Dual Survival: Twin Peaks

First, don’t forget that there will be a new episode of Dual Survival on tonight at 9:00pm EST. The new one is titled “Meltdown” and the description says:

Joe and Cody dodge hippos and elephants as they search for water and shelter in Zambia.

There is also sad and very unfortunate news. One of Joe Teti’s best friends was killed yesterday morning in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles. Mike Donatelli, along with two others, was involved in a military-style reality show for the Discovery Channel when the crash occurred. Mike was a former Army Ranger, Green Beret, and Delta Force Ops Sgt. He left behind a wife and two children. There are news stories here, 3 dead in helicopter crash on Discovery Channel reality TV set and Reality Show Cast Member Who Died in Crash Was Special Forces Veteran. Our hearts and thoughts go out to all his friends and family.

Now, on to “Twin Peaks” (and you can catch the rerun of it at 8:00pm EST just before the new episode).

The scenario for this show is that one of two hikers falls while descending the side of a volcano on Ometepe, an island in Lake Nicaragua, and dislocates his kneecap. Thus, the onus falls on the other hiker to help his partner get out. It doesn’t help that they were separated when the accident occurs, to the other partner (played by Joe) to first find his immobilized friend (played by Cody).

When I first found out that the episode was filmed on Ometepe, I already had my pun lined up. First, Ometepe is made up of two volcanic peaks, which is telegraphed by the name, which is Nahuatl (and one of my language interests—Ahcuah itself is a sort of bastardized faux Nahuatl). Ome means “two” and tepetl is the word for “mountain”. So ometepe means “two mountains”, which I was going to pun to “twin peaks”. Obviously, they beat me to it.

Actually, I don’t know why the name doesn’t have a noun ending on it. The “tl” on tepetl is the singular noun ending, and the plural form of the tepe- root should be tepemeh. In Nahuatl, only animate nouns are pluralized (or, I should say, have a form different from the singular), but mountains are considered animate (and that would particularly be true, don’t you think, of a volcano?). But Nicaraguan Nahuatl may have been a different variant, or the ending may have just been lost.

Back to the show.

I found it interesting that, in setting up the situation, the narrator stated:

Hiking ranks third in the number of injury reports each year for outdoor recreational injuries. More than a quarter of those injuries involve the legs.

That’s a lot, but I guess there are also a lot of hikers out there to help “pad” the statistics.

So, while Cody works on a splint for his leg, Joe sets to work trying to track Cody. This is Joe’s area of expertise, and it’s a good way for the show to use him. We see good tips along the way. (I should add that I’m not a tracker at all, so heavily discount anything I say in this area!)

Joe find a Cody footprint.

A Barefoot Heel Mark

Folks tend to think that what distinguishes bare footprints are the toes, but when walking often much more weight goes onto the heel. There are many times (when I go back to look) that the only footprint I leave behind is a heel mark. (Actually, often I’m walking soft enough that I have trouble seeing any mark at all, but an experienced tracker could probably see a lot more.) And the heel mark is quite distinctive—it has none of the sharp edges that come from boots and certainly none of the pattern from waffle-stompers. It’s just a rounded depression that fades off towards the front.

Meanwhile, Cody also makes a “whistle” to try to call Joe to him.

Cody: Splinted Leg and Reed Whistle

I write “whistle” because, from the way Cody made it (splitting a bamboo lengthwise so it vibrates when air is blown into it), it seems more to me like a reed instrument, like an oboe. But I guess we don’t have a good word to describe that.

And then we have our cliff-hanger before going to commercial. Joe has to climb down to where Cody is.

What Out For That Treeeeeeeeeee!

See that obviously rotten piece of wood right in the front there? Do you think Joe or any climber would have noticed it, and at least tested it? And don’t you think we’d realize that if somebody still used it and then nearly fell himself right before commercial it had to be set up?

Of course, of course, and of course.

Come on, producers, you can do better than this.

Anyways, as you might guess, Joe got down safely.

By the way, this is the first episode that Joe and Cody filmed together (even though it’s being shown now). Their interactions are still pretty weird (I have no other way to describe it). The shtick seems to be that Cody is stupid, ignorant, or deaf, so when Joe talks about a sit-rep (situation report), Cody seems to think Joe is calling for sit-ups. Cody’s a great survivalist; as an actor, though . . .

Then later they have the “agouti” incident, and they have Cody acting the jackass again. They have him all upset about eating the agouti, “What’s gouti about it?” because he won’t eat it raw.

Yes, one shouldn’t eat these things raw. One always has to worry about parasites (though, if it is really life-and-death, get the parasites and then get cured once you get back home). But they have Cody throw a bit of a hissy fit about not having a fire, instead of the logical thing of just pointing out that it will be difficult and they’ll have to work pretty hard on it.

But this was the set-up (come on, producers, you can do better than this) for Joe making fire by using the flashlight bulb to start their fire. It’s always a good trick and fun to watch. But they also didn’t have to over-dramatize it by making it their one hope. If it fails (and Joe accidentally breaks the tungsten filament), one can always try a bow drill. After all, they do have the King of Fire there.

One thing they didn’t mention was the little cotton fluff they ignited with the filament. I imagine they scraped a bit off of somebody’s cotton shirt.

There was also another silly denigration of going barefooted. I call it silly because it just reflected a myth, not reality. As they are heading down the drainage trail (mostly big boulders), we get this conversation.

Cody: Is that stuff stuff slick, that moss?

Joe: Not really, but I’m not walking barefoot either.

First of all, moss is never slick for bare feet. (Slime/algae is, but that’s also slick for boots.) The danger from walking on moss on a rock is the moss will separate from the rock, which is true regardless of whether you are barefoot or not. (Actually, I can make the case that the hard edge of a boot heel is more likely to cut into the moss’ stability than a rounded and molding bare foot.)

So this was just a gratuitous slap at bare feet. But I guess, if Cody spent all his time correcting myths about going barefoot, the show wouldn’t be “Dual Survivor” but “Dual Sole-vivor”.

One more thing I’d like to mention is something that really surprised me.

An injured leg and no walking stick? I can see how trying to build and use crutches would get in the way of jungle hiking, but a hiking stick goes everywhere. You’ve all seen mine before; here it is at the Hocking Hills Mid-Winter hike.

Barefoot in the Gorge

I’m old enough that at least one of my knees really hates downhills, but that’s nearly all that Joe and Cody were doing.

Gimping Downhill

A hiking stick really helps out there.

The funny thing is that, in one 2 second shot, we see Cody with a hiking stick.

What’s That?

Look carefully at his braceleted hand in the middle there and you can see the stick poking up.

But then we never see it again.

Gone Again

When hiking downhill, and particularly with a bad knee, a hiking stick is an essential survival tool.

These days you can also get hiking poles, which are rather like ski poles. They are adjustable in height and have good hand grips. And folks swear by them, again particularly for downhills. Here you can see Helen O’Meara descending Hemlock Hill on Saturday’s Adventure Hike at Clear Creek.

Twin Poles

I personally think my stick has more personality (yes, I made it myself), so I’m not willing to give it up yet. But for anybody with older knees, seriously consider a pair of hiking poles.

Or if you injure your knee on the side of a volcano and have to hike downhill, use a hiking stick!

Anyways, don’t forget “Meltdown” tonight.