[pct-l] why close the burn areas?

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

Still these people all died from the general conditions of the trail  
itself, not from falling pine trees. If most of us can handle the log  
over the Suiattle or the trail by Deep Creek, shouldn't we also be  
given the benefit of the doubt to be able to walk through some burned  
pine trees?
Diane

On Apr 12, 2010, at 1:22 PM, Junaid Dawud wrote:

> Quite true L-Rod
>
> I remember in 2006, No Way Ray died after a fall. There were also  
> reports of an older gentleman that died in (I think) section A or  
> B. I myself had a few experiences that were pretty scary and could  
> have potentially ended badly. Hiking the PCT can certainly be  
> dangerous.  Preparedness and experience can help mitigate the risk,  
> but even the most savvy and experienced hiker can fall to bad  
> 'luck' or timing.
>
> Safety first.
>
> Junaid
>
> On Apr 12, 2010, at 1:01 PM, "dsaufley" <dsaufley at sprynet.com> wrote:
>
>> Technically, Jane & Flicka did not die on the trail, they were  
>> sobo thrus
>> who died on Highway 138 while headed in for a resupply, hit by a  
>> driver that
>> drifted off the road. I know of several deaths on trail:  in 1999,  
>> Dr. John
>> Lowder, fell off New Army Pass, headed off the PCT into Lone  
>> Pine.  His legs
>> were broken in the fall, but it was the shock that killed him. Had  
>> he not
>> been hiking alone, or if he'd been on a more highly used pass,  
>> there may
>> have been hope for him.  In 2005 there was John Donovan, who got  
>> lost in the
>> San Jacintos and died from hypothermia.
>>
>> It gets difficult to distinguish when we hear of a "PCT" hiker in  
>> trouble in
>> the press. The vast majority of the time, that does NOT mean thru  
>> hikers.
>> Instead, they may be day, weekenders, or section hikers, or merely  
>> using the
>> PCT to get from one place to another.
>>
>> In 2006 an apparent section hiker (not a nobo thru) died of  
>> dehydration and
>> heat exhaustion in the desert region south of Kennedy Meadows. His  
>> body was
>> found with two empty litre bottles; it was mid-July.  A few years  
>> ago, there
>> was also another non-thru, a young lady out for a backpack, who  
>> was swept
>> away in one of the PNW fords. There was some reason to believe  
>> that the fact
>> she had not unbuckled her pack while fording was contributory to her
>> drowning.
>>
>> These are all sad facts to remember.
>>
>> L-Rod
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l- 
>> bounces at backcountry.net]
>> On Behalf Of Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com
>> Sent: Sunday, April 11, 2010 9:17 PM
>> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
>> Subject: Re: [pct-l] why close the burn areas?
>>
>>
>> On Apr 11, 2010, at 9:05 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>>
>>> I can name off the top of my head two people who have died on the
>>> trail, not from natural causes.
>>
>> Did they die from falling chamise, manzanita, pine or oak trees as
>> they walked through a burn zone?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Books I've written:
>> ~ Piper's Flight
>> ~ Adventure and Magic
>> ~ Santa Barbara Hikes
>> http://stores.lulu.com/dianesoini
>>
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Books I've written:
~ Piper's Flight
~ Adventure and Magic
~ Santa Barbara Hikes
http://stores.lulu.com/dianesoini