Fashion Hiker 911
Tired from a tough hike? Rescuers fear Yuppie 911 - Yahoo! News
These people!
When we had the outfitting store at the edge of one of the most hazardous and remote desert environments in the Southwest, people who had never hiked in the desert would come in and demand--yes, demand--to know overland routes that stretched for miles, where no water would be found. AND it would be July or August. I would always warn them off the best I could. Sometimes I couldn't, and a lot of the time I got the old "yer-a-chick-you-don't-know-shit" vibes as I begged and cajoled and pleaded with some idiot from Boston to NOT do THAT hike. Their answer was always...
"Oh. I have a cell phone."
Those things don't work in the bottom of a canyon. But, service was available from towers on Navajo Mountain, and every other year or so some jackass would call up for a non-emergency that would call out search and rescue. This is a real problem in the National Parks, where people and available funds are pushed to limit by rank outdoor amateurs that plan on calling for help for the least of reasons, like the whiners in this story that didn't like the salty water. WTF?
My advice to people that aren't secure enough in their outdoor skills and plan on using a back country beacon is this: hire a guide service.
If you aren't sure you could do the hike without a beacon, don't do it.
Don't call out search and rescue unless you're having a heart attack, you have a broken bone, somebody you know that is hiking is overdue from their hike, or somebody dies. Those are about the only rules for calling out help, really.
Search and rescue is not a handy-dandy hiking helper for people who haven't hiked or camped before. My solution to this problem?
Hand them a bill for rescue services, charge them with reckless endangerment, and put their pictures up with their idiotic story at all the public lands visitor centers.
These people!
When we had the outfitting store at the edge of one of the most hazardous and remote desert environments in the Southwest, people who had never hiked in the desert would come in and demand--yes, demand--to know overland routes that stretched for miles, where no water would be found. AND it would be July or August. I would always warn them off the best I could. Sometimes I couldn't, and a lot of the time I got the old "yer-a-chick-you-don't-know-shit" vibes as I begged and cajoled and pleaded with some idiot from Boston to NOT do THAT hike. Their answer was always...
"Oh. I have a cell phone."
Those things don't work in the bottom of a canyon. But, service was available from towers on Navajo Mountain, and every other year or so some jackass would call up for a non-emergency that would call out search and rescue. This is a real problem in the National Parks, where people and available funds are pushed to limit by rank outdoor amateurs that plan on calling for help for the least of reasons, like the whiners in this story that didn't like the salty water. WTF?
My advice to people that aren't secure enough in their outdoor skills and plan on using a back country beacon is this: hire a guide service.
If you aren't sure you could do the hike without a beacon, don't do it.
Don't call out search and rescue unless you're having a heart attack, you have a broken bone, somebody you know that is hiking is overdue from their hike, or somebody dies. Those are about the only rules for calling out help, really.
Search and rescue is not a handy-dandy hiking helper for people who haven't hiked or camped before. My solution to this problem?
Hand them a bill for rescue services, charge them with reckless endangerment, and put their pictures up with their idiotic story at all the public lands visitor centers.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home