[pct-l] [Cdt-l] Fwd: hiking alone?

[Tortoise]

There are risks to hiking alone even close to home. A couple weeks ago I 
was hiking in the local sand dunes and got off in my directions. Obviously 
I did find my way back. However it was cold and raining and I was thinking 
I could stay lost out there over night and perhaps get hypothermia and die. 
I did however have my cell phone and had reception so I wasn't without a 
means to summon aid.

Still I'll go hiking alone.  Why?  Because if I wait until I have others to 
go hiking with, I'll almost never go hiking. I hope to live to a far more 
advanced age. But I want to live my life, not just avoid death. Maybe I'll 
get a spot or something similar???

So I'll take my chances.  I do lots of other "risky" activities too like 
driving 360 miles or so to visit friends in SF. Lots of risks doing that too.

Tortoise

<> Because truth matters! <>

On 12/02/10 00:05, ned at mountaineducation.org wrote:
> Hiking alone along the PCT in 1974 was a pivotal time in my life and I
> do not regret it. I am a different person now than I was then because of
> it.
>
> However, after many SAR call-outs here in Lake Tahoe, many of which were
> hikers and skiers in distress, we, as Wilderness Skills Trainers, do not
> advocate it at all. Yes, Colin Fletcher did it a lot and everything
> worked out for him, but that doesn't mean that it will for you in the
> circumstances that will challenge you.
>
> Let's take the last two SAR calls, one for an "experienced snowshoer"
> and the other for a backcountry skier caught in an avalanche last
> weekend. The first became lost and hypothermic and called for help. By
> the time we got into his area in a snowstorm, we could not find him,
> just his pack, misc. clothing items, and one snowshoe with boot. A week
> later we have not been able to find him, even with dogs. He was in his
> early 50s, alone, his cell phone worked, he was only 4 miles from a
> major road, and now his family mourns.
>
> The skier was caught in an avalanche, but he was not alone. Per
> backcountry safety standards, he was the only one in the fall-line, so
> his partners were able to search for him after the snow stopped sliding.
> They found him with Avalanche Beacons, probes, and shovels and were able
> to breathe life back into him after clearing his airway of snow (very
> common). He had been pretty beat up be trees, rocks, and debris in the
> slide, so he had to be flown out by CHP helicopter. If he were alone, he
> would not be alive today.