2 years, 9 months ago
I wouldn’t embed this video except that I have actually talked to people like this. Yes, to someone who told me he was arming himself (and even minimizing ammunition purchases) but planned to take what ammunition he had and steal ammo and food from other people.
I’m not kidding.
2 years, 10 months ago
A hiker was so determined to reach the top of Arizona’s highest peak that one rescue wouldn’t stop him from returning the next day to try again.
The 28-year-old Brooklyn, New York, man set out to hike Humphreys Trail to reach the state’s highest peak on Wednesday, March 2.
He did all the research on YouTube and AllTrails, a popular hiking website, before starting the hike, The Daily Sun reported. The information the hiker found said it was possible to reach the summit in two or three hours, so he started his hike at about 2:30 p.m., according to the news outlet.
However, on the way up the hiker became lost. He had to call 911 for help, Coconino County Sheriff’s deputies told The Associated Press.
“It was very easy to get off the trail and fall into the snow,” the hiker, identified by The Daily Sun as Phillip Vasto, told the news outlet.
As rescuers set out to help the man, he found the trail and began hiking downhill, FOX 10 reported. However, a search and rescue crew found the man and took him to a lodge parking lot to make sure he didn’t need medical care.
The man wasn’t injured and declined medical attention, AP reported. Rescuers encouraged the hiker to wait for clearer weather and revisit the trail when the conditions are better, according to The Daily Sun.
The next day, however, the hiker set out to try again. He started his hike earlier at 9:30 a.m. and made it far into the hike, FOX 10 reported.
“I was thinking if I start early in the morning, I’ll have all the time in the world to reach the summit,” Vasto told The Daily Sun.
Then he was hit with high wind gusts and less than ideal weather.
“On his descent he got off trail and fell, causing an injury,” the sheriff’s office told FOX 10.
The man called 911 again at 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 3, AP reported. The Arizona Department of Public Safety sent a rescue helicopter to pick him up.
Apparently, it takes longer to reach the summit than three hours. But let’s assume three for the sake of argument.
It was supposed to take him three hours. So he set out at 2:30, which would have put him at the summit at 5:30, which is nearly dark.
What was he planning to do then?
He didn’t know how to navigate, he didn’t leave early enough, he got panicked and stumbled around and got injured. He didn’t come prepared to stay overnight in the bush. Apparently he didn’t have the equipment (maps, compass, GPS) to find his way there and back. He had little if any food or water I would suppose, he had no cover.
Don’t do any of those things.
Always prepare for “less than ideal” weather or other conditions. Always prepare like you intend to spend the night in the bush. Or one or two more nights than you had planned.
2 years, 10 months ago
More news about the couple who perished in Northern California.
MARIPOSA COUNTY, Calif. — Nearly six months after a Northern California family and their dog died of extreme heat exhaustion and dehydration while hiking, phone data was released on Thursday that shows a text message and several phone calls did not go through due to poor cellphone reception.
John Gerrish, his wife, Ellen Chung, their 1-year-old daughter, Miju, and their dog were walking in extreme heat in a remote area close to the Merced River in the Sierra National Forest last August before they died.
Jonathan Gerrish’s phone showed the family took multiple photos throughout their hike from 7:44 to 10:29 a.m., according to the release. At 12:25 p.m, they took a screenshot of their location on the trail map.
A single text message at 11:56 a.m. saying, “Can you help us. On savage lundy trail heading back to Hites cove trail. No water or ver (over) heating with baby” did not go through due to not having cell service in the area, the release said.
Five calls were also found to have been attempted but were not successful due to the same reason. The first was at 12:09 p.m. and the last four were attempted within one minute of each other at 12:36 p.m.
I know we’ve covered this before, but the last sentence struck me. Recall when I said this?
First of all, remember the necessary life-saving kit that MUST be carried in the bush: Rubberized poncho, parka, redundant fire start, large bore handgun, food energy, cordage, tactical light, knife, water and means of water filtration. This might have saved their lives.
Beyond this, I was commenting to my oldest son not too many days ago that the biggest enemy of survival in the bush is panic. If you carry the right kit, you can be in the position where you say to yourself or loved ones, “I don’t know where we are, but it’s getting dark and we need warmth, shelter, water and rest. We have the right kit for it, so we camp here for the night and get a safe, good night sleep, and carry on at first light.”
If you panic, adrenalin rushes into your system, you expend way too much energy, your judgment is clouded and you’re more likely to do stupid things, you get exhausted, the exhaustion makes you cold, and you risk hypothermia.
In the bush, panic is your enemy. It sounds as if they didn’t have the right kit, and they panicked.
My suspicion was right. In the bush, panic is your enemy and will kill you. Always be prepared for things not to go as expected. That’s the only way to avoid panic. Even if he had not carried the proper kit, they could have always stopped and gotten out of the sun until dusk, and he could have hunted for water (or found a muddy spot and dug a hole) that evening and the next morning.
If it’s over 100 degrees and you have no water, walking in the noon sun to find your way out isn’t a good idea, and rather than deal with the situation and stopping in favor of a primitive shelter, he panicked which made matters worse.
Panic is always your enemy.
2 years, 11 months ago
THE BOUNDARY WATERS— A young woman from Duluth is pitting her tenacity and desire for outdoor adventure against whatever Mother Nature serves up over the next month here, along the U.S.-Canadian border. With the help of her canine companion, named Diggins, Emily Ford left Crane Lake last Friday at the start of a 210-mile trek through the wilderness to Grand Portage.
She headed into the wilderness just ahead of some of the coldest temperatures of the winter. Thermometers around the area dropped to the mid-40s below zero on Sunday, with daytime highs struggling to reach above zero. But Ford, who spoke to the Timberjay just hours before embarking on her adventure, was confident she had the ability to meet the challenge.
Ford has spent much of the winter working at the Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge, near Ely, where she started as an intern. “But she was so competent, we just put her on staff,” said Wintergreen owner and operator Paul Schurke. She helped lead dogsled trips into the wilderness, where she learned winter survival methods from some of the most experienced polar explorers anywhere.
“It was awesome,” said Ford of the experience.
She’s road-tested her gear in the weeks leading up to her adventure and she’ll get some assistance from Diggins, who has learned to skijor, so he’ll be providing an assist as Ford propels herself and about 145 pounds of gear she’ll pull in a sled, known as a pulk, behind her. Ford couldn’t really predict what the trail conditions will be like over the next month. She expects to be able to follow snowmobile tracks for a portion of the route that’s outside the Boundary Waters wilderness boundary. She also expects to find trails broken by mushers in other locations. But she’ll likely be breaking trail at points along the way. On large lakes, where the wind helps to pack the snow, the going may be relatively smooth. But with about two feet of snow on the ground, the going is likely to be challenging on untracked portages or smaller lakes. She expects to average about seven miles a day.
Ford will be traveling without a heated tent. Her new four-season tent includes a vestibule, where she’ll be able to cook meals, which is likely to provide a least a little break from the winter’s chill. Overnight, she’ll rely on a zero-degree-rated sleeping bag, a heavy quilt and the warmth provided by Diggins, who will sleep under the quilt, to stay warm.
I predict a difficult go of it. That dog is going to be taking a heavy load during the trek, or she is. Or both. That’s a heavy sled too.
She may need to drop some of that weight, but the question is, what? She needs the food, she will need the lights she’s carrying, she needs to bring a Garmin with her, she needs to carry a large bore handgun, and she needs medical supplies. She needs the tent, she needs the quilt (I’d carry more than one), and she’ll need food for the dog too. She’ll need a stove to thaw her water and water for the dog. She’ll need fuel for the stove. Isobutane doesn’t work very well in such cold temperatures or at high elevations.
2 years, 11 months ago
A hiker who impaled their foot with a tent stake was rescued from the top of a mountain in North Carolina.
Crews were called at 11:50 p.m. Thursday about an injured hiker at the top of Shortoff Mountain in the western part of the state, according to Burke County Search and Rescue.
Two rescuers reached the hiker around 2 a.m. Friday and found the person was “immobile due to an impalement of the foot by a tent stake,” Burke SAR wrote on Facebook.
Rescuers and EMS crews “slowly and safely” helped the hiker down the mountain and got the person out of the woods by 10:30 a.m., officials said.
How on earth does one impale their foot by a tent stake when camping? Anyway, don’t do that.
3 years ago
A survey of more than 700 John Muir trail thru-hikers gave researchers insight into what makes a hiker more likely to get injured or ill while backpacking.
[ … ]
The study singles out three factors that were correlated with injury and illness. The first was age, and not in the way you might think: Older hikers reported fewer adverse events on the JMT. One explanation for this might be that they have more years of experience on the trail and are better equipped to identify and avoid risky situations. A study on search and rescue missions in the Polish Tatra mountains also revealed that younger tourists were more likely to need help due to inexperience and lack of equipment.
So to begin with, don’t be stupid on the trail and engage in proper planning and execution.
Given that the majority of reported injuries were to the feet and legs, Spano suggests that because older backpackers tend to use trekking poles—which are correlated with a reduced rate of lower extremity injuries—they might be more protected.
“Hiking pole use is good for preventing strain and reducing injury to lower extremities,” Spano says. “And I don’t know a lot of younger people out there hiking with poles; they just don’t feel they need them.”
I, too, see very few younger hikers or backpackers using trekking poles. I think that’s very unwise and arrogant. It takes a mushy brain full of hubris to believe your youth will save you from mechanical injuries.
You can’t control everything in the bush. But you can minimize the chances of mechanical injury with the use of good trekking poles.
Just go buy some and be diligent about using them. I do even on days hikes, and miss them if I happen to forget.
3 years ago
At Men’s Health.
Some are rather oddball and don’t interest me. The Leatherman Signal Topo looks appealing and complete, but of course is also on the high end of the expense spectrum.
If you have a favorite multi tool, weigh in.
3 years, 1 month ago
Sent from a reader, a sad analysis.
The couple found dead on a Northern California hiking trail over the summer desperately tried to save their 1-year-old daughter before all three succumbed to extreme heat as temperatures soared to 109 degrees, investigators found.
British software engineer Jonathan Gerrish, 45, his wife Ellen Chung, 31, and their daughter, Miju were found dead of hyperthermia and dehydration on a remote Sierra National Forest hiking trail in August.
Their dog, Oski — an 8-year-old Australian shepherd and Akita mix — also died on the trail.
Investigators now believe the couple was desperately seeking for medical help for Miju, before they themselves succumbed to the brutal temperatures, according to a new 77-page report obtained by The San Francisco Chronicle.
Officials ruled out several other factors for their deaths through the course of the investigation, including murder, lightning strikes, poisoning, illegal drugs and suicide.
A survival trainer wrote in an email to detectives that in all likelihood, the parents’ panicked efforts to help the baby — who likely began suffering from symptoms first — possibly led to their own deaths.
“Sadly, I believe they were caught off guard, and once they realized their situation, they died trying to save their child and each other,” the trainer wrote to detectives, according to The Chronicle.
He called the mix of the terrain, elevation and heat a “deadly trifecta.”
“It is likely the child began to succumb first, which hurried the parents’ efforts up the hill,” the trainer wrote. “When one could no longer continue, they stayed behind to care for the child and pet, while the other tried to forge on and get help for their loved ones. It is a tragedy of the highest order.”
First of all, remember the necessary life-saving kit that MUST be carried in the bush: Rubberized poncho, parka, redundant fire start, large bore handgun, food energy, cordage, tactical light, knife, water and means of water filtration. This might have saved their lives.
Beyond this, I was commenting to my oldest son not too many days ago that the biggest enemy of survival in the bush is panic. If you carry the right kit, you can be in the position where you say to yourself or loved ones, “I don’t know where we are, but it’s getting dark and we need warmth, shelter, water and rest. We have the right kit for it, so we camp here for the night and get a safe, good night sleep, and carry on at first light.”
If you panic, adrenalin rushes into your system, you expend way too much energy, your judgment is clouded and you’re more likely to do stupid things, you get exhausted, the exhaustion makes you cold, and you risk hypothermia.
In the bush, panic is your enemy. It sounds as if they didn’t have the right kit, and they panicked.
It’s a sad but preventable story.
3 years, 2 months ago
An elderly dementia sufferer died after getting lost in a remote forest after following GPS guidance to travel to a funeral with her mentally-disabled daughter.
Deputies say the pair – Dorothy ‘Kae’ Turner, 84, and daughter Heidi Turner, 58 – were following a navigation system from Pendleton, Oregon to Salt Lake City when they got lost in the northern Idaho forest. Relatives say Dorothy suffered from dementia.
Dorothy left to find help when their car broke down, but died from exposure to the elements while Heidi, who is mentally disabled, stayed behind. She survived her ordeal, although no further updates on her condition have been given.
A hunter discovered the mother’s body in the Solitaire Saddle area of the Panhandle National Forest and reported it to the authorities at 11.45am Friday, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies then discovered the broken-down gold 2015 Chrysler Town and Country minivan nearby with the daughter still alive and suffering from minor injuries.
A family member who reported them missing said they were taking an ‘unusual route’ through Idaho, according to the East Idaho News. They were reported missing from Pendleton, about 5 hours southwest of the forest, on Wednesday.
‘They were en route to Salt Lake City, UT from Pendleton, OR for a family funeral. Kay suffers from dementia and we have reason to believe that they may be lost and/or in danger,’ family member Doniell Taylor Arnold said in a Facebook post Thursday.
The maps and pictures of this area show it to be extremely remote, except obviously for hunters.
Take a look at the woman who ventured out on her own. With her age, she had no hope of survival in the wilderness.
Lesson: Don’t allow family members to go out into the bush unprepared. That lady never had a chance.
Five people have disappeared into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and never come out, with bodies never recovered.
The GSMNP is more than half a million acres. Jones Gap in S.C. is around 13,000 acres, and people have gone missing for a period of time there. Later, it was learned that they didn’t know what they were doing in the bush.
The missing hikers were not prepared to spend the night in the woods, according to rescue crews. They did not take food, water or flashlights.
The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office used their drone with thermal imaging to search for the teens. The area is remote with little cell coverage, according to Jones.
If efforts to find them with the drone are unsuccessful …
They ended up having to walk out on their own.
I’ve hiked Jones Gap many times. You can die there, and I almost lost a dog from a slick rock leading to a waterfall.
Your strategy in the bush is just this: be prepared enough not to have to panic. If you panic, adrenalin shoots into your system, you make stupid decisions, you expend too much energy, you get tired, the exhaustion leads to being cold, and being cold leads to exposure and possible hypothermia.
Be prepared enough to be able to say, “Well, we’re not where I thought we were. We’re going to spend this night in the bush. Let’s make camp before dark, gather firewood, set up some shelter, find water, gather bedding materials, and ration food. We’ll find our way out tomorrow.”
Continuing when it’s almost dark leads to death. Always carry the following: med kit, flashlight, redundant means of fire start, rubberized poncho or tarp, parka, large bore handgun, water and water filter, food energy, cordage and knife. Even on day hikes. Especially on day hikes.
