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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 17, 2018 - 08:40am PT
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**CHP Inland Division Air Operations-
June 15 at 7:24pm ·**
H-82 was requested to respond to Tuber Canyon in the Panamint Range west of Death Valley. A solo hiker intending to hike from Death Valley to the summit of Mt Whitney ran into some bad luck and ran out of water sooner than expected. To make matters worse, his planned en route water source had dried up. After being without water for 24 hours and with no water sources nearby, the hiker activated his In-Reach device and used the satellite messenger to send for help. Because the hiker had an In-Reach device, H-82 was able to quickly locate the hiker. H-82 landed off site nearby. When the crew contacted the hiker, he was severely dehydrated and suffering from heat exposure. The crew assisted the hiker and his gear to H-82 and transported him to Southern Inyo Hospital in Lone Pine for treatment.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Jun 17, 2018 - 08:44am PT
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How many of these summer desert hikers hike at night and rest in whatever shade they can improvise during the day?
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Jun 17, 2018 - 09:02am PT
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I enjoy solo hiking far more than I do hiking with other people (wife excepted). I can set my own pace and I can concentrate on the beauty around me instead of having to listen to inane chatter. If talking is comfortable your pace is too slow.
I have hiked solo thousands of miles over the last fifty years, much of it off trail, without incidence and I will continue to do so.
Reading about solo hikers coming to grief is much like reading some of the route comments on Mountain Project....what thought processes are being used?
I am aware that unforseen problems can arise but the joy of hiking alone far outweighs the risk factors for me. If a problem comes up I’ll deal or suffer the consequences.
Going out this afternoon after the rain stops.
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 17, 2018 - 09:09am PT
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I enjoy solo hiking far more than I do hiking with other people (wife excepted). I can set my own pace
I do to.
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Jim Clipper
climber
from: forests to tree farms
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Jun 17, 2018 - 09:40am PT
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If talking is comfortable your pace is too slow. !!!
Why am I doing this? Not like he deletes posts.
Maybe, if you're feeling spunky, talk to your doctor before running your marathon off the couch. It may only be "popular" medicine, but exercise too Donininess may increase your risk of acute cardiovascular disease. Maybe that Russian kid could chime in again.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fMjOn7YjtWI#
[youtube=fMjOn7YjtWI#]
Donini bump, no PEDs necessary. ASA?
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Matt Sarad
climber
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Jun 17, 2018 - 02:20pm PT
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I met a solo PCT through hiker in Tehachapi yesterday. When we walked in the brewery there I saw a small Osprey pack with hiking poles and knew who to look for. Skinny, tanned, sunburned cheeks, he had started a month or so ago. Plans to be done in 4.5 months. Hiking in trail shoes and gaiters, he was as minimalist as I have ever seen.
Tehachapi to Kennedy Meadows was going to take him five days. I guess that’s 20+ miles a day.
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ECF
Big Wall climber
Ridgway CO
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Jun 17, 2018 - 03:49pm PT
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Rescue buttons are for sissies.
Hiking Death Valley in the summer is for idiots.
On solo trips, I often change my route to explore or linger, as the spirit moves me. Not having to explain or justify that to someone else is crucial to my enjoyment.
People always want me to tell them where I’m going, all I’ll say is where I’m going to park. The details are no one’s business but mine.
If I disappear out there, that’s fine with me.
I have no children or pets, MasterCard is about the only people who will miss me when I’m gone, and I don’t exactly care about them...
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ms55401
Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
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Jun 17, 2018 - 06:29pm PT
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Rescue buttons are for sissies.
Hiking Death Valley in the summer is for idiots.
On solo trips, I often change my route to explore or linger, as the spirit moves me. Not having to explain or justify that to someone else is crucial to my enjoyment.
People always want me to tell them where I’m going, all I’ll say is where I’m going to park. The details are no one’s business but mine.
If I disappear out there, that’s fine with me.
I have no children or pets, MasterCard is about the only people who will miss me when I’m gone, and I don’t exactly care about them...
Well-put.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Jun 17, 2018 - 06:34pm PT
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Solo hiking rule #1.....never start one without a really big unpaid credit card balance.
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Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Jun 17, 2018 - 07:55pm PT
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Personal Locator Beacons!!
Ah! I now predict this thread is good for at least another 100 posts, since I am going to bring up that dreaded device, already scorned by the master solo hikers on this thread.
Personal Rescue Beacons (PLB's) were something I also scorned until about 10 years back, when I talked with a fellow in his 60's, who worked in an Idaho Falls Outdoor Shop.
He had done a solo hike multi-day hike into the seldom visited southwest corner of Yellowstone & was about 12 miles from the nearest road, when he suffered what he soon decided was a heart-attack.
Of course, as a good solo-hiker, he had not told anyone where he was going or when he expected to be back.
After waiting to die for a day, he picked up his camp & slowly walked out to his truck, drove to a hospital emergency room & checked in. A heart attack was confirmed & he suffered medical treatment for it.
After telling me his tale, he said he was now packing a PLB on all his hikes. His employer had been selling them before his heart-attack, but he had scorned the notion.
He said: "I spent about 24 hours wishing I had one of those PLB's after my heart attack."
So-------I bought a Spot, which is the lowest of the low PLB’s, but I’d used it for about 9 years & despite it taking it’s time to send an “I’m OK” message home to Heidi, along with my map location & GPS coordinates, it rarely failed me. I upgraded to a Gen 3 Spot last fall & it is much, much faster & so-far every “I’m OK” message has gone out in under two minutes.
On a previous thread on this subject on ST, my “old friend” Donini asserted that if he dropped dead or got killed on a solo adventure, that was fine with him. I would agree with him, but our society doesn’t.
I have witnessed searches for missing solo hikers in Idaho that involved hundreds of people, in some cases, for multiple years. I do appreciate those S&R folks like looking for missing bodies, but the costs of the Sherriff’s Department searches & helicopter hours is paid for by the local taxpayers, which bothers me. It also bothers me that some friends & relatives are very bothered when a missing friend, relative, or loved one is never found.
I suggest PLB’s folks, along with a description of where you might be going, & when you might be back, left with a reliable friend. I’m also hoping no-one here believes they will always have cell-phone service in the wilds of western America.
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Jun 17, 2018 - 08:47pm PT
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Completely agree Fritz. An ACR beacon can be had for about 150 bucks, free registration, and no subscription, battery is good for 5 years. There is at least one person on ST who owes his health, possibly his life, to a PLB. It might not by you that needs it, it might be the person you encounter who needs it.
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ECF
Big Wall climber
Ridgway CO
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Jun 17, 2018 - 08:55pm PT
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I see your point, but he didn’t need it, he survived.
I refuse to ever carry one or go with someone who does.
If it gets grim enough for me to want a rescue, well then, that’s just the kind of adventure I’ve been looking for... Game on!
If the sheriff department wants to waste money looking for me, that’s on them. I won’t call them and anyone who knows me would wait two weeks before even worrying about me.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jun 17, 2018 - 10:24pm PT
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ECF, Darwin thanks you, but Elon Musk will miss yer business.
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Jun 18, 2018 - 06:34am PT
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Evidently he didn't fully divine the whole "Death" part of Death Valley.
Mixed feelings on the beacons- sort of like the old saying... "if you bring emergency bivy gear you'll bivy".. If you bring an emergency beacon...
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ECF
Big Wall climber
Ridgway CO
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Jun 18, 2018 - 06:57am PT
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Elon Musk?
What does that even mean?
You think it’s ok that we have become totally dependent on electronic technology? I do not.
You need a little blue dot to tell you where you are? I do not.
You want people to come to your aid when you f*#k up? I do not.
You want to carry a PRB, go for it, it’s a somewhat free country.
You want to force me to carry one, you can go FYS.
We all die eventually, your magic box won’t stop that.
All it does is remove some of the consequences of idiocy, so your Darwin comment makes no sense either as these devices allow people to supplant natural selection.
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Jun 18, 2018 - 07:03am PT
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You think it’s ok that we have become totally dependent on technology? I do not.
Where do you draw the line on technology?
kernmantle ropes?
cams?
synthetic materials in clothing?
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Jun 18, 2018 - 07:12am PT
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I think that I know what ECF means about technology and I agree. Communications technology has exploded in recent years. It is now possible for people in very remote areas to be in contact with civilization.
I believe that this has given people a false sense of security and has contributed to many people, some unprepared, to venture into places they previously would not have gone.
Technology can’t always extricate you from perilous situations. Skill, proper planing and experience will always be the most important tools for anyone venturing into the wilderness.
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Jun 18, 2018 - 07:15am PT
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On solo trips, I often change my route to explore or linger, as the spirit moves me. Not having to explain or justify that to someone else is crucial to my enjoyment.
People always want me to tell them where I’m going, all I’ll say is where I’m going to park. The details are no one’s business but mine.
If I disappear out there, that’s fine with me. Ditto
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Jun 18, 2018 - 07:23am PT
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I met a solo PCT through hiker
There is no such thing as a solo thruhiker on the PCT. Good luck trying to avoid people on that trail nowadays. A couple of months ago we stopped at Walker Pass campground for breakfast while driving out to bag a couple of peaks. There were at least 30 hikers camped there. Probably a couple in the toilet as well, but we didn't look there.
The Death Valley guy should have cached water on the route.
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