Maine winter AT hike that went bad

[RockDoc]

I'm certain that we don't know the whole story. It's never just one, or even two things that cause fatalities in the woods. It's cascading issues, some of which you have no control over.

So they set out to do 15 miles at 0800. At even 2 mph they'd be done by 4 pm. That's not unreasonable. Millions of people do it.

But Mr Murphy came out to play. I would cut them some slack.

I'm almost 70 and I've gone out dozens of times and done more miles than that as a quick day hike. I regularly do an 18 mile section of the Wonderland Trail on Mt Rainier as a day hike. Yes some times we finish in the dark. And yes, Mr Murphy could royally screw us over. It's a chance we take.

[JNI64]

I didn't mean to be so harsh. I'm happy Darwin interrupted and Mr Murphy didn't kill them!!!!!

[Slow Trek]

Here's the real problem. When hikers do foolish things,regardless of ignorance,inexperience,or any other cause,they transfer that risk to the rescue folks. Yes,that's their job,yes,they know what they are doing,and yes,they have the right gear. Given all that,they still put these folks in harm's way for no good reason. I don't care if one of the game wardens just sprained an ankle on the way back to his house at 2 AM,the hikers poor actions cost others too much. Thankfully there are still people willing to help like this.

[cmoulder]

So they set out to do 15 miles at 0800. At even 2 mph they'd be done by 4 pm. That's not unreasonable. Millions of people do it.

Snow/ice/cold changes everything. Even with snowshoes, one must be very conservative and plan on 1mph.

And if one doesn't know this, at least enough sense to turn around at noon or 1pm? Maybe take *some* food & water?

Sure, there are certainly some facts we don't know, but this is Lloyd Christmas level stuff; Murphy's law is for things that might not be anticipated by a reasonable person.

[Traveler]

Setting out to do 15-miles in rolling hill terrain at elevations under 1,200-feet total elevation gain without proper equipment, food, water, or traction devices in mid-winter is one thing. Tacking some of the most difficult terrain along the AT in the Mahoosuc range topping 4,000-feet without proper gear is quite another. Ignorance is the mother of most accidents, which the accident here was no one perished in this mid-winter summit bagging attempt. Ignorance, in this instance is not really much of an excuse in and of itself given the abject lack of any discernible experience to support any decision making skills that looked upon this outing as a "good idea".

Public derision has been with us since the first cave drawings depicted a large animal running down a hunter without a spear. This is an ancient form of social behavior that actually serves a purpose, to inform others of the dangers involved in various activities. We may not like this facet of human behavior but it is an effective social tool since some people respond to cautionary tales and have the capacity to learn vicariously from the experiences of others. Derision can be presented in a manner that either concernedly, callously or humorously frames carelessness of this caliber. The problem is less about those who have remarked in callous manner than it is about those who managed to survive what has killed others who were far better prepared and caused a number of people to go into that terrain to rescue them.

[LazyLightning]

Too harsh? I don't go out for an hour with no food and water, never mind no proper gear. Yes we all do stupid things but I'm the first person to call myself an idiot and be harsh on myself when I do. At the very least you deserve to be told and know what a complete idiot you are for attempting this, should have to pay recue costs to. You don't learn from mistakes when somebody pats you on the back and says "don't worry about it bud" but it seems that's what the worlds turning into.

[gpburdelljr]

“Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.”, Mark Twain.

[cmoulder]

"There's no amount of logic or reason that will convince the 'trophies for everybody' crowd." ~ Me.

[garlic08]

Hey, it's a happy ending. No injuries, and the rescue crew did what they've trained to do and did it well. They scored two saves, not a bad feeling.

Two more guys who've made bad decisions won't affect the survival of the species.

[TexasBob]

Whenever I read a story like this one, I wonder what thought processes lead people to do something which later seems to be an obviously bad idea. Those guys didn't set out to get in a life threatening situation. What lead them to believe this hike wasn't a problem when it was actually so dangerous? Is it inexperience, over estimation of one's ability, recklessness, lack of knowledge? I would love to talk to these guys about what they were thinking. Understanding why people do seemly dumb things can help another person avoid the same types of bad decision making in the future.

[Wolf - 23000]

Winter hiking Maine is no joke. It is TOUGH and COLD! I know first-hand. As someone who has winter hiked the entire AT, it is a different type of brutally COLD once you get north into Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine! They are lucky they did not get themselves or someone else killed.

As many people know, Aquaman is currently winter hiking the AT southbound and posting his videos on youtube. One of the dangers of youtube videos is it does always show how difficult and dangerous a hiking trip is to someone sitting in a nice warm home. It also gives people some very foolish ideas to try to be "adventurous."

Wolf

[peakbagger]

Aquaman also had a very atypical "winter", he missed the first major snowdump by days. No doubt he has the sense and equipment to survive it but its sounds like the folks in the article had neither.

[BradMT]

Pretty damn dumb.

[Toolshed]

Y'all are pretty harsh in your judgement. I mean, "Darwin Award was Interrupted..." and "LOL, yep still in the gene pool :-" are pretty cruel for a couple of people that made a mistake and had to call for help. If I read the story correctly, they walked back to their car and were uninjured. It may be a good object lesson, but I'm disappointed in the casual cruelty of the comments. As a community, we can be better.

None of these comments are harsher than the luck of the draw of not finding a cell signal. These two were balls-on lucky. I'd like to know the mindset of those that go out with minimal food/water and no overnight equipment in deep snow in 4k' mountain ranges in true winter conditions with no turn-a-round time. What mindset continues to limp/trudge through the deep snowpack after realizing they will in no way make thier target. They were in quicksand before they started and never even realized it - only going deeper as time passed that day. I stand by my comment that Darwin was interrupted - The truth and the facts can sometimes be cruel, Bob. Deal with it.

[Maineiac64]

How astute to recognize the mistakes and repugnant to wish someone had perished from them.

[stephanD]

Better be kind than unkind. I agree. But winter/snow hiking in New England is NO JOKE. If you do not have the experience and/or the proper equipment, stay home. Period. The two gentlemen had neither. I currently read a book by Alan Richardson "Breakfast with Salamanders: Seasons On the Appalachian Trail". It's a memoir by a section hiker and it is divided by seasons. In "Winter" he writes about his New Hampshire hiking on the AT in, well, winter months. Highly recommended if you want to know what does it mean to hike in deep snow and below zero temperatures. I, myself, did some December hiking on the.....Pinhoti trail in Alabama and enjoyed every moment.

[HooKooDooKu]

How astute to recognize the mistakes and repugnant to wish someone had perished from them.

At first I was going to retort that "no one wished them dead", just pointing out the stupidity and and how lucky these guys are to be alive.

But sadly, you are correct. At least one response basically did that, and I'll join you in that rebuke.

[Last Call]

Where on earth is the compassion for these poor misguided souls? They were rescued by the good rangers and no harm was done....

[Deadeye]

Where on earth is the compassion for these poor misguided souls? They were rescued by the good rangers and no harm was done....

No harm was done by pure luck. The lack of compassion stems from their complete lack of self-help.

[Lone Wolf]

No harm was done by pure luck. The lack of compassion stems from their complete lack of self-help.

i read the article. no sympathy