[pct-l] trail fatalities

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Mar 13, 2009, at 7:33 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> the 5 most dangerous aspects of thru hiking are.

1. repetitive stress injury
2. vitamin deficiency/malnutrition
3. infection
4. gastro-intestinal infection
5. loss of earning power during the hike, and then afterwards when  
you can no longer function in "normal" life

Things on the trail most likely to do harm to you:
1. plants (yucca, poison oak, poodle dog bush, cactus, things with  
stickers)
2. bugs (mosquitos, flies, ants)
3. the environment (sun burn, wind, rain, snow, ice, hypothermia,  
hyperthermia, hyponatremia)
4. animals: bears (steal your food, ruin your gear if your food is in  
it), snakes (bite you if you are drunk and stupid like most people  
with snake bites tend to be), rodents (eat your food, hanta virus if  
you seek shelter in some old building--not likely)
5. people: your own mind will do you in, people in towns are more  
dangerous by far than people on the trail, peer pressure might make  
you drink too much alcohol or spend too much money