Hikers lost on Old Speck Mtn. found
2 ill equipped and unprepared hikers have a rough night wandering around Old Speck.
http://www.sunjournal.com/search.php?ID=179385
o.k try this
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.co.../3248485.shtml
here's another link to the story. No rain gear, only one functioning mini-mag light. They're lucky they were fit and did not panic. They survived a very dangerous situation.
Buy my stuff:
http://www.magnascreen.com
Watch me be a knucklehead:
http://www.youtube.com/Trout2ber
The article says they were wearing "sneakers".
Guess they were trying to go UL
No trip plan? At least they didn't have to cut off a hand to survive.
Read about this on Views From the Top, glad it had a happy ending, hope they get a bill.
No indication from any of the coverage on whether or not they carried maps, but my guess is they didn't.
This should be very instructive for folks who've repeatedly come on to Whiteblaze and told newcomers that one doesn't need maps on the AT; that everything is clearly marked; that one never stays lost for very long.
These guys are very lucky to be alive.
They were also lucky to be young and strong. Jumping from rock to rock in a storm swollen stream is not my idea of a fun night. Had they been out another night they probably would have died. Several inches of wet snow fell Friday a few miles away at the Saddleback Ski Area where the Maine Mountain Conference was held.Originally Posted by Jack Tarlin
The power was out at least twice during Friday night.
Weary
Day trip gone awry
And if I may add, every day trip in outback regions especially should be planned as if it it could become an overnighter. These guys learned this the hard way and managed to come out of it with only psychological scars. Like Weary said, had they been out there the following night when the wind and rain/snow was at it's worst(winds to 50 mph) the outcome for these guys might have been grim. Better to have gear you may not need than to need it and not have it.
Standard equipment, just like Leki poles.
Unless of course your cell phone becomes lost; inoperable; the batteries die; you drop it in a stream; etc. Then of course, there are the numerous places where a cell phone doesn't function anyway. There's also the the fact that if you're totally lost, or bushwhacking like these guys were, even with a working phone, you might not be able to give an accurate description of where you were located, where you were heading, etc. Calling for directions, or asking people to come rescue you when you're hurt or lost isn't gonna do much good if you've no idea where you are or which way you're going.
A cell phone is a tool like any other, but carrying one is NOT a replacemnt for carrying other vital gear, such as maps, extra clothes, firestarters, etc.
Sooner or later, someone whose sole "emergency" item is a cell phone is gonna end up dead.
Yes, but they were lucky. What if the cell phone hadn't worked? That's why you need to carry a GPS as well as a cell phone!
Frosty
And what if your GPS didn't work either?
Gadgets of any sort are no substitute for proper planning, preparation, and tools, such as current Trail maps and the ability to read them.
Gadgets and toys should always be your SECONDARY defense in an emergency, but not your primary one, and NEVER your only one.
once you leave town, turn your cell off, when it is searching for signal, it is using up battery power quicker than when it has signal
Gaiter
homepage.mac.com/thickredhair
web.mac.com/thickredhair/AT_Fall_07
Their cell phone didn't save them, but it did manage to put a dozen or more rescue personell at risk while they searched in the dark and rain(crud) all night for 2 moving people with an unknown location. I feel bad for the searchers being called out(*#*#cell phone) to look for these idiots. A cell phone in the wrong hands can be a dangerous weapon.
Would you have felt better if they'd died?
Honestly, they were indeed foolish, and of course, their actions did indeed put other people at risk, but people that work on Rescue Squads EXPECT to be called out of bed in the middle of the night.
That being said, I hope these guys get billed for the rescue.
I'll have to read the story again, but if I remember rightly these guys weren't rescued. They walked out on their own.Would you have felt better if they'd died?
Honestly, they were indeed foolish, and of course, their actions did indeed put other people at risk, but people that work on Rescue Squads EXPECT to be called out of bed in the middle of the night.
That being said, I hope these guys get billed for the rescue.
The potential rescuers spent much of the night looking for them. But the lost hikers simply followed a stream down until they hit a road. All the cell phone did, as I remember, was to keep rescuers up all night wandering in the rain.
Had conditions worsened, the two would have probably died with or without a cell phone.
Weary
Actually Weary, they DID call for help, and as a result, resuers were called out on their behalf.
The fact that these intrepid adventurers "rescued" themselves is irrelevant, if it is deemed that the emergency situation they found themselves in (and the subsequent rescue effort) came about due to negligence, carelessness, and stupidity.
Assuming of course, that they charge for needless Search and Rescues in that neck of the woods.
Jack, I agree billing them is not a bad idea but its a slippery slope at best. Where do you draw the line? Who gets to decide who is billed and who gets a pass?
The people who get to decide should be the Law Enforcement and Rescue people at the scene, who are experts in the field, and are in a perfect position to judge whether or not an incident was preventable, or was caused through recklessness and foolishness.
Young skulls full of mush.
Used to be one.
Been lucky a few times.
Grew up.
Got old.
AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
O, to be young again!
As I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn back from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11
Did Adam and Eve rest on the first Sabbath? Scripture only says that God did. Are we thinking yet?
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