Uh oh(Part 2),Solo Hiking

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Fritz

Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
Jun 18, 2018 - 07:31am PT
Per another nickname’s link to a N.Y. Post story, where an activated PLB did not result in a timely rescue. The experienced winter hiker was high in the Presidential Range, attempting a solo winter ascent of Mt. Washington.

By Sunday afternoon, Matrosova had activated an emergency beacon that sent her coordinates to rescuers.

But search crews had trouble finding her.

“Unfortunately, a lot of the coordinates that we received over the night were all over the place within a mile circumference,” Lt. Jim Goss of the state’s Fish and Game Department told WMUR-TV.

Overnight temperatures plummeted to 30 degrees below zero and the winds were gusting at more than 100 mph.

A rescue team comprising Fish and Game officers, Mountain Rescue Services members and Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue responders braved 108-mph winds to reach the area Monday.
https://nypost.com/2015/02/17/new-york-hiker-freezes-to-death-in-new-hampshire-mountains/


I’m surprised they attempted to rescue her in those conditions. It is likely she kept moving after activating her PLB. Don’t blame the beacon, blame the hiker.
MH2

Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
Jun 18, 2018 - 07:33am PT
The Death Valley hiker probably considers his investment in the Delorme InReach well spent.

On my riskiest solo hike I had spare change, cards, and a watch. No water, food, or note left behind.

Then I was offered a Delorme InReach. A guy had lost it and bought a newer version and then his old one showed up.

I, too, theoretically have prepared myself for trouble I can't get out of, and we all have to go sometime, etc., and if I do get into such trouble it could be in a ravine or gully, to which I am attracted and in which the locator has trouble finding a satellite.

HOWEVER, where we live there are many searches and rescues in backcountry. Even if I don't especially worry about my own fate I do worry about searchers who might get sent out to look for me. They know enough to not place themselves in trouble, but the time and effort could be considerably shortened if they had GPS on my location.

Get far enough away from organized SAR teams and no worries.
10b4me

Social climber
Lida Junction
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 18, 2018 - 07:51am PT
The Death Valley guy should have cached water on the route.

Don't know if this guy was from California, but he probably should have educated himself about our ongoing drought. Relying on a water source that he saw on a map. . . . . .
Matt Sarad

climber
Jun 18, 2018 - 07:54am PT
Good point Gary. I told him that when he got to the Kennedy Meadows store there would be 30 waiting for him. He was hiking alone from Tehachapi to there. I guess that means solo.
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Jun 18, 2018 - 08:08am PT
I think that the incredible ease of calling for a rescue in many areas is part of the problem. It intices people into places beyond the scope of their skill and experience levels.
Want to ease the crowds in Chamonix or Denali? Suspend all rescue operations and let climbers fend for themselves.
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Jun 18, 2018 - 08:32am PT
Want to ease the crowds in Chamonix or Denali?
BITD, we didn't even carry a radio. We knew we were on our own, and that's the way we wanted it to be. Say goodbye to the bush pilot, and tell him "Come back in 30 days."
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Jun 18, 2018 - 09:01am PT
I have a PLB with GPS but I carry it only during scuba diving trips when I intend to be drift diving, or when the area is notorious for very strong oceanic currents.

I'm okay with dying in the mountains, but not drifting out into the open ocean - mostly because I'm usually diving with my wife.
MH2

Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
Jun 18, 2018 - 10:19am PT
if a solo hiker who leaves no note or itinerary subsequently disappears without a trace, we should not wring our hands over it. All due respect to family and loved ones, but it is not a big deal in the grand scheme.


True.

But it can be a lot of heli fuel and time that searchers spend away from their families.
High Fructose Corn Spirit

Gym climber
Jun 18, 2018 - 11:59am PT
For reference...



Looks like a fun place.
fear

Ice climber
hartford, ct
Jun 18, 2018 - 12:06pm PT
You're not really solo if you have a PLB or cell phone...
High Fructose Corn Spirit

Gym climber
Jun 18, 2018 - 12:15pm PT
Curious if anyone here has ever hiked Jail Canyon (the prominent east west running one immediately south of Tuber Canyon) to Telescope Peak.

Or either of its West-East running ridges to the Peak?

If so how did it go?

Hm.

http://www.protrails.com/trail/25/death-valley-national-park-telescope-peak
http://www.backroadswest.com/MonthTrips/JailCyn.htm

"The highly visible trail ribbons ahead, licking up to the point of Telescope Peak in the distance. Enjoy the western views into Tuber and Jail Canyons—the rough canyons that nose in toward the Death Valley park boundary from the Panamint Valley below."

https://moon.com/2015/11/hiking-telescope-peak-death-valley/


"Telescope has got to rank up there with the Grand Canyon's Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim and the Trans-Zion as possibly the hardest and most memorable single-day suffer-fests in the West."

https://www.summitpost.org/shorty-s-to-telescope-23k-ft-of-vertical-change-in-death-valley/777062

https://www.scaruffi.com/monument/hikes13/dv187.jpg
https://www.scaruffi.com/monument/hikes13/tpeak.html
nah000

climber
now/here
Jun 18, 2018 - 01:13pm PT
huh... much hate for the plb.

forcing people to use one? [must have missed where that was suggested...]

calling in a rescue before it’s absolutely necessary? [sure, there are probably a few who would: not sure how that forces the “manly” to do so]



you vehement anti-plb folks do realize that in north america someone’s going to come looking for you regardless?

i get different strokes for different folks and all...

and you folks who don’t want to carry one: hey, cool...

but calling folks in developed societies, with built in search and rescue appratuses, who choose to carry a plb, sissies? or that you’re not really solo?

methinks you need to head off to war or something if you need to prove your manliness so badly...

all you’re proving to me is your cranky adolescent like denial of current [at least north american] reality...

[and yes: at 150g and no subscription, i’ve got a plb permanently stuffed in as part of my emergency kit... if i was looking for real “adventure” that would not potentially unnecessarily burden my family/friends and sar, i’d go join the peshmerga... so yeah different strokes for different folks on this one, for sure]
Trump

climber
Jun 18, 2018 - 01:53pm PT
I think that the incredible ease of calling for a rescue in many areas is part of the problem. It intices people into places beyond the scope of their skill and experience levels.
Want to ease the crowds in Chamonix or Denali? Suspend all rescue operations and let climbers fend for themselves.

Is that right? I don’t know, I think if it wasn’t so easy to post to the internet, people would still hold the crazy beliefs they hold, we just might not hear about it, until after I got elected.

The ease of learning to climb in a climbing gym might be adding to people’s comfort levels, maybe rightly so, maybe wrongly so, whether we prefer there to be more climbers or not. Either way, they’re mostly a lot better prepared, at least physically, than I ever was.
ECF

Big Wall climber
Ridgway CO
Jun 18, 2018 - 02:56pm PT
If no one calls for a rescue, why would anyone come looking for me?

You say to go join a military group and kill people and I’m the adolescent?
I just want to go on a hike and not harm anyone.
If personal responsibility is too difficult a concept for you to grasp, we have no basis for discussion.
Fritz

Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
Jun 18, 2018 - 04:16pm PT
ECF? Let me get this straight?

So, if you drop dead or badly injure yourself, on a solo hike, no-one in your life is going to tell the cops you are missing? Bosses, co-workers, landlords, freinds & relatives are either told to not report you missing, or don't figure in your life?

That's ok then.

Of course you walk to the trailhead, or bike & hide it really well, so no cop, ranger, or damn busybody won't wonder about your car that's been there for weeks, check out your license plates & back track you that way, to where they start a S & R operation for you.

I believe you could have a signed, dated, witnessed & notarized document in your car: that says "Don't look for me!" and the S & R people would still look for you, at their risk, & taxpayer expense.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jun 18, 2018 - 04:25pm PT
They need to rename Tuber Cyn - Goober Cyn. BITD the miners scoured every inch of those mountains and they carried shovels and picks.
ECF

Big Wall climber
Ridgway CO
Jun 18, 2018 - 07:40pm PT
That is correct Fritz, there is no one that would report me missing.
I own my home, work a sole proprietorship business, have no family, and my friends know not to report me missing.
Often times I hike right out my back door, or get dropped off and hike home.
If my parked car prompts a S&R, they would have to be making a lot of assumptions based on nothing and take action of their own accord. I hardly think it justified to spend taxpayer money to overreact to every car parked on the side of the road.
If in fact they do that, it is indicative of a nanny state mentality, which is a world I do not want to be a part of in any way.
I can think of no better end to my life than to disappear into the wilderness.

I accept mortality and choose to engage in risky activities because of the rewards I reap from them. There is absolutely no circumstance that could occur that would make me recant those principles. That is why I go alone. These are my choices, and I am prepared to deal with the consequences.

I appreciate others do not feel that way, and they are free to enact whatever circus of their choosing to save their lives. I hold the principles of wilderness in higher esteem than my own life. I’m just one dirty monkey that matters to no one, but wilderness is the purity of God’s creation. When we tame it, we mock the Devine.

So the question remains, do PLBs save the competent as much as they embolden the incompetent? All the stories I have read indicate a foolish reliance on this technology to remedy poor decision making and improper planning. Of course I am sure there are exceptions, but those are not the ones that make the news. Families filing lawsuits because beacons were not responded to quickly enough for their liking have dominated the recent news cycle regarding these devices.


Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Jun 18, 2018 - 08:28pm PT
Families filing lawsuits because beacons were not responded to quickly enough for their liking have dominated the recent news cycle regarding these devices
Bingo
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jun 18, 2018 - 08:53pm PT
ECF your words are refreshing.

Refreshing? Really? Barely a re-warmed serving of Savonarola 500 years after the fact.
But who doesn’t appreciate some good old fashioned self-flagellation, especially when it is so sincere?
MH2

Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
Jun 18, 2018 - 10:02pm PT
So the question remains, do PLBs save the competent as much as they embolden the incompetent?


What difference to you would the answer to this question make? I believe you said that others are free to act as they see fit.
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