Studlintsean
06-20-2013, 09:55
I read this on the FAA website this morning and thought some of you might find it interesting.... Any idea what trail this might be? I am not familiar with any hiking in this part of the country.
(Replaced FAA names with X for privacy purposes)
June 20 --
Two hikers recently found themselves in trouble after several hours of climbing a steep trail near El Paso, Texas. Fortunately, they happened upon a pair of Technical Operations technicians who helped them get safely down the mountain.
The technicians, X and X, had been performing routine maintenance at three communications sites near the summit of a 6,700-foot peak. Contractors had recently finished installing new equipment, and the two technicians from the El Paso NAV/COMM System Support Center were preparing the sites for an annual OSHA inspection.
After filling a Shop-Vac with debris, X stepped outside to empty the canister into a plastic bag. When he did, he heard a woman calling to him.
Josie Gachupin was thrilled to see another human. She and a friend had been hiking all day on a trail that was supposed to take them over the peak and to a car they had parked on the other side. But they had lost the trail, had run out of water and had grown tired from the exertion of hiking up the steep and rocky path.
Gachupin felt like she was starting to get heat exhaustion. She was sitting on a sidewalk that runs between the communications sites while her friend tried to find the trail.
“They were really happy when that door opened,” X said.
“I felt relieved,” Gachupin said. “I thought, ‘We’re saved!’”
Apart from the effort necessary to ascend the mountain, hikers attempting to tackle the 3.8-mile trail face other challenges.
First, it can get hot. By the time X saw the hikers, the temperature had climbed into the low 90s, and there aren’t many shady spots in the arid climate. Hikers also have to watch for cacti, which have spikes sharp enough to “go right through you,” said X, a heavy equipment operator at the El Paso Radar SSC who operates the tram that takes technicians up to the communications sites.
As if the stationary threats aren’t enough, rattlesnakes like to hang out in the areas around the trail. The snakes are such a serious and constant threat that FAA technicians wear snake guards on their shins to protect from bites when they’re working at the communications sites.
When he saw the women, X helped them into the shade created by the equipment building and gave them the water and snacks he and X had with them at the site.
It’s not unusual to see thirsty hikers when they’re up at the site, X said, and the technicians often bring extra water to share. They also keep supplies at the three sites in case of emergencies.
“People think they have everything they need for the hike, and they find out they’re wrong,” he said.
With the two hikers cooling in the shade, X went back inside the building to talk to Moore.
They knew the women were not going to be able to make it to the end of the trail. X estimates that would have taken three more hours. By then, it would have been getting dark, adding yet another threat to the hikers’ safety.
Gachupin also knew she wasn’t going to be able hike down the mountain. She had been thinking she and her friend were going to have to call search and rescue. If they hadn’t found the technicians, “I would have been in big trouble — big, big trouble,” she said.
But once she saw X, she hoped there was another way. “I figured those workers had to have gotten up to the towers somehow. They must be able to help us get down.”
They could. X called El Paso NAV/COMM SSC X to get approval to bring the women down in the FAA’s tram, the only other option besides walking.
“Once they calmed down and got water, they were very thankful,” X said. “The only thing they were afraid of was riding on the tram.”
With SSC Managers go- ahead, X radioed X, who was in the tram’s operations building near the base of the mountain.
“He said, ‘Three ready for travel, coming down,’” X said. “When he said three and Hiram was staying on top, I figured it was hikers that were stuck.”
It’s not the first time FAA has used the tram to help hikers on the mountain. A couple years ago, he transported local firefighters, state police and park rangers up the mountain to find a group of lost hikers.
Fifteen minutes after Gachupin and her friend got on the tram, and hours after their hike began, the women were safely at the bottom of the mountain, waiting for friends and family to pick them up and take them home. If not for X, X and X help, the outcome may have been very different.
“You just don’t know how relieved I was to see those guys,” Gachupin said.
(Replaced FAA names with X for privacy purposes)
June 20 --
Two hikers recently found themselves in trouble after several hours of climbing a steep trail near El Paso, Texas. Fortunately, they happened upon a pair of Technical Operations technicians who helped them get safely down the mountain.
The technicians, X and X, had been performing routine maintenance at three communications sites near the summit of a 6,700-foot peak. Contractors had recently finished installing new equipment, and the two technicians from the El Paso NAV/COMM System Support Center were preparing the sites for an annual OSHA inspection.
After filling a Shop-Vac with debris, X stepped outside to empty the canister into a plastic bag. When he did, he heard a woman calling to him.
Josie Gachupin was thrilled to see another human. She and a friend had been hiking all day on a trail that was supposed to take them over the peak and to a car they had parked on the other side. But they had lost the trail, had run out of water and had grown tired from the exertion of hiking up the steep and rocky path.
Gachupin felt like she was starting to get heat exhaustion. She was sitting on a sidewalk that runs between the communications sites while her friend tried to find the trail.
“They were really happy when that door opened,” X said.
“I felt relieved,” Gachupin said. “I thought, ‘We’re saved!’”
Apart from the effort necessary to ascend the mountain, hikers attempting to tackle the 3.8-mile trail face other challenges.
First, it can get hot. By the time X saw the hikers, the temperature had climbed into the low 90s, and there aren’t many shady spots in the arid climate. Hikers also have to watch for cacti, which have spikes sharp enough to “go right through you,” said X, a heavy equipment operator at the El Paso Radar SSC who operates the tram that takes technicians up to the communications sites.
As if the stationary threats aren’t enough, rattlesnakes like to hang out in the areas around the trail. The snakes are such a serious and constant threat that FAA technicians wear snake guards on their shins to protect from bites when they’re working at the communications sites.
When he saw the women, X helped them into the shade created by the equipment building and gave them the water and snacks he and X had with them at the site.
It’s not unusual to see thirsty hikers when they’re up at the site, X said, and the technicians often bring extra water to share. They also keep supplies at the three sites in case of emergencies.
“People think they have everything they need for the hike, and they find out they’re wrong,” he said.
With the two hikers cooling in the shade, X went back inside the building to talk to Moore.
They knew the women were not going to be able to make it to the end of the trail. X estimates that would have taken three more hours. By then, it would have been getting dark, adding yet another threat to the hikers’ safety.
Gachupin also knew she wasn’t going to be able hike down the mountain. She had been thinking she and her friend were going to have to call search and rescue. If they hadn’t found the technicians, “I would have been in big trouble — big, big trouble,” she said.
But once she saw X, she hoped there was another way. “I figured those workers had to have gotten up to the towers somehow. They must be able to help us get down.”
They could. X called El Paso NAV/COMM SSC X to get approval to bring the women down in the FAA’s tram, the only other option besides walking.
“Once they calmed down and got water, they were very thankful,” X said. “The only thing they were afraid of was riding on the tram.”
With SSC Managers go- ahead, X radioed X, who was in the tram’s operations building near the base of the mountain.
“He said, ‘Three ready for travel, coming down,’” X said. “When he said three and Hiram was staying on top, I figured it was hikers that were stuck.”
It’s not the first time FAA has used the tram to help hikers on the mountain. A couple years ago, he transported local firefighters, state police and park rangers up the mountain to find a group of lost hikers.
Fifteen minutes after Gachupin and her friend got on the tram, and hours after their hike began, the women were safely at the bottom of the mountain, waiting for friends and family to pick them up and take them home. If not for X, X and X help, the outcome may have been very different.
“You just don’t know how relieved I was to see those guys,” Gachupin said.