Georgia Teen Died on AT in Virginia

[Pedestrian]

I've only heard a radio report so far:
15 year old georgia girl dies in the roller coaster area of the AT.

That's abot all the info I've been able to find so far.
Any more info would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Mini-Mosey]

I will keep my ears open about this, since this part of the AT is near me.

[Streamweaver]

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/met...3/03hiker.html It says here that another 15 year old got sick not too long ago in the same area. Streamweaver

[Kozmic Zian]

Yea......Rollercoaster. Did'nt somebody say the 'Rollercoaster' was a really easy section. Dosen't seem that way to me. I remembered the 'PUDS' as being pretty damned sweaty and nasty. Not really high (500' up and downs), but just really quick ups and downs. Seemed like my bod was hurting in this section. Not easy. I guess the 15 year old had a hard time. I'm always very sorry to hear about these things on The Trail. Peace.....KZ@

[oyvay]

The death was a tragedy. The group was a "hoods-in-the-woods" trip. The girl complained of chest pain, shortness of breath, etc the leader thought she was goldbricking (very common)and didn't stop the group. The girl collapsed and a thruhiker that was close by did CPR for about an hour, he stopped from exhaustion. It took the EMTs awhile to reach the group, by then the girl was gone. The ATC probably has better details by now. IMHO the groups' leader was probably sacked and sued.

[smokymtnsteve]

What is goldbricking?

Main Entry: goldbrick
Function: verb
transitive senses : SWINDLE
intransitive senses : to shirk duty or responsibility


tryin to "Put one over on da man"

[Cehoffpauir]

Main Entry: goldbrick
Function: verb
transitive senses : SWINDLE
intransitive senses : to shirk duty or responsibility


tryin to "Put one over on da man"

Also known as "malingering," though this is something of an old-fashioned word.

[c.coyle]

What is goldbricking?

Boy, that made me feel old! I mentioned Gilligan's Island to a 28 y.o. co-worker last week and she'd absolutely had never heard of it. Think I'll have a big glass of Metamucil for breakfast.

[Hammock Hanger]

Guess the next time I take a group of kids hiking from the camp and they start whining I had better listen...

BTW: I have to say that I cruised thur the RCoaster and just couldn't figure out what all the fuss was. I think it would be harder for a dayhiker, weekender or someone just starting out, but it really didn't effect me much. Other then a tornado that chased up us and over Bear Rocks it was a really great day.

Amtrack do you remember that? HH

[Desert Lobster]

On a hot day the section can be hard.

[manzana]

Guess the next time I take a group of kids hiking from the camp and they start whining I had better listen...

BTW: I have to say that I cruised thur the RCoaster and just couldn't figure out what all the fuss was. I think it would be harder for a dayhiker, weekender or someone just starting out, but it really didn't effect me much. Other then a tornado that chased up us and over Bear Rocks it was a really great day.

Amtrack do you remember that? HH

Really? A real tornado???

manzana

[Mini-Mosey]

The "rollercoaster" is considered to be a difficult section in comparison to the other parts of the AT around here(Maryland, West virginia, and Northern Virginia). I certainly would think that a thruhiker, though, would be able to breeze through it once he/she got up this far. I just completed a 6-day, 5-night trip from Snicker's Gap to Dick's Dome and then back after not doing any backpacking for over a year. Obviously, I'm a very slow backpacker(hence the name "Mini-Mosey") but in time hopefully can improve my lot. More said on another thread. One more thing, though: In one of the shelter logs, a former thruhiker who was apparently doing some hiking in the area said the Rollercoaster almost killed him and a few others the previous year due to the high temperature and humidity. There are a lot of up's and down's, along with lots of rocks. But this section is basically gorgeous.

[Wolverine]

Strange to see this thread so many months after the fact -- this brings back a lot of memories. I passed through the Rollercoaster only a day or two after this happened, and knew some of the hikers that tried helping her. I actually saw an abandoned girl's tennis shoe next to the trail there, along with a couple of barrettes. Definitely one of the sadder days I had on the trail.