AT Hiker rescued today near Albert Mountain

[Offshore]

These so-called "news" snippets provide so little information that no assumptions or conclusions can be made.

Probably enough detail for a general interest news story. It's really more of a human interest with happy ending story than an incident report. I wouldn't expect more details unless it was in a trade or special interest outlet. My issue is with all the armchair quarterbacks filling in the detail from their own imaginations and then getting the knives out. The kid may well have been an idiot, but then again, maybe not.

[Puddlefish]

More like the Curse of the Clueless Internet Message Board Response wherein replies flood in from those that weren't there and didn't know the particulars of the situation. These usually take the form of pontificating attacks on the victim for not, at the age of 21, having their own 30+ year encyclopedic knowledge of all things outdoors or of the ever-popular "why back in my day..." Some of these even come from mere day hikers who may dare to frequents these pages...

In my case, I was questioning the author of the news article for their claim that the victim was experienced and prepared. It's all a matter of perspective, isn't it.

When you have thirty extra years of experience, it's easy to get a chuckle out of someone calling a kid experienced. There are people on these boards with decades more experience than I have, and those people are welcome to get a chuckle out of a young punk like me, calling someone younger, less experienced.

[colorado_rob]

More like the Curse of the Clueless Internet Message Board Response wherein replies flood in from those that weren't there and didn't know the particulars of the situation. These usually take the form of pontificating attacks on the victim for not, at the age of 21, having their own 30+ year encyclopedic knowledge of all things outdoors or of the ever-popular "why back in my day..." Some of these even come from mere day hikers who may dare to frequent these pages...

Hear hear! (or is it here here! ???) In any case, well said.

[full conditions]

29 years ago, april 4th, a few of us were at standing indian shelter. 2 foot of snow fell overnite. we hung tough. cell phones make wussies out of hikers

Well, one advantage at least with these kind of situations .... . it gives a few old timers a chance to thump their chests and remind everyone about how much tougher they were than these weak-kneed whimps today. Priceless.

[Puddlefish]

Well, one advantage at least with these kind of situations .... . it gives a few old timers a chance to thump their chests and remind everyone about how much tougher they were than these weak-kneed whimps today. Priceless.

Let's not forget it gives the new generation the option to complain about and mock the older generation for doing what older generations tend to do. It's a tale as old as time.

[Offshore]

Let's not forget it gives the new generation the option to complain about and mock the older generation for doing what older generations tend to do. It's a tale as old as time.

I'm a part of the older generation that agrees with the new generation who are complaining about the older generation. Oh no, I've confused myself now...

[Puddlefish]

I'm a part of the older generation that agrees with the new generation who are complaining about the older generation. Oh no, I've confused myself now...

Heh heh. It's all good, we all love the sound of our own voices. We complain even as we reminisce. It's the circle of life.

[turtle fast]

Lest we forget it's these old timers where the younger generation can learn a thing or two from their past experiences. I see their advocy for common sense and to not rely too heavily on the electronic devices to be refreshing....especially with all the cumulative hiker funk around here.

[Tipi Walter]

In the blizzard of 93 , Mt. Leconte in GSMNP got 69" of snow. It was only the storm of the century.

Thanks for sharing this cool map. I was in Boone NC and right smack dab in the center of that blue wedge. We got 36 inches of snow in Watauga County and I remember many of the particulars as I was living in a 3,500 foot ridgetop tipi 10 miles west of Boone in a little place called Sugar Grove, NC.

I kept a journal of the storm as I sat in my woodheated Tipi---

http://tipiwalter.blogspot.com/2009/...ard-of-93.html

Well, one advantage at least with these kind of situations .... . it gives a few old timers a chance to thump their chests and remind everyone about how much tougher they were than these weak-kneed whimps today. Priceless.

There have been several rescues in the last several years in the Southeast mountains which seem to validate "a few old timers" amazement and disgust. See---

http://www.smokymountainnews.com/new...to-save-hikers

These boys were on Day 1 of a 10 day trek and had summer sleeping bags and a propane torch. Can't make this stuff up.

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/n...kies-/4313377/

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/n...escue/5297951/

http://appalachiantrail.com/20140104...rs-lost-found/

I like the quote: "Wearing cotton clothing but no cold weather gear." Cost the park service $8,300 for rescue.

And please, for a fun read, pour over this Whiteblaze Thread---

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...okey-Mountains

[GoldenBear]

> Hear hear! (or is it here here! ???)

The former.
The phrase began in the English* House of Commons in the 1600s, and was indicative of a member wanting others to listen to the speaker, because what the speaker was saying was so correct.

To this day, the U.S. Supreme Court (somewhat) mimics this phrase, using the Latin phrase "Oyez, oyez, oyez" ("Listen, listen, listen") each time the justices walk into the court.
http://www.supremecourt.gov/about/procedures.aspx


* Yes, it was only England at the time. The addition of Scotland (making it Great Britain) and Northern Ireland (making it the United Kingdom) came later.

[colorado_rob]

In the blizzard of 93 , Mt. Leconte in GSMNP got 69" of snow. It was only the storm of the century.

I guess it's all relative, but we get huge dumps seemingly every 10 years or so.

One of my most vivid memories was a seven-footer (yes, that's 84 inches, plus or minus) we got in 2003, in the foothills above Denver (Denver area got about 3-4 feet, depending)

http://rense.com/general35/storm.htm

(7 feet was the worst since 1913, but we get regular 3-4 footers probably about every 10 years)

I was house-bound for that 7-footer for one full day with 5 teenagers (my own two, plus their visiting friends that were stuck at our house....). Long story short, I managed to survive with them for about a day, then I just had to leave. My workplace was shutdown, but I could get in and do actual work, so I snowshoed 2.5 miles to work. took me over two hours, IIRC.

[Venchka]

Geeze, Louise! Had the 3 hikers sans tent & winter gear merely turned around before dark they would have been at the Fontana Hilton drinking hot chocolate before things got too serious.
I'm still not convinced that very many people know much, if anything, about the effects of altitude on temperature & wind speed. One of the men in the story said that they had checked the weather forecast as they left home in S.C. No mention of the location for that forecast. No mention of checking the forecast once they reached Fontana Dam. Isn't there a ranger station at Fontana Dam? I have been queried about my gear by rangers before. Surely anyone leaving Fontana Dam on January 1 and heading up mountain should have their gear reviewed by competent rangers. I guess this group managed to slip through a few cracks.
Let us not forget the group of young women who "were surrounded by snow and couldn't find water." They were also rescued safely.
Be dry. Be warm. Be safe.

Wayne

[PAFranklin]

I lived in Manhattan at the time, and indeed that was one for the record books.

The unusual thing about that one was that, yes, we got around 3-4 feet of it, but that very little of what fell was actually snow. It was almost all sleet and ice pellets which were super-heavy and could not be shoveled. It was like concrete. I had to hack my car out with an ice axe. Regular snow plows could barely shove the stuff aside and eventually front-end loaders and dump trucks had to be used to clear the streets.

Glad not to be in the woods then!

Yes I remember that one. I used my garden tiller to break up the ice in my driveway.

I can remember about half a dozen snow storms of the century in my area and a couple 100 years floods on the Delaware. And I'm not that old.

I also remember a smaller storm in 89 when a couple of us were winter backpacking on the AT in Virginia where we got 18 inches. There was a short period were it was a complete white out and we couldn't see more than about 15 feet. We were well equipped so just set up the tent and hunkered down till the next morning.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Eh, failing to check the weather or ignoring the forecast, it still amounts to being woefully inexperienced or unprepared. It's 2016, weather forecasts are fairly amazing these days, and very easy to access from a variety of sources.

I do give him credit for making the call, and not making a bad situation worse.

These so-called "news" snippets provide so little information that no assumptions or conclusions can be made.

Probably enough detail for a general interest news story. It's really more of a human interest with happy ending story than an incident report. I wouldn't expect more details unless it was in a trade or special interest outlet. My issue is with all the armchair quarterbacks filling in the detail from their own imaginations and then getting the knives out. The kid may well have been an idiot, but then again, maybe not.

In my case, I was questioning the author of the news article for their claim that the victim was experienced and prepared. It's all a matter of perspective, isn't it.

When you have thirty extra years of experience, it's easy to get a chuckle out of someone calling a kid experienced. There are people on these boards with decades more experience than I have, and those people are welcome to get a chuckle out of a young punk like me, calling someone younger, less experienced.

Hear hear! (or is it here here! ???) In any case, well said.

Lest we forget it's these old timers where the younger generation can learn a thing or two from their past experiences. I see their advocy for common sense and to not rely too heavily on the electronic devices to be refreshing....especially with all the cumulative hiker funk around here.

The good part - he made the call before getting into deeper sh-- er, snow. And apparently he had enough gear and enough experience that his behavior resulted in being found in good condition, basically with a bruised ego and no more. We don't know the details of exactly how he became disoriented/lost, and whether he was on the end of a multiday hike, the beginning, or on a day hike, or... (goes to weather/forecast awareness). And maybe he even set out to practice survival/ winter skills. But having been in the woods in a snowstorm, disorientation can happen pretty easily when visibility deteriorates. He probably had a touch of a panic/anxiety attack going as well at that point.

Hopefully he learned a valuable lesson and will grow up to be a crusty old curmudgeon - and scoff at the foolishness of young hikers someday.

[LittleRock]

I just read A Walk in the Woods - this is almost exactly the same situation in the same location as Bryson and Katz.

Except Bryson and Katz toughed it out, and honestly, I don't think anyone would call them either "experienced hikers" or "well-prepared".

The one thing they did right, which this guy didn't, was find a place to hunker down before conditions got too bad.

[Slo-go'en]

I think it's safe to assume this lad is thru hiking. Given his location and time of day when he called for help, he most likely was at the Carter Gap shelter that morning and it was probably already starting to snow when he headed out. He just didn't know how bad the storm was going to get or how difficult that section of trail would be (anyone who has ever climbed Mt Albert would never head that way in a snow storm!).

His mistake was to try and push on when things started to get crazy instead of turning back to the shelter, which probably wasn't all that far behind him. But we all know you never turn around and go back, no matter what...

[FlyFishNut]

I like reading the comments sections of these articles. In the first link, this person is bashing anyone who backpacks (he uses term Hike) in the winter.
She/he? describes such foolery as without "common sense" and cites her experience as a Girl Scout Troop Leader.

[4eyedbuzzard]

I like reading the comments sections of these articles. In the first link, this person is bashing anyone who backpacks (he uses term Hike) in the winter.
She/he? describes such foolery as without "common sense" and cites her experience as a Girl Scout Troop Leader.

Yeah, I gave her a piece of my mind as well.

[FlyFishNut]

Yeah, I gave her a piece of my mind as well.

Me too... I tried to order some Thin Mints from her....

[jdavis7590]

Finally someone said it. I bet he got some experience now, plus the storm mixed with a turned ankle, stomach flue, or critters running off with a bear bag change the game. We don't know. So many here claim to be ultralight hikers but how is this possible with these massive soap boxes you take ever where? Carbon fiber soap boxes maybe? Collapsible?