5 ms·

At Valley of Fire, 30-60 minutes from Las Vegas, there's a hike with a permanent sign at the beginning no matter the season/weather saying: "HEAT WARNING. Hiki

by prawn 4y ago

At Valley of Fire, 30-60 minutes from Las Vegas, there's a hike with a permanent sign at the beginning no matter the season/weather saying: "HEAT WARNING. Hiking is not recommended." This is despite the park recommending the hike on their map/brochure and at the visitor centre... Obviously it gets hot there and being close to Vegas means people show up in jeans and with poor wayfinding skills. But I do wonder if the sign dissuades no one but desensitises others. Bit of a balancing act trying to adequately warn people who pay little attention, but keep it as the wild experience people want to have.

LorenPechtel 4y ago
Yeah, that sign is stupid. In the right time of year it's perfectly reasonable to hike. In the hot time you would have to be insane--but the sign doesn't distinguish between those cases.
- dsfyu404ed 4y ago
  Because of pervasive ass-covering in the kinds of organizations responsible for this kind of messaging and infantilization of people just in general they just put a "pls don't do the thing you're here to do" sign that everyone will ignore rather than an informative sign and "make your own decision" that might actually help a few people think twice about doing something actually dumb.
- prawn 4y ago
  Even in the heat, it's not a particularly long hike. Morning or evening wouldn't be an issue. That said, it's not like the majority of tourists show up early!
  - LorenPechtel 4y ago
    The people who need the signs aren't the ones who are paying attention to conditions. I never head out without either checking the weather myself or knowing that a person whose judgment I trust has checked the weather.
- twelve40 4y ago
  Just drove down US-50 in Tahoe this morning in all the snow, and a good portion of road signs is out of whack: 55mph limit signs are a joke when you have the mandatory chains on, 35mph yellow signs are a joke in the summer, seems like they are trying to come up with some "average" values safe all-year-round despite winter and summer conditions being complete opposites.
jojobas 4y ago
Australian parks have hike grades, indicated on trailheads. I guess they should not scrimp on signage and put more explicit descriptions, such as "if you can't run half a marathon under X hours or don't have Y liters of water per person you will likely die".
- prawn 4y ago
  I think people tune this out though because it often feels like overkill for the season/weather or something else. Obviously the weather changes or the exposure is different once you're out there. But it won't stop people tuning it out. The signposted hike in question is very, very tame, maybe 1.5km. I like the per-trail signage idea. Broader things like 4L/day recommendations aren't going to seem realistic for many people. Or education around over-provisioning water: added weight makes for more exercise, and means you're not miserly rationing water and hating the hike.

by prawn 4y ago

LorenPechtel 4y ago

Yeah, that sign is stupid. In the right time of year it's perfectly reasonable to hike. In the hot time you would have to be insane--but the sign doesn't distinguish between those cases.

dsfyu404ed 4y ago
Because of pervasive ass-covering in the kinds of organizations responsible for this kind of messaging and infantilization of people just in general they just put a "pls don't do the thing you're here to do" sign that everyone will ignore rather than an informative sign and "make your own decision" that might actually help a few people think twice about doing something actually dumb.
prawn 4y ago
Even in the heat, it's not a particularly long hike. Morning or evening wouldn't be an issue. That said, it's not like the majority of tourists show up early!
- LorenPechtel 4y ago
  The people who need the signs aren't the ones who are paying attention to conditions. I never head out without either checking the weather myself or knowing that a person whose judgment I trust has checked the weather.
twelve40 4y ago
Just drove down US-50 in Tahoe this morning in all the snow, and a good portion of road signs is out of whack: 55mph limit signs are a joke when you have the mandatory chains on, 35mph yellow signs are a joke in the summer, seems like they are trying to come up with some "average" values safe all-year-round despite winter and summer conditions being complete opposites.

jojobas 4y ago

Australian parks have hike grades, indicated on trailheads. I guess they should not scrimp on signage and put more explicit descriptions, such as "if you can't run half a marathon under X hours or don't have Y liters of water per person you will likely die".

prawn 4y ago
I think people tune this out though because it often feels like overkill for the season/weather or something else. Obviously the weather changes or the exposure is different once you're out there. But it won't stop people tuning it out. The signposted hike in question is very, very tame, maybe 1.5km. I like the per-trail signage idea. Broader things like 4L/day recommendations aren't going to seem realistic for many people. Or education around over-provisioning water: added weight makes for more exercise, and means you're not miserly rationing water and hating the hike.