I apologize, this is a couple days old but interesting none the less.
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_011508ORN_mt_hood_climbers_LJ.253cb5a0.html

Apparently, they were located by a geocache that was in the area. They called in by cell-phone and said they had found the cache. So the rescue team looked up the co-ordinates and went to find the climbers and brought them out to safety.

Yet another example of arrogant foolishness that the taxpaying public get to pay for. No excuse these days for not taking at least a GPS with you to find your way home.

At least they had some skills, if they were able to build and stay in a snow cave overnight.

You guys should have a stupid hiker clause added to your parks act, we have one that says if you are really stupid parks can charge you for the SAR.

The NPS and other agencies does charge for really dumb things, especially blatant violations of regulations, like entering plainly posted, closed areas. Frankly, I don't see anything nearly that bad going on here. I have seen whiteouts, but nothing so severe that I couldn't see my own feet.

I have climbed on Hood before and you below timberline there is really no climbing just a nice walk in the wood. This is most likely the media misrespresentation of people in the woods. I have spent the night on hood at 10k and woke and it is so bad you lose the enterance to the snow cave within 3 feet of the enterance. Well you have a map and compass and know how to use it, okay you know where you are on the map too. Finding a geocache amazes as most are hidden pretty well, I know I geocache, and I bet they were geocachers that found the cache and just couldn't figure out where they had left the car. O'well they are safe and probably not much smarter.
cheers

I actually just read a book called "Mountain Rescue Doctor" i really great book! I now want that mans job, but he is a rescuer on mount hood and it reminded me of it! A truly great read!

"... At times, they couldn't even see their own feet and were afraid any misstep would send them tumbling over a cliff."

So just keep going and be nominated for a Darwin Award, dummies!

"...experienced climbers in their 20s..."

Not very, IMO.

The geo-cache business here puzzles me. And makes me wonder...

Sue

I was reminded of this incident just now when the news told of another hiker rescued in the San Gorgonios. He had a GPS (and evidently a cell phone) because he could give his coordinates to rescuers, but could not find his way out by himself (!!). They evidently came to him and showed him the way home.

This is just another example of the need for skills over mere possession of gadgets and gizmos.

I was reminded of this incident just now when the news told of another hiker rescued in the San Gorgonios. He had a GPS (and evidently a cell phone) because he could give his coordinates to rescuers, but could not find his way out by himself (!!). They evidently came to him and showed him the way home.

This is just another example of the need for skills over mere possession of gadgets and gizmos.

Absolutely.

And you should probably know how to do things the old fashioned way before trying to them alone.

I like gadgets along, but they should not be the only thing you have to rely on, because as we all know, they can fail.

Yep, even more to the point, and more to the reason why these bozos ought to foot their rescue bill. Having a GPS, or a Compass, or a map, is still a waste of time if you are just plain stupid. These people are some of the ones Bill Engvall says ought to be walking around with a sign on their foreheads.

I don't think stupid was one of the criteria for which SAR was intended to compensate for. There are always certain risks inherent in such undertakings, but being unprepared for known or expectable conditions is not legitimate.

"These people are some of the ones Bill Engvall says ought to be walking around with a sign on their foreheads."

A tattoo would be better. Those cardboard signs fall off.

Sue

I'll hold em down, you get the ink...

Rough crowd.

I gotta say, this post, along with your picture is worth 1000 laughs, thanks!

PS - I agree.

I don't know if you saw how they were dressed, but they did not appear to be climbers at all. More likely, they were geocachers -- people who go out looking for geocaches. Climbers are normally there to climb. Typically, they couldn't care less about a geocache. Climbers would have very different gear with them as well.

I wouldn't put much stock in something written by a journalist. If you think those two geocachers don't know much about the wilderness, try talking to a journalist.

I did wonder how they managed to stumble over a geocache, when they couldn't otherwise tell SAR where they were.

Sue

More likely, some survivalists, going in the wild with as little as possible just to prove they can get by. Or newbie hikers who just don't know better...

Lets not start casting stones. Geocachers would have had GPSr's to find the geocache in the first place. Also, geocachers will generally carry what they need for the environment in which they are caching. As a whole, geocachers are less likely to be Darwin award winners.

Just sayin'

"As a whole, geocachers are less likely to be Darwin award winners."

Geocachers run the gamut for intelligence, just like all other hobbies and sports. There are 'geocachers' who try to find a cache in a wilderness area while driving a low-clearance vehicle like a Corvette. Owning a GPS and registering with geocaching.com is all you have to do. Brains and sense help, but are not required.

Sue

This is a picture of the actual location and cache. You might wonder how difficult the area is if a little kid can get around in that area in the summer.
http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/7a2c3985-23fd-4e5c-956d-6763d1817518.jpg

And this is the link to the cache log entry. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=41950751-4de3-483b-ba11-1362d97dccd6

What I find extremely funny (ironic?) is that the cache was placed by SAR in the first place!!!

Could SAR be prospecting for more business then???

I've placed a few caches for a friend in places where hunting elk meant bringing a knife and fork. Far as I know, the booty's never been touched. One thing's for sure, I won't bother going back to them ever again. One of them has a pretty darn good knife in it, or did if someone had the backbone to actually go find it.

46° 41' 06"N, 121° 11' 10"W

There's the coordinates, roughly. That was 5 years ago.

Beauty - I drove right past that area 2 years ago on vacation. But at the time I didn't know much about geocaching or have a gpsr.

I didn't see a listing for it on GC so it may have been archived. Two nearby caches by Waterboss seem to have plenty of activity.

What struck me about the region was that it went from mountain rain-forest to semi-arid in the space of an hour or two drive (Rainier to Yakima).

I love the last line in the goechache link, left by the SAR team. "PLEASE DRESS FOR THE WEATHER, TELL SOMEONE WHERE YOU ARE GOING AND PLEASE DO NOT GET LOST OR WE WILL HAVE TO COME FIND YOU"

"PLEASE DRESS FOR THE WEATHER, TELL SOMEONE WHERE YOU ARE GOING AND PLEASE DO NOT GET LOST OR WE WILL HAVE TO COME FIND YOU"

Too late!

Sue