Robert, you'll get a trail name for that, "blue toes dude".
Robert, you'll get a trail name for that, "blue toes dude".
There's a lot of judging going on in this thread without a lot of information about the hiker.. Maybe they are unable to go "fast", maybe they want to go slow, maybe a whole lot of "you have no idea". Somebody needed a rescue after running in to a lot of weather. Poop happens. Get over it and yourselves. Remember HYOH?
That Second Chance character deserves to be criticized a whole lot more than this poor guy.
Sorry, but you might want to think about this a bit more.
This is a site which is constantly full of newbies. Many of us go out of our way to help educate them. This is a teaching example of what not to do. The hiker made a number of very bad mistakes which almost cost him his life. If others can learn from his mistakes by reading about them everyone wins. It ides not matter why he was so slow. What matters is he did not think his way through the situation and keep himself out of trouble. And to compound this he said he was intent on going right back out there and doing the same thing again.
As to his right to hike his own hike ...well sure...but only to a point. By making a very bad decision he had to be rescued. Thus he put others lives at risk. So no he does not get a pass at that point nor should he.
I read yesterday that the SAR folks and Sheriff's in northern Washington have been performing multiple rescues of thru hikers a day this week. They specifically asked that everyone up there leave the Trail and go home. This sort of says it all I think.
You're putting yourself way too high up on your pedestal. The person who was rescued had already done thousands of miles, both on the AT and PCT. You're judging what you don't know about, or only what you know from your keyboard. Mistakes are made constantly outside. Add to that some very bad weather and a rescue was needed. There are rescue persons for a reason. This person is not a newbie. Many very experienced persons have had to be rescued. Poop happens. It's not strange and you're not helping anyone. I know you've never made a poor decision or a mistake of any kind and that's why you're so quick to judge based on conjecture.
This 'putting others lives at risk' is nonsense. You're blaming the victim. Let's hope you're never a victim of anything. Edit: when you broke 4 vertebrae in your back, how did that happen? tsk tsk!
Nasty boy aren't you. Hope it makes you feel better.
I stand by what I said. You do need to think about this more.
Doing thousands of miles does not make you an expert - you have to have learned from your experiences to be able to say that. He demonstrated his expertise by making obvious bad decisions. The American Alpine Journal has an account of disasters every year. Many made by experienced people and some by people being foolish. They do this for a teaching moment. There is value in doing this. It is as simple as that.
You have sort of a cavalier attitude about rescue people. Their lives being at risk is not important to you? He is most certainly NOT a victim and he did put their lives at risk due to his decisions.
Sure you could write a few posts about my mistakes if you knew what caused some of them. I have tried to learn from them myself. I haven't survived one of them and then told people I was going to go out and repeat it as soon as I could either.
I met several nobos near SNP this weekend. They won’t make it to Katahdin, there isn’t enough time. They are fully aware of that. Yet, their hike isnt about finishing at Katahdin, it’s about how far they can get. It’s about how much extreme weather they can handle, how strong and capable they are...They were an inspiration to me.
I certainly can’t fault them for that and can’t fault this guy for continuing to hike on the PCT, even knowing he won’t make it.
I do wish people will consider others though, like the SAR crew.
His story reminded me of the guy who was stranded at a campground for months (weeks?) before finally succumbing to exposure. He wrote on the outside of the bathroom door...Warning, there’s a dead body inside. I can’t even imagine.
Last edited by Traffic Jam; 10-29-2019 at 19:08.
I fail to see how I'm nasty. You're cavalier in your judgment. You've never made a mistake and no one should make mistakes because, other people. Sound logic.
You appear to be the type of person that would blame the cyclist for getting hit by a car because roads are for cars or that might blame a woman of a sexual assault for what she was wearing.
I am stepping in. Lets stop the bickering here. If it continues, I will close the thread.