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What is going to happen more and more is search and rescue crews overburdened with saving all the clueless, unprepared morons who think that nothing can happen

by sedachv 12y ago

What is going to happen more and more is search and rescue crews overburdened with saving all the clueless, unprepared morons who think that nothing can happen to them because their cellphone is getting two bars, leading to increased trail closures: http://ktla.com/2014/06/26/popular-dangerous-path-to-eaton-canyons-upper-falls-to-be-closed/ http://ktla.com/2014/06/26/popular-dangerous-path-to-eaton-c...

maxerickson 12y ago
Is that a case of the trail becoming popular because it is on maps? The link doesn't talk about that aspect of it, just that it is not an officially maintained trail and more rescues/recoveries have taken place in recent years.
towelguy 12y ago
I wonder if rescue teams could use some sort of portable cell towers (thinking something like the Google [streetview backpack](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/trekking-grand-canyon-for-google-maps.html) http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/trekking-grand-canyon...) to find cellphones and people.
- sedachv 12y ago
  Locating lost/stranded hikers is definitely resource intensive, but you still have to extract them from the area. In that particular case (Eaton Canyon waterfalls), the number of rescues performed by the Forest Service (most of them by helicopter) had climbed to an average of two a week in the year before the closure. That's an unbelievably high number that's caused directly by stupid, unprepared people stranding themselves. Closing the trail was definitely the right decision there. The only other alternative is "we are not going to rescue people anymore because we don't have the manpower and cannot afford to fly our helicopters so much." Rescuers had no trouble locating these idiots: http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2009/10/third-time-was-anything-charming-%E2%80%93-spot-misuse-grand-canyon-national-park4790 http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2009/10/third-time-was-... This is a very real, big and growing problem for wilderness rescue services: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/science/earth/22parks.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/science/earth/22parks.html

by sedachv 12y ago

maxerickson 12y ago

Is that a case of the trail becoming popular because it is on maps? The link doesn't talk about that aspect of it, just that it is not an officially maintained trail and more rescues/recoveries have taken place in recent years.

towelguy 12y ago

I wonder if rescue teams could use some sort of portable cell towers (thinking something like the Google [streetview backpack](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/trekking-grand-canyon-for-google-maps.html) http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/trekking-grand-canyon...) to find cellphones and people.

sedachv 12y ago
Locating lost/stranded hikers is definitely resource intensive, but you still have to extract them from the area. In that particular case (Eaton Canyon waterfalls), the number of rescues performed by the Forest Service (most of them by helicopter) had climbed to an average of two a week in the year before the closure. That's an unbelievably high number that's caused directly by stupid, unprepared people stranding themselves. Closing the trail was definitely the right decision there. The only other alternative is "we are not going to rescue people anymore because we don't have the manpower and cannot afford to fly our helicopters so much." Rescuers had no trouble locating these idiots: http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2009/10/third-time-was-anything-charming-%E2%80%93-spot-misuse-grand-canyon-national-park4790 http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2009/10/third-time-was-... This is a very real, big and growing problem for wilderness rescue services: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/science/earth/22parks.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/science/earth/22parks.html