5 hikers rescued overnight on Appalachian Trail - Asheville Citizen-Times

[WhiteBlaze]

5 hikers rescued overnight on Appalachian Trail Asheville Citizen-Times Five wet and cold female hikers were rescued off the Appalachian Trail on Wednesday morning after calling 911 for help. “They were stranded, exhausted, wet and frozen and needed help,” said Jeff Willis, emergency management director for Madison County ...

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[Malto]

This one may be better than the GSMNP rescue. If I read that right one two person tent and a sleeping bag?

[Dahoyt]

One tent and sleeping bag with 5 people... Just wow.

[Sarcasm the elf]

I assume that's a college spring break trip gone wrong. Glad they are safe, but just wow...

Sad to say there is plenty of this sort of thing on the trail right now, weekend before last I saw a bunch of college kids camping in the Whites, it was -10f with several feet of snow on the ground and they were wearing jeans (though they were in surprisingly good spirits)

[jimmyjam]

You gotta wonder what was going on between their ears.

[Drybones]

You gotta wonder what was going on between their ears.

Vacuum.......................

[Drybones]

Vacuum.......................

Now I must confess....I did much dumber things at that age...I'm alive only by the grace of God.

[Hill Ape]

You gotta wonder what was going on between their ears.

five college girls? i'm wondering whats going on in that one sleeping bag

bad hilly, bad bad

[TNhiker]

five college girls? i'm wondering whats going on in that one sleeping bag

bad hilly, bad bad

from the article--
"The women managed to make their way to the Walnut Gap shelter on the trail. All five squeezed into the tent after shedding their wet clothes, and they sheltered in place until rescuers reached them around 3 a.m"....

[Slo-go'en]

from the article--
"The women managed to make their way to the Walnut Gap shelter on the trail. All five squeezed into the tent after shedding their wet clothes, and they sheltered in place until rescuers reached them around 3 a.m"....

A little kinky, but definately the right thing to do. They must have ment Walnut Mountain shelter and if that's the case, that shelter doesn't offer much shelter.

[magic_game03]

from the article--
...All five squeezed into the tent after shedding their wet clothes....

Man, I haven't even read the story yet and it just keeps getting better. By the time I click on the link it will be: five college girls, four of which are cheerleaders and one of them a miss Texas runner-up, found in Walnut Gap Shelter, necked, but unfazed, from the slight chill of an earlier stroll. After warming themselves up by furiously friction rescuers were able to supply pizza to these ladies who already had the margarita glasses salted and a pitcher of mix ready to pour.

Can I post that? Oh what ever

[ChinMusic]

Where were our young, red-blooded, strapping thrus in these girls time of need?

[4eyedbuzzard]

Man, I haven't even read the story yet and it just keeps getting better. By the time I click on the link it will be: five college girls, four of which are cheerleaders and one of them a miss Texas runner-up, found in Walnut Gap Shelter, necked, but unfazed, from the slight chill of an earlier stroll. After warming themselves up by furiously friction rescuers were able to supply pizza to these ladies who already had the margarita glasses salted and a pitcher of mix ready to pour.

Can I post that? Oh what ever

Okay, I'll be in the basement . . .

brian1.jpg

[12trysomething]

This is very sad. Thankfully everyone is alive. It could have turned out tragic.

[Ercoupe]

We were at Low gap between Double Spring and Abingdon Shelter when we called for a shuttle to Damascus at 4:30 PM
Tuesday night. High winds and knee high drifts had reduced forward progress to a crawl, water bottle frozen.

Weather changed from sunny warm monday to snow by 3AM tuesday morning. We knew of the impending storm, but not the extreme cold coming with it.

Pilots have a saying, I would rather be on the ground wishing I were flying, than in the air wishing I were on the ground. I apply that any time I start to think well we should be alright.

[Pedaling Fool]

This has gotta be a male hiker's number one fantasy on the trail -- hot female suffering from hypothermia.

Five hot females suffering from hypothermia; that's just too good to be true.

The only thing that tops that are 70 virgins...

[Venchka]

Sorry, but the weather was predicted. In fact, the coming storm was reported here in the hope that somebody might notice and be prepared.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...CK!&highlight=

I am glad that the girls are ok. Perhaps they learned something important. Folks asking questions like "I'm going to start my NOBO in late March. My pack is too heavy. Will I need to bring winter gear? Can I leave my tent at home? Will I be ok with just a sleeping bag liner?" should be directed to this and similar stories.

There is stupid light and there is smart light. You can't fix stupid.

Wayne

[briankeithsmith]

WOW!!!! I crossed paths with this group of girls as I was heading North into Hot Springs. Temps were dropping, snow was falling, and I told them to be careful. Wow!

[bfayer]

I may have missed it, but I did not see anywhere in the story where it said these young ladies were doing anything but day hiking. Seeing that the majority of them did not have any backpacking gear, I think it can be reasonably assumed that they were day hiking.

It is very rare that I will go day hiking in winter without some type of shelter and insulation to make it through the night if need be. Just like in this situation, things can go bad quickly. At least one of these young ladies was smart enough to bring shelter and a sleeping bag, and it may have saved all their lives.

I could be wrong on this, they could have started out with gear, and then dumped it when they started getting hypothermic. I have seen it happen before, people think their gear is slowing them down and they dump gear to speed up so they can get to safety. Hypothermia can cause some very strange thought processes. Happens with people in the water too, they take off their PFD so they can swim better.

I am very glad they are all safe.

[The Cleaner]

I guess someone should start a list for this year's SAR missions.....