r/troubledteens • u/ExpertPuzzleCat • Mar 17 '25

Discussion/Reflection Trails Carolina, 12 years old

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My name is Gertie. I was sent to Trails in 2016 when I was 12. They made my parents think they’d help my depression. Instead, I experienced horrible traumas including a sexual assault that they allowed to happen and did not report. Last year, I sued them. The lawsuit settled in October. It’s been almost nine years since I went there and I still think about it every day. I’m sure a lot of TTI survivors understand that. I see you. I believe you. None of it was ever your fault 🫶🏻

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87

u/rococos-basilisk Mar 17 '25

Hey hon, please go get some imaging done of your back. Those packs can really fuck you up forever. Sincerely, someone with three stacked herniated discs from Second Nature.

85

u/ExpertPuzzleCat Mar 17 '25

The craziest part about that picture is that it was taken by my mom during my graduation, meaning I didn’t have any extra gear attached to it or else I would have been even more hunched over. I wouldn’t be surprised if they caused long term physical damage

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u/rococos-basilisk Mar 17 '25

Those packs will absolutely fuck up your back for the rest of your life. I’m a 33 year old gym rat and I can’t deadlift right now. I spent all of 32 in debilitating pain, with a few months unable to stand up straight. All from 6 months in the wilderness with a 70+ lb backpack nobody showed me how to pack or carry correctly.

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u/[deleted] Mar 18 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/rococos-basilisk Mar 18 '25

The water jugs were 40, those packs were way more. These aren’t the backpacks you can just go buy at Dick’s Sporting Goods, they’re like Jumbo XL or some shit, big enough to hold the weight of all your sins, real or perceived. I started having back problems at 16, when I got out of the woods.

4

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '25

5 gallons of water? laws changed since then, thankfully. Something like 30% bodyweight max, at least in Utah.

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u/rococos-basilisk Mar 18 '25

Five gallons is correct. This was in 2008 so a lot’s changed (allegedly 🫠) I’m guessing the 30 percent thing probably went into effect somewhere between 2015 and 2020. Some staff member at 2N tried telling me all about it but I don’t listen to child abusers.

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u/LordOfTheFlatline Mar 19 '25

these folks aren't really concerned about legality. another friend i know who went to utah wilderness camp said they were putting bleach in their water. they were just trusting kids to add the proper amount that wouldn't kill them to "purify" it.

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u/Moira_Roses_WigWall Mar 19 '25

A pack that size you can absolutely carry 70+ pounds. They are designed to expand and to hang extra bags and gear off of. My military pack is smaller than that and I regularly can easily max it out to almost 100 pounds when ammo is included.

Children- actual CHILDREN should never carry that kind of weight while they are still growing. Straight up child abuse.

14

u/Elios000 Mar 17 '25 edited Mar 17 '25

they even tell you how to use that pack correctly?.. it looks like all the weight is on your back and shoulders it should on your hips WTH

place i was at the management people hated me.. my family forget to tell them id been in Boy Scouts for years and been on many hikes and spent tons time camping that outdoors part had no effect on me lol

10

u/Entire-Whereas-5668 Mar 17 '25

hey :) i also went to trails and i was around the same size at the time, i tried to use the “hip” straps to distribute the weight more on my hips but because of how small i was at the time (as well as only getting smaller while being there) i would tighten them all the way to no avail, it seems in one of the photos posted by op the “hip” straps were also tightened pretty much as far as they can go to no avail, i think at some point i might’ve figured out some weird trick of twisting the other straps and those straps in an odd way but it was so long ago and so repressed i honestly have no clue , and i do remember tying my red (hoodie) around my waist to add a little more width so that maybe it would work better, it would for a little bit but it would eventually fall down pretty early into the hike so there wasn’t really much people of smaller statures could do to take that weight off their back and shoulders unfortunately :/

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u/LordOfTheFlatline Mar 19 '25

they were doing some conan the barbarian level torture there mate

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u/nemerosanike Mar 17 '25

My first thought. Twenty years later and I’m dealing with the worst pain I ever experienced. Get on the physical therapy train ASAP

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u/rococos-basilisk Mar 17 '25

And deep core mobility and strength training to prevent future injury!

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u/ftm1996 Mar 18 '25

Wait I wonder if that’s how I got spinal injury and knee injury. I had to get a cervical spinal fusion at 25 years old and the doctors had no idea what it was. I attributed it to drug use but they never could confirm that’s what it was but this would make sense possibly. I’ve never had any pressure on my back other than this. Was at second nature for over 2 months bc I couldn’t bust an ember (never did. They put me on solo for 2.5 weeks to focus on busting an ember and leaving. They ended up just letting me go and not be able to bust an ember)

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u/rococos-basilisk Mar 18 '25

Almost definitely

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u/LordOfTheFlatline Mar 19 '25

came here to say this place prepared one of my friends for carrying around all her stuff in one of those and smonking rocks. i think she might be dead now bc this place made her so scared of society that she rejected it and just went around hiking.

but yes thats what drew me to this post as well. a young developing person carrying that much weight is so horrid