Overdue hiker found dead in Smokies

[rtfi]

National Park releases hiker's cause of death
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2013/ap...ause-of-death/

The Knoxville man who died while hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park succumbed to hypothermia, officials said today.
“It was hypothermia,” said national park spokeswoman Molly Schroer of 50-year-old Richard Lemarr’s cause of death. “That was confirmed through the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office.”
Lemarr left Newfound Gap on Jan. 12, planning to hike 30 miles along the Appalachian Trail to Davenport Gap on the North Carolina side.
He failed to meet a friend on Jan. 14 at Davenport Gap and a park search then began.
On Jan. 16, park rangers found Lemarr’s body in the Tricorner Knob Shelter, one of the most remote parts of the park, officials said.
Bad weather and the hard-to-reach location delayed recovery of the body. Rangers stayed on-site at the shelter after Lemarr was found.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol assisted park rangers by airlifting the body out of the park.
More details as they develop online and in Friday’s News Sentinel.

[MuddyWaters]

Sad.
He was halfway. In a shelter.
All he really needed was enough insulation
Or a fire, the shelters have fireplaces.
Thinking or dexterity must have become impacted such that that wasnt possible.

[ArchangelBHL]

thanks for the info Top.

[rtfi]

I think the person who wrote the headline didn’t read the article. Freezing to death is different than hypothermia. Semantics, I guess.

http://www.citizen-times.com/article...er-froze-death
Park: Hiker Froze to Death
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK — The Knoxville, Tenn. man who died while hiking in the national park succumbed to hypothermia. “It was hypothermia,” said national park spokeswoman Molly Schroer of 50-year-old Richard Lemarr’s cause of death. “That was confirmed through the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office,” she told the Knoxville News Sentinel. Lemarr left Newfound Gap on Jan. 12, planning to hike 30 miles along the Appalachian Trail to Davenport Gap on the North Carolina side. He failed to meet a friend on Jan. 14 at Davenport Gap and a park search then began. On Jan. 16, park rangers found Lemarr’s body in the Tricorner Knob Shelter, one of the most remote parts of the park, officials said. Bad weather and the hard-to-reach location delayed recovery of the body. Rangers stayed on-site at the shelter after Lemarr was found until his body could be airlifted from the park.

[winger]

And how is it different?

[rtfi]

My understanding is that hypothermia can occur in temperatures well above freezing, and is triggered by the person becoming wet. (Rain or sweat are typical causes of the wetness.) Even if the person subsequently dries off, their body may not be able to recover from the initial drop in their “core” temperature when they were wet. Freezing to death is dying from exposure at a substantially lower temperature, but the person is dry. Bottom line, a wet person can die from hypothermia at a temperature that a dry person can survive.

[Rasty]

My understanding is that hypothermia can occur in temperatures well above freezing, and is triggered by the person becoming wet. (Rain or sweat are typical causes of the wetness.) Even if the person subsequently dries off, their body may not be able to recover from the initial drop in their “core” temperature when they were wet. Freezing to death is dying from exposure at a substantially lower temperature, but the person is dry. Bottom line, a wet person can die from hypothermia at a temperature that a dry person can survive.

97% positive that you get hypothermia before you freeze to death.

[Nooga]

10 - 12 years ago, I was hiking in the GSM. It was in the 40's and raining. Arriving at Tricorner Knob Shelter, I realized that my hands were cold and I had lost alot of dexterity. I could not manipulate buttons or hook up the hoses to my water filter. I'm sure that I would not have been able to use a lighter. I got into warm clothes and warmed my hands up. Learned a valuable lesson that day.

[Tom Murphy]

when I was a freshman In high school, I skied on an early spring afternoon in jeans. Fell a number of times. Senior in the seat in front of me kept his school bus window open on the ride back to school. I couldn't stop shiveriing when my Dad picked me up. A hot shower and big meal fixed it, but it was a scary expereince

[rtfi]

I just looked it up and found hypothermia defined as a low body temperature, with no mention of wetness combined with a low air temperature. I had always thought of "hypothermia" as a condition caused by wetness, as this is how the term seems to be used. So you are right. Anyway, I thought the term “freezing to death” would imply a dry person dying from exposure at a low temperature, while the term hypothermia would imply dying from a low body temperature after becoming wet at a temperature that could be well above freezing.

[bfayer]

There is no such thing as freezing to death, unless of course you fall into a vat of liquid nitrogen.

In all other cases you will die of hypothermia well before your body core freezes.

You can die of hypothermia if its 70 degrees, or 40 below, it is still hypothermia that kills you.

Most people that die of hypothermia in outdoor sports get wet first, which is why most folks associate hypothermia with being wet. Cold and dry will kill you too, just not as fast.

I was glad to hear that the park rangers did not leave him alone while they waited for the helicopter.

Very sad situation.

[FatHead64]

There is no such thing as freezing to death, unless of course you fall into a vat of liquid nitrogen.

In all other cases you will die of hypothermia well before your body core freezes.

You can die of hypothermia if its 70 degrees, or 40 below, it is still hypothermia that kills you.

Most people that die of hypothermia in outdoor sports get wet first, which is why most folks associate hypothermia with being wet. Cold and dry will kill you too, just not as fast.

I was glad to hear that the park rangers did not leave him alone while they waited for the helicopter.

Very sad situation.

Agreed - the "freezing to death" part is determined by how soon (or not) they are found after dying of hypothermia. As previously stated, hypothermia is low body (core) temperature regardless of temperature or reason why the temperature got low. It is just that being wet often acclerates the temperature loss, so more people get hypothermia when they are wet.

[max patch]

Freezing to death = dying from hypothermia.

Maybe not (I have no idea) according to the medical literature, but interchangeable in casual use.

[MuddyWaters]

Methinks "freezing to death", is obviously just an expression
Professional reporters should know better though.

[wmw999]

My "other" sport is a little more instantaneous (skydiving). There, the word is that you're never too experienced to make a bad decision, never too experienced to die.

I'm not at all experienced in long-distance hiking (i.e. day hikes only, planning on a section hike this summer). But I have a feeling the same thing applies here -- no matter how experienced you are, you can get into a situation where the "obvious" decision appears to be one that in retrospect is really stupid. You have to break the chain of events. The advantage to hiking over skydiving is that you can break the chain most of the time -- take some time to rest, warm up, cool down, go to town, ask someone for help, whatever.

Wendy P.

[MuddyWaters]

Hypothermia can be insidious. As long as you recognize your in trouble, and can think about what you need to do , you have a chance.
When you lose that ability , your toast. Kind of like nitrogen narcosis in diving.

You need to be able to recognize onset at early stages and know actions to take.
In hiking, #1 thing, is keep moving unless you have enough insulation to warm up, or ability to construct a big fire.

[Del Q]

Didn't someone else die in this shelter last Fall?

Just stinks!

[Rasty]

Didn't someone else die in this shelter last Fall?

Just stinks!

There was a helicopter rescue in October.

[The Wanna Bs]

Very sad. :-( That is the way I want to go but 50 is way too young.