FWIW - I appreciate HKDK's and TNHiker's post as sources of information on this sad incident.
FWIW - I appreciate HKDK's and TNHiker's post as sources of information on this sad incident.
"I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
- Kate Chopin
I think the signage is more than adequate and has been for the numerous hikers before her. We could ban cars from the park, only shuttles, to prevent auto accident deaths and require all hikers to have a guide. With enough visitors someone would still get hit by a shuttle or wander off from a group and perish.
There are risks associated with any activity. Considering the time of day and weather there were additional risks that were assumed without adequate preparations.
For it all we know she took a wrong turn or got off the trail before the intersections with the signs. She could have also had no problem seeing them and simply misread them. Neon signs won’t prevent either of those situations.
Inchworm was a tragic but great example of unpreparedness and poor decision making. Sometimes people won’t take warnings seriously until there’s a death in the Whites, Grand Canyon, Smokies etc that makes the news.
"I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
- Kate Chopin
no...
not as of 3 pm on friday at least...
we have asked for it though....
and for point of reference----autospys can take months...
for reference----the autospy for Jenny Bennett back in 2015 and she was found dead in the Park, took like 4 months or so to come back...
ON THE SUBJECT OF SIGNAGE...
I know I've made mention of this in places before on this subject... but just to be sure I'm going to repeat it here...
In the Facebook Group 'Hike the Smokies', one of the frequent posters is someone is a part of the NPS.
This person pointed out that after any incident such at this that occurs in the park, a review is done. If that review indicates that something should be corrected, such as insufficient signage, the park service will take action.
This person pointed out that after any incident such at this that occurs in the park, a review is done.
and hopefully the review will be made public......
but, i doubt it will.......
[QUOTE=TNhiker;2225564]that's not correct though...
and how do we not know the paint in the signs is not reflective?
The only signs in the Smokies that have paint are those trailhead signs that can be seen from parking lots and roads (it was years before I figures that out and asked the question). On those, the letters are painted white to allow them to be seen better from a distance. The signs at these intersections in question are all new signs that simply have the words cut into the wood.
I had not seen this report. https://www.citizen-times.com/story/...rk/1522628002/
The spokesperson for the park described Mrs. Clements as an experienced on trail hiker.Yes,she was apparently out there unprepped and should have known better.But it was supposed to be a short little park stroll from her perspective until something went dreadfully wrong.
Spokesperson went on to say it was likely foggy and Mrs. Clements may not have seen the sign.
I did not know until I saw this a few minutes ago that this was the 11th fatality in the park this year.I'm no math whiz but by my math calculations that would be 1.1 deaths per month so far this year.I had no idea that many people have died in the park this year.
Spokesperson did not mention the cost of the search but it had to have been significant in terms of man hours and helicopter usage etc.Even if a great portion of it was made by volunteers there was still a huge and commendable effort made in Mrs. Clements behalf.
There is no way of knowing if a little white paint on the sign post would have altered this tragic outcome or not but I don't see anyone complaining about White Blazes painted on trees and rocks on the AT spoiling their wilderness experience.
So like Forest Gump,that's all I've got to say about that.
She was an experienced hiker? They must be considering the possibility that she didn’t walk right past those signs. All possibilities seem so unlikely. Very strange.