months of physio and some titanium screws.”

I always assumed those were trail urban legends—like Bigfoot. But no. This time, it was real, and it was right there.

And the guy? Oh, he wasn’t just some weekend stroller. No, no—this guy is quite a bit younger than me and essentially part mountain goat. I’m not kidding. The man climbs, hikes, scrambles, probably levitates when no one's looking. So watching him go down kind of punched me in the gut. Like, if he can get hurt, what chance do the rest of us gravity-challenged mortals have?

Are Hiking Injuries Covered by Your Insurance?

This led us to the conversation about medical insurance. Apparently, someone thought he might not be covered because there could be a clause that excludes "extreme sports".

I’m sorry. What now?

Look, not to hijack a serious moment for a full-blown identity crisis, but… extreme sports? I thought about all of us huffing up that incline like winded buffalo and my mind boggled. Extreme?? I’m just out here trying to walk off the sugar era of my life!

Since when does trying not to fall off a rock make me the next cave-diving contestant? If this counts as an extreme sport, I want retroactive medals for every time I didn’t trip over my own boots, dammit.

But hey—I’m not mad. Honestly, I’m chuffed. I mean, I’m basically 100 years old, I only joined this hiking community recently, and now I find out I’m part of an elite band of thrill-seeking, insurance-risk-profile-wrecking, adrenaline-fueled adventurers?

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Look out, world. Grandma’s in an extreme sport now. Someone send me a sticker for my car (the world needs to know), a medal, and possibly a medic.