4 Hikers Stranded..poor planning

Interesting story..

Hiker Story

Happens every year in the Smoky Mountains seems like. This time of year will jump on you quickly if you are not careful. I woke up under about that much snow there one time sure didn’t expect it that night.

Well perfect example of weather changes was NYC yesterday. I got out of the house to drop my girl at work around 7 am: it was dry and in the high 40s. 2 hrs later it was raining at 40s. Temperatures kept dropping to 20s and rain changed into snow by noon. At 1400 we had low at 18 and 2 inches on the ground. I walked about 100 blocks in that weather becasue I enjoy snow and cold but there were very few people out on the street since all they had was some sweater assuming that morning temps are going to hold up. Not to mention wind that brought down the temps by another 10 degrees.

Matt

I would be real interested to know what gear they had with them. My first thought upon reading this story is that there is more to the story. I had questions..why no fire? They had a three sided shelter...what went wrong? Perhaps we will know more later.

I can understand lost hikers and even ill-equipped lost hikers. What I can't understand is the number of hikers who have to be extricated by helicopter from the side of a mountain. It seems like we are getting 5 or 6 of these stories a year. Somebody sets out for a day hike (not rock climbing.) It gets late and suddenly they are in a spot where they can't go up or down. A cell call goes out and the helicopter makes a retrieve after dark.

These people are not lost or injured, nor is the weather a factor. They are merely "stuck". They have not only forgotten to stay on the trail but also that the sun goes down every night!

Regards, Vince

Stories like this create almost a kneejerk response. I'm prepared, I'm smart, they weren't ( but hopefully will be next time.) Well, Like the muleskinner in DANCES WITH WOLVES "Why don't he write?" snicker, snicker and a few scenes later THWACK. We all get to shake hands with Mr Murphy someday. So I just give a small prayer of thanks when the gently bewildered souls of the world muddle through a wreck. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

You may want to read it...they had set out to hike 71 miles of the AT trail...the article just says they were ill equipped..which to me means no rain gear, but could also mean no tent, no fire, no dry clothes. They were all young. I hope they all get out OK, but it sure is a stark reminder of how lack of planning can have severe consequences.

That's exactly why I have the desire to know more..perhaps they did try something and it didn't work. If so I would want to know what that something was. I guess I just don't understand how someone sets off to hike 71 miles "ill-equipped". If I just go on a three day I'm hauling 40 lbs of pack and gear. Maybe they will do a follow-up story with more information.

Incidently, that's probably my favorite part of DANCES WITH WOLVES...hahahaha "Why don't he write"..hahahaha I can hear him now. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I have hiked a few sections of the Appalachian Trail (AT) in the Smokies over the years.

The "3-sided shelter" is not a tarp or any other kind of portable shelter. It is a small roofed building with 3 solid walls, a corrugated metal or shingled roof, and a chain link fence "front" to keep the larger critters out. Many sections of the AT have these shelters sprinkled along them such that many of the AT hikers don't carry tents or tarps at all. It is a very common practice. That's not to say that this group of 4 didn't screw up.

The AT shelters merely keep the rain off of you, as long as you don't stay under a leaky part of the roof. The wind sails right through them. They often have a stone "hearth" where you can build a fire.

We hikes part of the Kettle Moraine North Unit in Wisconsin several years back and they have similar structures except the forth wall is partially built, about a 1/4 wall on each side with a large opening in the center. The first night was pleasent and the adults slept under the stars. The next night a huge thunderstorm moved in and we all slept in the shelter. But we brought a few plastic tarps and rigged them up as drapes in front of the opening to keep us dry from wind blown rain. It was early spring so the temp dropped too, but not freezing. After watching a fantastic lightning display from under the eaves, we all turned in for comfortable, safe evening.

"...use propane or alcohol fueled sources of heat and fire for their cooking on the trail."

So.... how are they igniting these sources of heat?

Sue

Did he run out of propane ?? <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Some years ago, I picked up a very funny book called "The First 50" by Muriel Gray, the spiky-haired BBC producer of a 1990's series called "The Munro Show".

http://www.hillwalking.org.uk/pages/themunroshow.html

For those who don't know what a "Munro" is, they are the "mountains" in Scotland in excess of 3,000 feet high:

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~fiski/themunro.html

"The Munros are those separate Scottish mountains over 3000 feet (914 metres) high. The first list of these was compiled and published by Sir Hugh Munro in 1891. In the previous (1984) list there were 277 mountains recorded - this changed to 284 in August 1997. A popular "hobby" is that of Munro-bagging - undertaking to climb all of the Munros.

All except one of these can be ascended without any mountaineering skills or equipment. The exception is Sgurr Dearg on Skye with its Inaccessible Pinnacle. The 'InPin' is a blade of rock about 20 metres high and 100 metres long embedded in the steepest side of Sgurr Dearg. The traditional route is to scramble up its east ridge - using ropes due to vertical drops on both sides and a lack of good hand-holds - and then to abseil down the short west side."

Shaw poked good-natured fun at everybody, from English tourists to hang-gliders, but also at herself. She described how she had once interviewed a representative from the mountain search and rescue association, and commiserated with him about the apalling number of tourists who went hill-climbing in Scotland without taking even basic precautions, ending with the usual call for people to be more careful and aware of their surroundings when climbing.

A few weeks later, she and another friend stopped at a roadside car park, and what started as a short stroll to stretch their legs culminated a few hours later with her standing on top of a 2900-foot peak wearing a leopard-print top, a mini-skirt, and ballet slippers. Suddenly realizing she had pushed the limits of sanity, she turned to head back down - and found herself standing almost face-to-face with the same mountain rescue specialist she had interviewed scant weeks before, out for a day-hike of his own. He, of course, was equipped for an Antarctic expedition (as she tells it) and could only shake his head in frustration as she, blushing furiously, tried to pretend she hadn't recogized him. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

It's funny, but the closest I ever came to being "Bit" in the woods was a similar situation - out for a day hike, with friends, in late may in the Catskills of NY - I was ready for rain/drizzle, but I was NOT ready for SNOW on the week before Memorial day in that part of NY

Started to show symptoms of hypothermia - I realized it, as did my companions - one loaned me his spare jacket, while we fired up the stove and cooked up some soup - while eating, the sun came out, and temps rose about 10 degs. I WAS ready to deal with 40 degs - it was that darned SNOW in late May

We finished the hike, simply because we were about 20 minutes from our turn around point anyway, and KNEW that even if it started to snow, I had enough gear WITH the stove and food to be fine - but it did teach me a lesson about how fast things can go bad

I heard they didn't have very good gear, but it seems they would have fire. I'm in Georgia and there's LOTS of rain in the last few months.

I've been in Derrick Knob several times, where those four guys were. about 11-12 miles from a car parking..., about 5-6 miles south of Silers shelter.

Derrick has water, and both Derrick and Silers shelters were rock walls with fireplaces, but there's almost no dead wood. And even if you found some wood, the "fireplace" aren't made well.

Wind goes right through the shelter, too.

I dunno about stoves, though. They were less than half way through Smokey Mountains..., they should have had "butane" for their stoves.

untill you have lit the stove and use that cooking flame to ignite it...

Oh. It sounds like technology is surpassing the operators.

Sue