Posted on 12/25/2022 3:17:18 PM PST by Jim Noble
This is NH or Vermont, right?
These hikers had to be inexperienced, else they 1) don’t go at all in such conditions or 2) would have adequate provisions, gear and safety/comm equipment for whatever might happen.
Hiking the Whites in these conditions is reckless.
Screw the hand sanitizer and masks; I carry a Kimber 1911 .45cal ACP w/ 230gr w/ mags of FMJs and HPs.
Oh man, this is so sad. And hikesafe is insane. Purely insane!
Perhaps locals who know the trail and winter weather conditions there with the right clothing and equipment* could safely hike on such a day, but a lone inexperienced hiker from a foreign country? No way! They are going to have to start closing these trails or somehow limiting use to certified experienced hikers with correct clothing, equipment and provisions.
Winds can suddenly whip up at higher elevations blowing snow off trees, etc., and obscuring the trail. So easy to get lost with little chance of survival for an unprepared hiker. One would hope stern warning signs were posted at the trailhead, but the stupid hikesafe site makes me doubt that somehow.
I’m more familiar with the Green Mountains of Vermont, which I imagine must be less formidable in winter than the White Mountains of New Hampshire — but even though I had the right clothing and gear when I lived there for a time long ago, would never have risked a solo hike on such a day. This young man should never have been on an 8-mile trail yesterday.
Speaking of 8+ miles — in those conditions, it would have been a four- to five-hour hike at minimum, and he started at 11am? Crazy!
That poor rescue team who gave up their Christmas Eve and Christmas morning only to find tragedy in the end. And the poor grieving family of that young man. This should never have happened.
*A proper list is extensive and expensive. Why doesn’t hikesafe have a list like this one (and I would add an emergency beacon — or at least emergency flares — to the list):
https://sectionhiker.com/sectionhiker-gear-guide/recommended-winter-hiking-gear-list/
Probably hypothermia:
https://www.wta.org/go-outside/trail-smarts/how-to/how-to-avoid-prevent-and-recognize-hypothermia
Hand sanitizer and masks are NOT essentials.
Food and water are, plus something to help protect you from the elements.
Practice Physical Distancing: Keep your group size small. Be prepared to cover your nose and mouth and give others space.But nothing about advising inexperienced hikers to NOT head out for 9 mile mountain peak hikes when overnight temps will be below zero? Who writes this garbage?
I had an acquaintance who was moving to Colorado to work on his PhD. On his way he stopped at a trailhead and he and his dog went for a hike just as snow was starting.
They found him in the spring.
His dog made it out OK though.
40 years ago I used to go camping (summer and winter) alone in Colorado. One nearby place that I went often was Rainbow Lakes, just west of Boulder.
I recently heard a youtuber “Mr. Ballen” that tells various types of stories. Spooky, murders, etc. He has told some of the stories from the “Missing 411” book about lost people in the wilderness that have odd twists.
One was about a guy that went hiking in the Rainbow Lakes area with his dog, the snow started to fall, the dog made it out but the guy didn’t. Sad. Happens far too often, even if one is prepared. Looking back I was foolish I suppose, but lucky. All it would have taken on a lot of trips is a sprained or broken ankle.
I would have to agree, all that covid protection crap, and nothing about wearing appropriate clothing for hiking in the season, carrying proper supplies (matches & firestarter, compass/gps, extra clothing to provide more layering.
And I would add to what others have said: NEVER HIKE ALONE!
A man’s got to know his limitations.
Why would anyone consider outside activity during one of the worst weather events, combining frigid temps with ravaging winds.
I wasn’t going outside for more than 10 minutes right outside my house.
Some people simply don’t use the sense that God gave them.
Even little mice have enough sense to shelter (sometimes in my garage)
I’m unconvinced we’re a higher level of animal like libtards believe
I hiked the Appalachian Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in April. The only information posted by the National Park Service at each AT shelter was about social distancing and covid. My son commented that this information was about as welcome and as useful as the phone calls one gets saying your car’s warranty is about to expire. When it’s raining, sleeting, snowing, the temperature is dropping, the wind is blowing, and 22 hikers are packed in to a shelter designed for 12, the last thing anyone is thinking about is covid.
I hike alone a lot. I always have a hiking plan and check in via Garmin at the end of the day. If I need to deviate from the plan, I communicate the route deviation and new plan before I change course. Solo hiking doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t see other people. Some trails are like social events and others offer solitude.
I waded through the hikesafe website and concluded it is for beginning hikers who will be hiking in a group that includes more experienced hikers. There are a lot of hiking resources with more, better information. Once you get past hikesafe’s covid bs and woke inclusiveness, there is some good information. You just have to work really hard to get to it.
The weather in the White Mtns. Is capable of killing you with little warning. In the late 80’s I did the Mt. Washington Hillclimb race (bicycle). It was sunny and 80 at the start, and 45 and 10 foot visibility at the top. Although I now live at 7500’ in New Mexico, and have spent a fair amount of time hiking and cross country skiing above 10000’, the weather here is far less scary.
Thanks for doing the research. Well done.
Trouble is, though, how many will do the hard work you did? Especially foreign tourists and students?
As you pointed out — I am agreeing to with you, not arguing :)
I spelunked with a couple of rappels deep in caves in North Alabama before I reached my teens. I backpacked in to an "Eskimo Weekend Camporee" and woke up the next morning with six inches of snow around our pup tents. I hiked The Priest in the "George Washington National Forest" when I was in junior high school. My bruiser of a little brother carried a very heavy homemade plywood backpack with him up The Priest and when one of our fellow Scouts could only make it halfway up he carried the other guy's backpack, at the same time to the top, one on each shoulder. [that mousey guy later stole my girlfriend]
To prove what fun we had on every venture into the wilderness, on a canoe trip down the Cowpasture River in Virginia we pulled our canoes up to a sloping bank for a rest and one of the Scouts noticed an electric fence several yards up the slope. He had the great idea of grabbing the fence with a few of us joining hands to reach down to the river. When the next canoe pulled up, the guy at the water's edge offered his hand to help the other kid out of his canoe. The daisy chain of hands were not well grounded, but the kid in the aluminum canoe on the water sure was. We all heard the SNAP when their hands touched. Well, I guess it wasn't fun for one of us.
I just remembered when we camped the first night outside of the cave in Alabama, one of the other Scouts micturated on our campfire. That wasn't fun at the time either.
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