View Full Version : Hikers caught in SNOW on the AT
Read this article this morning about 4 hikers caught in the snow in the AT and had to be rescued for hyopthermia.... doesn't help my parents understand why I want to hike the trail in April.
http://us.cnn.com/2005/US/03/09/hikers.stranded.ap/index.html
It says in the articles that they were ill equipted. They were not thru-hikers either. If you do you research and planning correctly then you should know what to expect ahead of time. Sometimes #$it happens though, but if you plan right you should be prepared. That is one of the reason this web site and other sites were created, to help others with their planning and get advise from experienced thru-hikers.
Many thru-hikers wait until april to start their treck north to avoid this kind of bad weather. Remember: March goes in like a lion and out like a lamb. I guess you might say that the lion got these guys.
Panzer
Youngblood
03-09-2005, 12:32
It says in the articles that they were ill equipted. They were not thru-hikers either. If you do you research and planning correctly then you should know what to expect ahead of time. Sometimes #$it happens though, but if you plan right you should be prepared. That is one of the reason this web site and other sites were created, to help others with their planning and get advise from experienced thru-hikers.
Being a thru-hiker might not help, most of them aren't prepared for those conditions. Best to keep get weather forecast updates as often as possible and stay out of the higher elevations when a storm is coming, especially winter storms... at least that was my strategy; in 2000 I stayed a few days at the Fontana Resort waiting out a storm and then spent an extra night in Gatlingburg waiting out a storm. I had a great time in the Smokies and had about a hundred mile visibility when I got back on the trail after the storms had blown though.
Youngblood
tlbj6142
03-09-2005, 16:27
Even if the weather is real bad, you ought to have enough gear to hike out in sub-20F temps. 8" of snow isn't all that much.
I know I've hike in mid top/bottoms, hardshell, trail pants, hat and gloves in ~18F temps and high winds in the smokies a couple of year ago. I was fine while I was hiking, but once I stopped I was freezing.
There must have been trails that could have led them to a road within 8-10 miles.
Seems to me more like they stopped because the weather was bad and refused to get started again once they realized they were ill equipt to stay.