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  1. #1
    First Sergeant SGT Rock's Avatar
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    Default Injured Hikers in the Smokies?

    I just did a cursory search here hoping I could get better info, but yesterday I saw this article:

    http://www.wbir.com/story/news/2015/...kies/25317483/

    GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK - Park Rangers and troopers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol Special Operations Team and Aviation Section rescued two hikers from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Saturday after they were stranded, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
    According to THP Lt. Bill Miller, a father and son had been hiking and gotten lost. Park officials say the two got separated from a third member of their group while trying to hike to Spence Field Shelter on Friday night. Weather got bad overnight Friday and the hikers were trying to hike over rocky terrain in the dark during heavy rain and thunderstorms.
    Another hiker called park dispatch early Saturday morning to alert rangers that the two hikers were in distress. Smoky Mountain Park Rangers hiked about five hours to find the men in the park. The son had a knee injury and had trouble walking. Rangers found his father a little farther north in bad condition, then troopers flew to the site and rescued them by air.
    The father was in serious condition and was flown to McGhee Tyson Airport, then taken by ambulance to UT Medical Center to be treated. THP has not released the victims names.


    Anyone know about this?
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  2. #2
    Registered User The Cleaner's Avatar
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    I had another account via my Google news page feed with pretty much the same facts. Many hikers under estimate their ability and the terrain. Glad they were found quickly.
    Sleep on the ground, rise with the sun and hike with the wind....

  3. #3
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    Piecing together various news sources including this fairly recent one http://wate.com/2015/04/04/two-peopl...-from-smokies/ , no update on names or condition of the father who was airlifted to UT Medical Center and in serious condition. His son was taken out on horseback by NPS Rangers out of Cades Cove.
    "That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett

  4. #4

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    No, I haven't seen anything more than what you posted. But the puzzling part is that on that section, there is only one place I can think of where the trail isn't blatantly obvious (even by headlamp) . There is a short rocky section about 1.5 miles from Thunderhead that can cause slight confusion when AT-Northbound, but these folks were ostensibly sobo. Could be part of the story we don't yet know that will explain it.

  5. #5
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    Check Proudfoot's account of the incident on Saturday on Trail Journals. Iceman

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Angle View Post
    Check Proudfoot's account of the incident on Saturday on Trail Journals. Iceman
    Thanks. http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=486893

  7. #7
    First Sergeant SGT Rock's Avatar
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    Thanks, that is the sort of detail I was hoping for.
    SGT Rock
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    My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT

    BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
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    NO SNIVELING

  8. #8

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    Wow. Kudos to the hikers who pitched in to help and knew what to do in that situation.

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    Quote Originally Posted by tiptoe View Post
    Wow. Kudos to the hikers who pitched in to help and knew what to do in that situation.
    Indeed, kudos to those hikers. Here's the pertinent part (to me) of the TrailJournals post:

    He had crawled off the trail under some bushes and tried to stay warm with his 40 degree sleeping bag. At that point he was barely responding anymore.
    A 40-degree bag at elevation in the Smokies in the early Spring. To me that's almost asking for trouble. Since we are often asked on here for advice about bags to take on the southern AT.
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    Quote Originally Posted by jeffmeh View Post
    One heck of a story, glad they made it thru that and my hat is off in salutation to Proudfoot!

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    I am wondering if they brought a tent or tarp with them. There is no indication from any of the reports that I read that they did. If not, this will be a good example of why to at least bring a tarp even if you plan on always staying at shelters and have reservations.
    Remote for detachment, narrow for chosen company, winding for leisure, lonely for contemplation, the Trail beckons not merely north and south, but upward to the body, mind, and soul of man.


  12. #12
    Registered User Cotton Terry's Avatar
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    This famous aviation quote also applies to hiking.

    Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rain Man View Post
    Here's the pertinent part (to me) of the TrailJournals post:
    He had crawled off the trail under some bushes and tried to stay warm with his 40 degree sleeping bag. At that point he was barely responding anymore.
    A 40-degree bag at elevation in the Smokies in the early Spring. To me that's almost asking for trouble. Since we are often asked on here for advice about bags to take on the southern AT.
    I think the more pertinent part the fact that these guys (after getting caught in one storm) left the relative safety of a shelter to venture out into the dark.

    If you can stay dry and have some warm clothing, then you should be able to survive near freezing conditions with a 40 degree bag... perhaps not comfortably... but survive.

    But allowing yourself to get cold and wet is what made this story nearly a deadly incident.

  14. #14

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    Knowing that Thuderhead and Rocky top were in the way, I would have never let them leave Derrick Knob under those conditions. I know that's easy to say in retrospect and difficult to convince people to stay who made up their minds to go, but sometimes you have to be firm and have peer pressure on your side.
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    Quote Originally Posted by HooKooDooKu View Post
    I think the more pertinent part the fact that these guys (after getting caught in one storm) left the relative safety of a shelter to venture out into the dark.

    If you can stay dry and have some warm clothing, then you should be able to survive near freezing conditions with a 40 degree bag... perhaps not comfortably... but survive.

    But allowing yourself to get cold and wet is what made this story nearly a deadly incident.
    I read the article, but I didn't see WHY they left the shelter. Maybe their reservation was for the next shelter, and they thought they "had to"?

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by Angle View Post
    Check Proudfoot's account of the incident on Saturday on Trail Journals. Iceman
    Thanks for the heads up, them boys did good.

  17. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Slo-go'en View Post
    Knowing that Thuderhead and Rocky top were in the way, I would have never let them leave Derrick Knob under those conditions. I know that's easy to say in retrospect and difficult to convince people to stay who made up their minds to go, but sometimes you have to be firm and have peer pressure on your side.
    That brings up a very good point. Has anyone had much luck convincing someone or a group their gear/provisions are not suitable for the terrain they are going into if they are determined to go?

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    Quote Originally Posted by illabelle View Post
    I read the article, but I didn't see WHY they left the shelter. Maybe their reservation was for the next shelter, and they thought they "had to"?
    That's precisely what I was thinking when I read the account of what happened.
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  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by HooKooDooKu View Post
    I think the more pertinent part the fact that these guys (after getting caught in one storm) left the relative safety of a shelter to venture out into the dark.

    If you can stay dry and have some warm clothing, then you should be able to survive near freezing conditions with a 40 degree bag... perhaps not comfortably... but survive.

    But allowing yourself to get cold and wet is what made this story nearly a deadly incident.
    Quote Originally Posted by illabelle View Post
    I read the article, but I didn't see WHY they left the shelter. Maybe their reservation was for the next shelter, and they thought they "had to"?
    Given the account in trail journals, I really wonder if exhaustion and mild hypothermia had already set in by the time they got to the first shelter. It seems entirely possible that they were already to the point where they weren't quite thinking straight when they decided to move on and it's the kind of small but serious mistake that is all too easy to make when you are that cold.
    Last edited by Sarcasm the elf; 04-06-2015 at 18:19.
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    Quote Originally Posted by illabelle View Post
    I read the article, but I didn't see WHY they left the shelter. Maybe their reservation was for the next shelter, and they thought they "had to"?
    This and also perhaps not bringing a tent/tarp is something that the current system of reserving shelters sort of breeds, and a good argument against it. I do feel this is a flaw of the current system, also pushing people to make their reservations (which I have seen) seems like a liability.

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