How long do footprints last?

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oldranger
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Re: How long do footprints last?

Post by oldranger »

Maverick,

My guess is the only chance would be in the dirt not in the snow.

Mike
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Who can't do everything he used to and what he can do takes a hell of a lot longer!
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AlmostThere
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Re: How long do footprints last?

Post by AlmostThere »

I wouldn't count on prints still being there after snowmelt. Footprints wouldn't maintain cohesion under the water flow of melt. At this point it would make more sense to search for gear remnants or other evidence. I would ask those who knew Larry's gear what he carried, and pass out lists to everyone going out, so if they come across anything they'll know whether it's just lost stuff that fell off someone's pack.
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maverick
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Re: How long do footprints last?

Post by maverick »

AlmostThere wrote:
At this point it would make more sense to search for gear remnants or other evidence.
I would ask those who knew Larry's gear what he carried, and pass out lists to everyone
going out, so if they come across anything they'll know whether it's just lost stuff that
fell off someone's pack.
Yes, this list of gear has already been made (pictures included). Thanks AT
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I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

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Rockchucker
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Re: How long do footprints last?

Post by Rockchucker »

No way Larry's footprints are still visible. I day hike the Sierra's weekly, my prints last at most 4 weeks. And I know exactly where to look.
I'm no suture for my future.
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Baffman
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Re: How long do footprints last?

Post by Baffman »

Not eerie, but pretty damned cool to see Sierramel involved in this topic as well!
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gdurkee
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Re: How long do footprints last?

Post by gdurkee »

Mav: Hmmm. Interesting point. Under certain conditions, yes, you can see tracks as they melt from covering snow. The original track compresses the snow into ice; when it's later covered by more snow and then the top layers melt, those tracks are harder and show as raised above the surface.

Of course, in the case of Larry's search, there were so many tracks made by searchers that might not be useful, in addition to the very narrow conditions under which that can happen.

The other point of tracks in snow is they show up very well from the air. I was once able to follow two skiers from a helicopter even after a two day storm had covered their tracks. When they crossed a lake, the smooth conditions showed the underlying ski tracks pretty clearly as differences in shadow/density as the fresh snow settled.

Also, I've seen tracks made in mud -- especially by horses as Mike says -- show very clear and fresh the following spring. They get frozen and are preserved pretty well in the fall. And, of course, there's the famous 3.5 million year old footprints discovered by Mary Leakey and team some years ago:

Image

But, all that said, back to the original question. In normal sand or dirt, a footprint gets pretty fuzzy by about day 3, though still very recognizable.

g.
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maverick
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Re: How long do footprints last?

Post by maverick »

George wrote:
Mav: Hmmm. Interesting point. Under certain conditions, yes, you can see tracks as
they melt from covering snow. The original track compresses the snow into ice; when
it's later covered by more snow and then the top layers melt, those tracks are harder
and show as raised above the surface.

Of course, in the case of Larry's search, there were so many tracks made by searchers
that might not be useful, in addition to the very narrow conditions under which that
can happen.
Thanks George, good and useful information. :thumbsup:
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer

I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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sparky
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Re: How long do footprints last?

Post by sparky »

I am pretty confident that something happened before the storm. I feel the air searches would have seen tracks in the snow. Unless he was in the window/pyramind peak area as it wasn't searched.
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