They asked for a map of a scenic route and someone actually handed over a map showing Bear Camp Road to be a viable choice? Mountains + Scenic Route + Winter = Bad Idea. Do not hand out these maps! Refuse politely! And who prints these maps and makes them available to innocent tourists?
Sorry, but who gets to decide if it's a "Bad Idea"? I Iike to make my own decision on where to go and not have them limited for me. I would hope if I asked for a scenic route, people don't give me directions to the main highway because its "safer". Somtimes people aren't prepared and make unfortunate mistakes, that doesn't mean the rest of us should be punished by limiting our travel.
I don't think the Forest Service should have any responsibility in this case, period. Doesn't matter if they locked the gate or not, if the maps showed this route, or if the lock was cut, or if someone else got lost and died there last week. It's sad to think they have to protect themselves against lawsuits because of peoples own actions.
It is unfortnate that things like this happen, but that's just how life is, sometimes people die. It doesn't mean the government should feel the need to restrict access to these places from the public. At most, maybe put up a couple of well marked signs, but that's about as far as it should go.
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