Hiker dies in Sierra, probably from exposure

http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081005/NEWS18/81005001&OAS_sitepage=news.rgj.com%2Fbreakingnews

Will post more when I here from our SAR group.

Hiker Dies After Rescue

Wet, Cold, Elevation, limited Calories, and apparently no fire. In those conditions people will get hypothermia and some will die. Its very unfortunate, but it happens in the wilderness. The good news is the others survived.

Under those conditions getting a fire going might well be somewhere between extremely difficult and impossible.

Also: note the age group. Only one of them was under 50. OAP's playing spring chicken.

Like it or not: the older you are, the less you are able to withstand. And yes, ladies and gentlemen, there are exceptions to that.

A simple shelter tarp like a lightweight poncho and a few feet of line, for an improvised shelter, would probably have saved them.

Waterproofs, extra clothing and chemical heater packs like the commonly sold handwarmers are lifesavers.

The shame is what one brings into a Wilderness Survival situation is rarely reported on. I notice than when a surviver is properly interviewed or is reporting it themselves they can tell you every piece of gear they had, found, lost, or received along the way. It would make a big difference to wilderness survival education if more successful survival situations were reported along with the gear they had taken into the woods.

Please enlighten me on the meaning of the acronym OAP.

In Britain, OAP means 'Old Age Pensioner'.

And it certainly would be great if reporters DID report what they had with them. It might make a few people think for a couple of seconds and grab something that they would ordinarily leave behind. But that doesn't make news, does it?

Something to keep you out of the cold wind could make the difference between life and death.

"Death knows no time, nor respects rank... Death walks in darkness and carries away young and old, high and low, good and evil wayfarers that it meets on the way." (Ahura Mazda)

He doesn't mention the careless and stupid, but I guess poets don't.

Sue

Thanks, Susan.

We were up not last weekend but the weekend prior and it was Shorts and T-Shirts during the day and mid/low 30s at night.

Last weekend it was snowing and raining showers on and off... the weather up there can change in an instant. On the peaks 0mph to 40mpg gusts that blow you down in an INSTANT! You can see storms rolling in hitting and leaving in a matter of 1hr or less.

People need to know what they are in for in high altitude and during the storm/start/winter season.

For years we go snow camping, 4x4, etc, and it's AMAZING how many people go with their family not prepared... amazed more don't die frankly.

Truly.

I went out for a backpack this past Sat/Sun. At the trailhead, there was a day hiker there with shorts (cotton) and a sweatshirt (cotton) on. She had no backpack. She only had a very small fanny pack with a water bottle on one side and a stuff sack (looked like it might have held a windbreaker) on the other. The forecast was for 40% chance of snow. It didn't snow that day, but I awoke to frost on the ground the next morning. That's a bit chilly for shorts and no supplies.

I see this all the time when I'm out, so I shouldn't react to it anymore, but it's just so astounding to me. Have they never heard that unprepared people die in the wilderness? I just can't fathom it.

O.A.P. = Old Age pensioner.

S.K.I. = Spending Kid's Inheritance.

C.D. = Coffin Dodger.

G.O.D. = Grumpy Old Dad.

G.O.W. = Grumpy Old Woman. (His wife).

When the woman was found, she was comatose, responding only to a
sternal rub. It was sleeting with wind gusts nearby recorded at
100 MPH. She was wearing a Goretex coat, pile jacket, t shirt
and nylon wind pants. Had a large pack full of backpacking gear
nearby.

"Had a large pack full of backpacking gear nearby."

Then I guess it was NO-No #2: Stop and hole up while you're still in good shape. Waiting until you're wet and hypothermic is not good.

If they had gear, I guess none of them were thinking much... ... unless ... There were three women and one man. I've been in enough similar situations to suspect that the women may have wanted to stop, and the guy kept saying, "Oh, it's just a little further -- we can make it!" and the women went along, against their better judgment, rather than insisting.

I'm glad none of the guys HERE would do anything like that.

Sue

Ouch. That's really sad. Sounds like they were at least somewhat prepared. Susan, you're 100% right -- hole up while you're still in good enough shape that you can.

I wish we knew more details. Perhaps they were in a steep area that would have been very difficult to set up a shelter in? Perhaps they were pushing to get into a more sheltered place? In any event, it's a really unfortunate occurance.

What is it that they say in mountaineering training? "The mountain is neither good nor evil. The mountain simply does not care." Something like that.

"the snow doesn't give a soft white damn who it touches..."
ee cummings

He didn't mention the stupid or the careless either, being a poet and all...

John E

Are group shelters or Bothy bags commonly used in North America?



These group shelters are invaluable in the type of weather this unfortunate group had to deal with.

Combine a 4 person Bothy bag (500gms) with lightweight Thermarest lite seats (each at 100gms can be compressed enough to fit a pocket) and this may have saved this womans life. They can even be used to change into dry clothes stored in a dry sack or even get a hot drink going with a lightweight gas stove and pot.

http://www.thermarest.com/product_detail.aspx?pID=45&cID=4



A few pounds weight shared 4 ways amounts to virtually nothing!

Hilleberg,the tent people make a very nice group shelter.Silnylon seconds from Thru-hiker could be made into one with just some simple sewing--all long seams--and holes with hoods...it sounds like there was a "people problem" and not a gear problem..i have been out on canoe trips with friends who did not want to admit they were cold or tired and i ended up pulling in and make them get more or dryer clothes on..my wife had a bad habit of packing for local weather and then being cold in the camp--i never did get my poly-fluff pull over back--

The deceased hiker separated from the group the prior evening
during bad weather. Apparently she told the others she was going
to set up camp as she didn't want to keep up with the others. The other three hiked over the next peak and
spent the night huddled in a tent. They called 911 to let
authorities know of their predicament but said not to send help
yet as they had spoken on cell phones to the single hiker and she
had told them she was okay. The next morning they called back
saying she wasn't answering her phone and so the search was
initiated.

That doesn't sound good, particularly in bad weather. Seems like I hear "got separated" or "was separated" a lot when problems occur.

I may not know the whole situation, but it seems almost negligent for the party to have left one person alone while the rest of the party went on, particularly in bad weather. I wonder what the "back story" is there. Given that she had said that she was going to set up camp, I wonder if she freaked out during the storm and tried to join the others.

Of course recriminations are of little help once a tragedy has occured, but perhaps she didn't die in vain if we all take the lesson to heart.

Thanks for the group shelter photos and ideas. I don't believe I've seen something like that before.

Core temperature at the hospital was 73 degrees F.

Rescue was performed by 5 SAR members who carried her
by hand, without litter, over a mountain 1/2 mile
through 6" mud to get her to a site where a 4 wheel atv
was waiting with a stokes litter. This after they jogged
5 miles to the search site. One member said it was the
hardest thing he had ever done in his life!

Helicopters tried twice but were rebuffed by clouds and
high wind.

Regardless of who left who, her hiking companions failed her; they should have stayed together.

Wow. What an incredible rescue. Talk about unsung heroes.

"...her hiking companions failed her; they should have stayed together."

EXACTLY! "Divide and conquer" not only applies to war and business, but to survival situations. If she was coherent when they separated, they could have all huddled together and kept each other warm. Or warmer. At least alive.

More gear than sense?

Sue

I totally think the rest of her group screwed up, but dang I almost feel sorry for them now. Talk about "survivor's guilt." H*ll of a way to learn the lesson "stay together."

HJ

The other three backpackers were suffering from mild hypothermia.
The Male was dressed in blue jeans and other cotton, the two
female survivors in synthetics.

The deceased woman's pack had a wet tent just stuffed in the
top as if some attempt had been made to set it up, but was
repacked hastily.

All hikers were reported new to the area and activity, had been
on the trail several days and knew bad weather was expected.
They did not know each other before the trip and apparently
some were irritated at the others for not having the right gear.

That is interesting. Never going to get an honest answer out of the other three as to what happened, but to have been a fly on the wall in the hour or so leading up to the separation might have told us a lot.

Uhm... yeah... no, none of us were ever young and stupid... no....

At least when I was that dumb, I was out by myself so it was only my neck on the line.

This is really sad. It sounds like this lady was already hypothermic and unable to even put up a tent due to loss of muscle coordination. It can sometimes be difficult to even pitch a tent in gusting winds and driving rain, but with hypothermia it would have been very difficult and almost impossible without assistance.

A follow up article regarding one of the other hikers on the trip: http://hanfordsentinel.com/articles/2008/10/07/news/doc48eba7afc792e843358650.txt

Is it just me or does she seem oddly lacking in remorse? Maybe it's just the reporter's style.

One thing is the 3 hikers had only the lone hikers word
over the cell phone that she was alright the night before
when he weather was already bad. The three had called 911 and then they canceled the 911
call they had made after talking to her.

If Ms. Hall was already hypothermic,
the other 3 had no way to judge.

Also Ms. Hall was not in her campsite but face down on the
trail when located roughly 1/2 away and over a peak
"tinkers knob" from the other three.

There was only 1 atv to evacuate them all, so they took turns
riding out on the back to the ambulance. There was attempts
made by 4wheel drive trucks to get to the crossing of the
Pacific Crest Trail with the jeep trail, but the mud
allowed only the little 4 wheeler to get all the way.

The rescued often come to our monthly SAR
meetings to say thanks and to flesh out their stories.
I hope this is the case with this one.


I am of the opinion that part of the reason the 911 call
was canceled was that the party was worried they would be
billed for the rescue. The previous search nearby this
summer, but
in fair weather, had the missing person trying to hand out
$20 bills to all the searchers as he said he was worried he was to be billed.

I do not like all the talk of billing victims for this
reason. It makes people wait longer to call and increases
the likelyhood of a true emergency. The volunteers that
go on these searches just love to do it. Often the only
government expense on a small search is the coordinating deputy's salary.
salary

"Uhm... yeah... no, none of us were ever young and stupid... no...."

But they weren't young. If this had been a group of teenagers, it would have been far more understandable. The youngest of these hikers was 49. Callous though it might seem, I think that if you've worked your way through half a century without having or developing some kind of sense, you're probably not going to die of old age, unless you've always got someone else doing your thinking for you.

It was an unfortunate incident, but not uncommon.

From Jim: "Talk about "survivor's guilt." H*ll of a way to learn the lesson..."

Many people have to learn the hard way. That's why there are so many non-profits set up to teach people not to leave a baby alone in a bathtub, not to drive drunk, not to let toddlers wander the neighborhood on their own, etc. Many of these people simply couldn't figure it out BEFORE it happened to them.

Think of it as a Stupidity Tax. Sometimes it takes everything you've got, like your life.

Sue

I wonder how much hiking they had done and in what areas and in what conditions.

The follow up article that I posted a link to mentioned that one of the survivors had done a lot of hiking in the San Gabriel Mnt's. The San Gabriels are a smaller range in S. Calif and max at ~10000'. The Sierra are a good deal further north, larger, and max at ~14500'. One can get pretty spoiled hiking at lower elevations in S. Calif. where the wx is milder and FAR more predictable than in the Sierra, particularly if one is accustomed to hiking in the mild S. Calif. fall.

Yes, they were older, but did their years include much of what they were doing? One of them was wearing cotton on a fall hike in the Sierra which makes me wonder if they really had much in the way of experience.

Speaking of age not necessarily equaling wisdom in the wild, in the summer of '07, a friend and I were hiking in the Rockies at about 11,500'. We encountered a 50 something woman of average height who was really having trouble. As it turns out, this, a pretty tough high country route, was her first backpack. She was an REI employee in Texas. She had used her employee discount and had basically all but bought out the store, leaving her, a person not in any particularly great shape, with a pack far heavier than she could actually carry. My friend and I are both experienced backpackers in decent shape, we're both younger, and both about 6' tall. We thought her pack was pretty darned heavy, even for us. How she carried that thing up over the continental divide for multiple hours at 12,000+ elevation, I have no idea. My friend and I divided her load between us and escorted her and her daughter to their camp. The woman was stumbling so bad that she fell twice, hurting her ankle and lacerating her face. We had to do first aid, carry her gear, and get them out of there. A thunderstorm was approaching. Just as we got them to treeline, all heck broke loose with hail the size of grapes, and a lot of lightning. In counting the seconds between flash and bang, I got only to the "wuh" sound in "one" when the thunderclap hit. We were right in the center of the storm. If we hadn't taken her load and gotten her and her daughter out of there, they would have been at 11,000+ feet, above treeline, exposed to the lightning strikes. Like I say, age doesn't necessarily imply wisdom in the wild.