# Here We Go Again....



## thetrailboss (Feb 18, 2008)

A guy hiked the same loop that the hikers who were killed hiked last weekend and got lost...

*The article.*


----------



## GrilledSteezeSandwich (Feb 18, 2008)

What's the deal..aren't there blazes on the trail..is it poorly marked???  There's a new invention called a compass???  A GPS??  Or even a handy dandy topo-map...

Some people are dumb


----------



## Johnskiismore (Feb 18, 2008)

When the National Guard was flying up to Franconia Notch Saturday afternoon (I was watching the Black Hawk from work), I was thinking, again so soon??

It just amazes me how ignorant people are about winter hiking!  As the previous poster said, do you have a compass?  Do you know how to use a compass?  A map?  Experience?

A clue to what you are doing?


----------



## dcarbs (Feb 18, 2008)

looks like another two are lost, this time in crawford notch, last seen at 11:30 on sunday

Story: http://www.wmur.com/news/15334219/detail.html


----------



## Mike P. (Feb 18, 2008)

GSS,

In spots high in the trees, the blazes are buried, above treeline they are under snow & ice.  In these places the visibility can go to zero quickly & you can't pull your map out in a 60 MPH wind.  GPS will tell you where you are, not where you need to go unless you have the waypoints plotted already.

That said, you need to know your ability, use your common sense & the time to turn back is before trouble hits, not after.  Because Lafayette is not Washington people seem to be slighting it.  There is substantial terrain above treeline there & in reduced visibility even if you can see a little bit, it pretty much looks the same.   

The Lafayette guy we know was solo, I'm unsure how many times he had done this trip before.  Going solo & above treeline should only be done by people with a good deal of experience & preferrably on peaks they are quite familiar with.  Davis did not have snowshoes, less than a week after snowshoes were listed as someone the other two Lafayette hikers were lacking.  That doesn't sound like an experienced hiker, IMO.

The other guys were trying a Presi-traverse.  Sunday started out nice but with a bit of a wind in the Presidentials.  ( I was across the street in the Carters)  By mid-afternoon, the visibility over there got much worse & the wind was fairly brisk on the open ledges around Middle Carter, in the Presidentials I'm sure it was worse.  Hopefully this has a happy ending!


----------



## njskier (Feb 19, 2008)

dcarbs said:


> looks like another two are lost, this time in crawford notch, last seen at 11:30 on sunday
> 
> Story: http://www.wmur.com/news/15334219/detail.html



Air National Guard rescued the 2 this morning.


----------



## Mike P. (Feb 19, 2008)

Sounds like a relatively happy ending, they used the gear they had & the National Guard & SAR got in some training.  They were a day later, likely due to dense fog & Cairns covered in rime resembling bushes.

It was very windy on Cape Cod this afternoon, assuming high winds up north, sound like they planned well to hike out via the Dry River Trail


----------



## Mike P. (Feb 20, 2008)

Waiting to see if we hear anymore on the presidential rescue, we have not heard the hikers side of this yet,  I suspect we might get snippets in the paper eventually but they attempted a pres-traverse & it took considerably more time than they expected.  

We don't know yet what they did to become delayed, they apparently hunkered down instead of meandering about in poor visibility or in treacherous conditions. You can't really call that a callous decision?  I'll assume that they descended into the Dry River Wilderness so they could get off a ridge that may have been very windy & touch to walk on.  That sounds like a smart thing to do.  I read they were found in good spirits & in good condition & well equipped.  I assume that means snowshoes.

Now the last guy going solo on Franconia Ridge less than a week after the other two guys, probably should be charged for his rescue.  There was comments made that the first two guys should have had snowshoes & that the SAR folks found it tough going breaking trail to find them.  So what's this guy do, he goes up without snowshoes.  Weather forecast was for very cold tempertures on Saturday & windy.  This should have been a red-flag not to stray too far above the hut unless you really knew you could get back down.


----------



## X-Linked (Feb 21, 2008)

I have gotten lost in Ricketts Glen.  It's way too big to be a state park.  My hiking partner and I hiked about 15-20 miles down to the highway and hitchhiked back to our car.  It was cold as hell by 11PM and that was in September.  I can only imagine how cold these guys were.  We now try to park or at least start our hike next to a river now.  Can't get lost when all you're doing is following a river up or down stream.


----------



## njskier (Feb 21, 2008)

Check out the link above from wmur. Seems like the planned well but got caught in bad weather. They hunkered down for the night in bivy sacks. When they were found they were making their way down off the mountain.


----------



## X-Linked (Feb 23, 2008)

All I have to say, is all you can do is prepare and be ready for anything.  If you are ever out there without the thoughts of danger at every step, you could be and most likely will be in trouble.  Even the best get stuck sometimes.  The option of just not doing things isn't always there when you are already out there.  Learn well, hike better, live happier.


----------



## YardSaleDad (Feb 23, 2008)

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:


> Some people are dumb



I prefer the term ignorant.  Most Americans have no appreciation for the lethality of the forces of nature, even in far more benign situations.


----------



## X-Linked (Feb 25, 2008)

Just the unexperienced and overconfident.


----------

