Meet Local Hero Jo Giese

Derick: I noticed from your bio that you've had a passion for the outdoors since childhood. I'm curious, where did your family take you? What outdoor activities caught your attention at such a young age?

Jo: Well there's two answers to that question. One is that we lived in Seattle WA, right on Lake Washington. From the time, I was about five years old, I would go out and walk by myself from our house over to Seward Park, which was designed by the Olmsted Brothers who designed Central Park in NYC. It was a block from our house. There were no other kids in the neighborhood, so I set off by myself. In the middle of the park was an old growth forest, which I loved. A retired cop lived next door and told my mom, maybe you shouldn’t let her go by herself. My mom said, “well she likes it”.

My parents also took me to Snoqualmie Falls, which is this extraordinary waterfall just outside of Seattle. It had an extraordinary impact on me and waterfalls became my fix for the rest of my life. I started talking to scientists and I said, “You know, there's got to be a real reason”. They explained to me why being near a waterfall feels so good.

Waterfalls add negative ions to the air, and ironically, it's the negative ions that are the positive ones for you. So, when you're near a waterfall you can have as many as 100,000 negative ions just filling you. No wonder it's so refreshing. In my book, I say that this is like natures pharmacy, a waterfall, and doctors should be writing prescriptions for it.

Derick: So, when you were younger, being in the presence of a waterfall brought you joy?

Jo: Yes.

Derick: I completely relate. Whenever I haven't been hiking in the woods for a while, and then finally get back out there, I'm like, "Ohh yes, this is exactly what I need to be doing." It’s like there’s a shift in inside of me and I go, “OK, this is where I need to be right now”.

Jo: I think you've said it better than I could have. But, it also requires a natural openness. This goes for most anything; you need to be open to the experience. If you're not, then you're going to miss it.

Jo: Well, on November 2018. I was upstairs in my office in Southern California. It was an unusual rainy November day. I didn't want my friend to get wet outside when she's on the sidewalk ringing the doorbell, so I raced down the steps, and I missed the bottom two stairs steps. I went flying horizontal, and I knew something had happened.

I ended up with eight surgeries and the question wasn't about reattaching the achilles tendon. The whole area had become necrotic and I don't even know if I knew what the word necrosis was before then but it means that the tissue died. An infection had been introduced, the whole area around the ankle was black and gray, and of course the fear is that that sepsis could enter your whole body and you could die from this ankle injury. During this whole time I wasn't walking and it was really a dreadful time.

Derick: How long did it take from when that happened until you were able to start engaging in outdoor activities again?

Jo: Well, the therapy lasted 2 1/2 years, three times a week.

Derick: So, you don’t have an Achilles tendon. I didn't know you could actually walk without one.

Jo: That's it Derick, you cannot walk without an Achilles. I have no Achilles and I am walking.

When the doctor went in to reattach it, the whole area became necrotic, and died. There was no question of reattaching it. It wasn't possible, it's dead. So, I devoted myself to healing that area.

About nine months into this we ended up in New York with a doctor whose name just happens to be John Kennedy. He said why don't you go back and do as much physical therapy as you can for the next two months and see how much function you regain. So, that's what I ended up doing with this physical therapist.

He just wouldn't give up on me, and I was not going to be an ex-walker or an ex-hiker, but you're absolutely right, you are not supposed to be able to walk without an Achilles tendon. I don't have one. To explain why I can walk: I worked hard for 2 1/2 years, so that all the other tendons down there were working triple time to make up for the Achilles.

Derick: I admire that mindset and determination. When I thru-hiked the AT, I had zero experience, and I always believed that my strongest gear or tool was my mind. I stayed positive even in the toughest moments.

Ok, we're running out of time, and Oboz has a few questions they want me to ask you. What's your favorite local trail system? Let's just say someone visits you in Bozeman from out of town, where would you take them.

Jo: I guess it's probably Hyalite Reservoir and it's just South of town. The trail is really wide and you can get really close to the waterfall to the splashdown. I take non outdoorsy people there, and I love it.

Derick: Do you have a favorite local Oboz dealer?

Jo: Ohh, absolutely, its Schnee's here in Bozeman. I'm going there to get shoes tomorrow. I have two grandchildren who are graduating from college, and one who's graduating from high school. Their graduation presents are going to be a pair of Oboz boots.

Derick: Nice. What a great gift. Do you have a pro tip for folks hitting the trail? Anything unique that people don't think about.

Jo: Well in Montana, I'm bringing my bear bells and fresh bear spray. You cannot be too careful. You have to be smart about it, really. I always go out with a bear whistle, bear bells, and bear spray. Oh, and my Oboz. I mean it's really the truth, Derick. It's not just because Oboz is giving me some attention. I've been this way about them for a dozen years. For me they work.

Derick: I feel the same about them. I fell in love with them because they were the first pair of shoes that I didn't have to break in.

Last question: who nominated you for the Oboz Local Hero, and what's your relationship with them?

Jo: The person who nominated me was Taylor Isaacs. He was my physical therapist that I worked with for 2 1/2 years. He is the reason I'm walking today.

Derick: I'm sure your determination not to be an ex-hiker was a significant factor as well.

Jo: Taylor said that he can tell when someone enters his office, if they're going to succeed or not. Only 5% of the patients really succeed if they're determined. When he first saw me, he did a 2-hour evaluation, and he said with my absolute determination, he felt that I was going to be in that 5% group.

He also said we're only walking because of our brains. Our brains are telling the rest of our body what to do.

Derick: Incredible. Any final thoughts?

Jo: People talk about the benefits of going out in nature. Some of us, like myself, are just lucky that we grew up in a place where nature was so abundant in the Pacific Northwest, but even when I lived in New York City, I would get outside the city and or even just hike around Central Park. There's a real blessing in that.

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