???? She couldn't find her tent a few yards away, so thought it was smarter to bushwhack down the mountain, in the fog, and in the dark and cold, in her undies ???
i don't remember that one, but I seem to remember maybe last year or the year before 3 fellas lost over night in the winter under similar circumstances when they didn't check the weather.Originally Posted by Venchka
Here's one place they might want to reconsider for their next trip.
"They have no idea where they are," he said. "They have no compass, maps, GPS, nothing with them."
https://tinyurl.com/MyFDresults
A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. ~Paul Dudley White
In the smokies as I recall.
If your parents named you Davy Crockett, you were bound to wind up lost in the wilderness needing rescue...who does that to their children?
I think you're remembering the guys who hiked up the AT from Fontana(?). They hiked a few miles (2-3?) then were too cold to continue. I think they ate cans of ravioli to stay warm and were wearing blue jeans. The rescuers set up tents for the night, warmed them up, and got them out the next day. At least that's what I remember. It still puzzles me why they didn't walk back to Fontana, it was only a few miles.
Those are the guys who had a blow torch with them and burned their clothes because they couldn't start a proper fire. They didn't have a shelter with them either. Real winners
Ha ha, I had forgotten about the blow torch.
me too
Just added 'Blowtorch' to my list of ten essentials. Thanks
“For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”
John Greenleaf Whittier
The group of college women were a winter or two earlier than the guys who burned their clothes. "Better living through chemistry."?
The women were in a shelter huddled together when the SAR crew found them. I mainly remember the quote about all the snow and they were out of water. LOL.
Wayne
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Eddie Valiant: "That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon."
https://wayne-ayearwithbigfootandbubba.blogspot.com
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Do you have room? I won't bring mineJust added 'Blowtorch' to my list of ten essentials. Thanks
Two years ago in the Red River Gorge in Kentucky, three day hikers got turned around on one of the trails and didn't know how to get back to their car. When it got dark, they got scared and started burning pieces of their clothes for light (the newspaper article didn't say if they tried/failed to start a campfire). They thought bears were in the area. They used a cell phone to call for help and were rescued shortly before dawn, about 1/4 of a mile on a trail from their car. They'd managed to burn through all of their shirts and some socks.
There needs to be a Darwin sticky on here where links to articles on what not to do can be posted. A post of shame.
While a fun idea, unfortunately those who most need to see that would not be here to read it.
Panic can do a lot of things to otherwise stable people. I have tried to imagine myself in a position where burning clothing was the only or last option and I just can't get there because I know a few things and carry stuff to avoid that road. I have to wonder what level of panic was reached to start the destruction of clothing, how it manifested in the group, and perhaps more importantly, how it impacted their lives after the event. I feel badly for anyone lost overnight not having gear or knowledge about what to do, it has to be a horrible, avoidable experience.
Only possible in the USA, where most clothes are of plastic.
The usual wool stuff we have here would hardly burn, but more likely kill by bad smell.
Upon thinking about it, a Darwin thread wouldn't be a good idea and would be thoughtless and insensitive. Where would the line be drawn? Only those who end up surviving with only a bit of frostbite? All of the search and rescue...or recovery threads already hash the what ifs and what not to do scenarios to death. No need to pile on.
I was hiking the Art Loeb trail last year (same area/trail) in January, heading south towards the parkway when the clouds dropped right on us. We were on Black Balsam summit. If your ever bored, look at a Google aerial view of that. There are so many zig zag man made trails up there at any given intersection. Had to actually break out the map and compass to figure out which direction to head. We were prepared, but in doesn't take much to get turned around in that area.
its also interesting to think about group vs. individual reactions in these situations, especially personality dynamics, situational leadership, etc.
As a solo hiker, I always pay close attention to the trail...always alert and on guard. When hiking with my daughters, we are busy socializing.
Another thought...maybe this was mentioned in one of those other threads recently(?)...sometimes people do weird things with their clothes when they're hypothermic. They will undress and even hide. If clothing is seen strewn on the trail, look around for someone in distress.
(although I have to admit if some naked guy is seen hiding behind a tree, I might shoot first and ask questions later
Last edited by Traffic Jam; 01-11-2017 at 12:16.
No it doesn't, and I've been thinking about that a lot while reading this thread. I'm actually surprised this sort of thing doesn't happen more often up in that area.
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