The ultimate list of dangers?

[lifeisalwaysgood]

While i understand not all of these you will encounter, if any at all but I wanted to make sure i hadn't forgotten any. Here is a list of potential dangers I have compiled. Obviously some fall under stupidity.


Dehydration
Hypothermia
Bug bites (ticks Lyme disease)
Sanitation (norovirus)
Blisters that turn into Infections
Sprains
Hunger and thirst
Black bears, cougars
Food or water poisoning
Mistaken by hunter for a deer and shot
Kennebec river ( if you decided to wade across vs use canoe )
Hundred Mile Wilderness
Rattler or copperhead
Black widow, brown recluse spiders
(lightning storm) or heavy downpour or snow
Knife edge rocks
Crazy people
Getting lost


Any others that come to mind?

[letstieoneon]

The DANGER of not going.......

[Tipi Walter]

The DANGER of not going.......

The worst of all.

[rickb]

Getting hit by a train (happened once)
STDs or unwanted pregnancy
Criminal violence by a person not deemed crazy
Heat stroke
Precipitating an acute medical event (like an MI)
Falling in love (if to the wrong person)
Rabies
Haunt Virus
Tetanus (huh, now I wonder when I got a booster)
Blunt force trauma from the rock on the end of your bear bag line.
3rd degree burns from refilling an alcohol stove with its invisible flame
Carbon monoxide poisoning from stove in unventilated ten
Porcupine quills
Skunks
Tree falls (widow makers)
Dog bite
Boredom
Knife in foot (drunken mublety peg game)

I could go on.

[DownYonder]

While i understand not all of these you will encounter, if any at all but I wanted to make sure i hadn't forgotten any. Here is a list of potential dangers I have compiled. Obviously some fall under stupidity.


Dehydration
Hypothermia
Bug bites (ticks Lyme disease)
Sanitation (norovirus)
Blisters that turn into Infections
Sprains
Hunger and thirst
Black bears, cougars
Food or water poisoning
Mistaken by hunter for a deer and shot
Kennebec river ( if you decided to wade across vs use canoe )
Hundred Mile Wilderness
Rattler or copperhead
Black widow, brown recluse spiders
(lightning storm) or heavy downpour or snow
Knife edge rocks
Crazy people
Getting lost


Any others that come to mind?

You omitted the worst event of all: having to sleep in a full shelter with nasty, smelly, snoring men with gas and small bladders.

[Hikingjim]

You omitted the worst event of all: having to sleep in a full shelter with nasty, smelly, snoring men with gas and small bladders.

Self-inflicted!

[orthofingers]

Falls and trips

[illabelle]

Tripping, stumbling, sliding, falling, etc.
Where those happen matters, too.
Hopefully you don't land on rocks, or fall off a cliff, or slide into the bog, or trip over a yellow jacket nest.

Looks like ortho beat me! :)

[evyck da fleet]

Poor judgement

[4eyedbuzzard]

Wasting time on internet websites.

[Dogwood]

Lack of knowledge and wisdom.

[Traveler]

Wow, quite a list! Only a few of those are actual dangers like hypothermia that should be a concern. The balance are mitigated with pretty basic prevention including filtering drinking water and drink routinely during the day, good hygiene practices anytime handling food, and proper gear for conditions. Though I would add big foot to the list behind cougars as a danger...

[rmitchell]

Wasp stings.

Especially yellow jackets and hornets.

I'm sitting here right now nursing three yellow jacket stings.

[Feral Bill]

1. Doing something stupid.
2. Bad luck.

These are related.

[perdidochas]

While i understand not all of these you will encounter, if any at all but I wanted to make sure i hadn't forgotten any. Here is a list of potential dangers I have compiled. Obviously some fall under stupidity.


Dehydration
Hypothermia
Bug bites (ticks Lyme disease)
Sanitation (norovirus)
Blisters that turn into Infections
Sprains
Hunger and thirst
Black bears, cougars
Food or water poisoning
Mistaken by hunter for a deer and shot
Kennebec river ( if you decided to wade across vs use canoe )
Hundred Mile Wilderness
Rattler or copperhead
Black widow, brown recluse spiders
(lightning storm) or heavy downpour or snow
Knife edge rocks
Crazy people
Getting lost


Any others that come to mind?

Feral dogs
Widow makers (tree limbs)

[rickb]

Trivia question:

Of all the dangers listed, which two (combined) are responsible for the documented deaths of 7 Appalachian Trail Thru Hikers?

[tiptoe]

OP, you've asked a lot of open-ended questions recently. Are you writing a book, or listicle posts for a hiking website? Am I the only one who is finding these qs mildly annoying? Yes, I know, I don't have to read them if I don't want to.

Most people who are planning a hike do a little research or ask very specific questions.

[greentick]

Running out of $#itpaper.

The struggle is real.

[trailmercury]

Sun exposure without proper protection

[martinb]

Ticks are way up there.

[trailmercury]

Trivia question:

Of all the dangers listed, which two (combined) are responsible for the documented deaths of 7 Appalachian Trail Thru Hikers?


Crazy people and Getting lost, although I only know of one thru that "got lost" and died.

[Durunner]

I will add wild hogs.

[Dogwood]

Being out of Vitamin I.
Hit by a car.
Being run over by Anish because you're too slow.
Being behind Malto on trail after a three'fer Chipotle black beans and rice burrito gorgefest swigged down by his seventh of the day maltodextrin and sugar drink.
Avalanche.
Not spending a night in Franklin, Hiawassee or Kincora Hostel.
Treating Baxter State Park personnel or any other NP, SP, or Wilderness Area authorities or any AT trail town biz or Trail Angel with a personal expectation of entitlement.
Tipi Walter wanting to have a 3 hr discussion on why super heavy haulers are all the "right way" for accumulating bag nights.
Illegal ATVers.
Loss of smell due to too overnighting on too many rainy day in the bubble at overfilled AT shelters.
Ignoring the rodents...small and large.
Rocks.
Mindless stomping down steep trail steps in the sleet while glimpsing to the side what you thought was a Big Foot.
Heart tremors from the sneaky Camo clad military suddenly springing from under the leaves in Maryland as they f&*k with AT hikers during their playing of war games.
Fouled water.
Buying into the assumption the AT through NJ is a toxic waste site.
Buying into the assumption the AMC Huts have to provided free services and goods to AT thru hiker royalty.
Buying into the assumption AT thru hikers are knighted royalty.
Assuming ANYONE hikes within an alienated isolated bubble who's personaL behavior has no bearing on anyone or anything else.

[RockDoc]

Tripping and falling should top the list. Everyone does it if you hike enough. And I know people that left the trail because of injuries from tripping and falling.

[putts]

I.E.D.s - Inflated Ego Disorders

[Rain Man]

Of all the dangers listed, which two (combined) are responsible for the documented deaths of 7 Appalachian Trail Thru Hikers?

Hmmmm... Kennebec and crazy people? I want to say lightning, but will not.

Here's one: Cause of most deaths in the GSMNP? Second?

[trailmercury]

Hmmmm... Kennebec and crazy people? I want to say lightning, but will not.

Here's one: Cause of most deaths in the GSMNP? Second?

the Kennebec death can be attributed to a "crazy person" (story came out later that he was mentally ill)

Largay "got lost"

the rest were murders done by "crazy people"

IDK GSMNP answer, but would guess the same top two

[rickb]

Answer to trivia question:

There have been a total of 7 AT thru hiker deaths caused by a combination of:

Crazy People
+ Criminal violence by a person not deemed crazy


But I am counting just homicides.

[iAmKrzys]

Several years ago I posted a similar, albeit more extensive list on VFTT: https://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?57205-Trail-dangers-what-you-don-t-know-can-kill-you!&highlight=Trail+dangers
Feel free to repost it here or supplement what has been already mentioned.

[Traveler]

Tripping and falling should top the list. Everyone does it if you hike enough. And I know people that left the trail because of injuries from tripping and falling.
This!

Slips, trips, and falls are at the top of the list of workplace injuries. Given the nature of trail hiking and my own experience, they are probably at the top of the injury list there as well and are responsible for a high percentage of sprains and strains.

[One Arm]

Wearing cotton, particularly jeans, in the rain (or snow)

[Wise Old Owl]

The DANGER of not going.......


Winning! 1234

[Scrum]

Here's one: Cause of most deaths in the GSMNP? Second?

Good question RM. My guess is that most deaths are due to heart attack, and second is hypothermia.

[rickb]

Here's one: Cause of most deaths in the GSMNP? Second?

Motor vehicle accidents could be number one.

Suicide or bike accidents could be number two.

[Slumgum]

Trench foot
Chaffing
I have met hikers who had to leave the trail in agony because of these two issues. "Sanitation" should be itemized.
Also, the wild hog problem in the south could get to the point it might be impacting hikers especially in GSMNP. A wild boar can be extremely dangerous.

Just finished HMW. Not sure why that it on the list. It is no more of a "wilderness" than many other portions of the A.T.

[RockDoc]

We were warned about that by a hostel owner, the late Jeff, who told us "Don't walk around after dark in the Smokies. There are things out there that will eat you". Sure got out attention...

[ldsailor]

I'm surprised no one listed the White Mountains and Mount Washington specifically. They ended my hike two years in a row thanks to a fall and a strained hamstring (thank you Wild Cats).

[HooKooDooKu]

Cause of most deaths in the GSMNP?
By far, the most common cause of death in GSMNP is some sort of vehicle accident along a park road (automobile, motor cycle, bicycle).

I would have guessed the 2nd leading cause of death in GSMNP was hypothermia.

But according to the book "Death in the Great Smoky Mountains: Stories of Accidents and Foolhardiness in the Most Popular Park", the 2nd leading cause of death is drowning.

I can only guess that the reason I thought hypothermia over drowning is because over the years, I've seen numerous news articles of people who have died of exposure in GSMNP (like the story of the Ohio woman last year, or other stories of hikers encountering weather conditions they were not prepared for). But the only news story regarding a drowning in GSMNP that I've encountered in the last 20 years was the story of a boy who died at Abrams Falls while on a school field trip (over 10 years ago). It would seem that deaths due to exposure are more likely to garnish national news, where as drownings are common enough, they only make the local news unless there is something particularly news worthy about the situation.

Side Note: Apparently Abrams Falls trail is considered the most dangerous hike in the park because of the number of drowning that have occurred.
I also like that the book mentioned above wraps up it's introduction claiming the most dangerous animal in the park is YOU.

[OCDave]

...
Any others that come to mind?

Alien abduction
Meteor stike
Sasquatch attack
post-nasal drip

... some dangers are more likely than others

[crazylegs76]

Fear. Didn't check the list (TLDR), but FEAR should be #1.

[Tipi Walter]

Fear. Didn't check the list (TLDR), but FEAR should be #1.

The Only Gear you have to Fear is Gear Itself.