Spring 2017 Backpacking Cautionary Thread

[oldranger]

56 is not old! Being many years past that I've long decided that if I could pick an age to be it would be about that age. Yeah there was a little pain, even then, but I had learned a lot about life that helped me to cope with all kinds of difficulties, and I am still learning but getting a little slower, no a hell of a lot slower!

[mrphil]

No offense intended, Ranger. I'll take some and leave some. A few more aches and pains, teenage children are more work than I ever imagined, I'm still a little weirded out by being called "Sir" and getting a few senior discounts here and there, young women now smile at me because I'm not threatening but, all in all, it's good times. And I can now say "I've forgotten more than you'll ever know" and kids may roll their eyes, but they aren't sure whether to believe me or not.

[JWreno]

There is always next year. I am grateful for the snow and the water it brings. I am not planning on any backpacking until mid September and at lower Emigrant Wilderness. I have 3 astronomy camping trips planned instead until then.

Be flexible and safe!

[SSSdave]

The below off Hobbes link on this thread is a good reflection of how stubborn some of these thru hikers are to complete their challenge. Nice young fit couple but the challenge is over their head in ways they did not understand. Note they had wisely avoided the Bear Creek crossing by hiking the road between Florence Lake and TE Edison Lake reservoirs.:

http://www.highsierratopix.com/communit ... 34&t=16066

https://jennhikes.wordpress.com/2017/06 ... ey-resort/

South Fork of the San Joaquin River
But then we started dropping down and coming across lots of little ponds and streams that were infested with mosquitoes. I have seriously never seen mosquitoes so bad. We sprayed ourselves and swatted them away and killed them, but we still kept getting attacked. I think eventually we just gave up and realized we were going to be covered in bumps.

Other images show them wearing only shorts and t-shirts. Next day towards Goodale Pass along Graveyard Meadows.
The first four miles of the trail were clear of snow, but extremely steep. So steep that the entire trail had running water flowing down it and also our favorite thing, mosquitoes! We practically ran through that section just to get away from the little buggers. We crossed more rivers and streams.
And came upon a pretty meadow… pretty besides the mosquitos!



On trail down to Glen Aulin, I have seen this west end of the bridge in such overflow a couple times. That is why I hike in cross country from Pothole Dome.
We kept on hiking until we got to our first of two bridge crossings of the Tuolumne River. Of course the ramp onto it was flooded again so we waded through the water and crossed the bridge. The water was almost flowing over the entire bridge and was coming out strong below it. And of course when we got to the opposite end, the ramp was once again under water. Except this time the water was moving fast. I know in the picture it doesn’t look like much, but when that water hit the edge of the road, it shot up and over it and created a hard pull.
Colton went first and got halfway across when I started. By the time I got to the middle I could barely move my feet without fear of losing balance and I had nowhere to brace my poles to help steady myself. Colton turned to look at me and yelled “watch out, it’s fast there,” and started to turn back around to finish the ford to which I screamed “wait!” He forded back over to me and grabbed my arm to give me enough balance to cross.
When we got to the other side we were both completely out of breath and so sketched out that we just crossed that. If I could have slipped, I would have been ripped downstream instantly and thrown into a crazy current and went right over Tuolumne Falls.

But did they turn around? Nope instead went over the next flooded bridge at Glen Aulin. In her image below the end of the bridge is mostly hidden behind the tree at frame right. Only after she barely survived this and heard reports of even worse crossings beyond did they finally turn around.



We crossed over the bridge and I almost screamed when I got to the other side and saw an even worse scene. The water was speeding down our exit and was crashing waves up onto the rock we were supposed to get off on. The water was much deeper and there was nothing to hang onto. But there was no turning back.
Colton went first and had to clamor up the rocks after getting soaked. He threw his pack down and came back to help me. I was instantly up to my chest in the current and didn’t have nearly enough strength our weight to push against it. Colton grabbed my arm and helped drag me to the rocks. I tried pulling myself up them, but my body was frozen from the icy water. I slipped and hit my head hard on a rock. I screamed and forced my body up the rocks scraping my legs up as I went.

David

[rlown]

Nice pics, David.. The people who run into this stuff and attempt it are not fixable.

[AlmostThere]

Just say no to death.
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/localnews/ ... tch-hetchy

[rlown]

Maybe a little death. Helps with the culling and cuts down on the histrionic reports. Not wishing it on anyone, but c'mon.. That is death staring you in the face. When staying overnight in the delta I would look in the bilge and check the anchor every hour to see if we were fine, as I was the captain.

[Hobbes]

With respect to the couple mentioned above, they turned around and returned to Tuolumne meadows. From there, they road walked highway 120 (closed to public) to the Tioga entrance gate, then caught a hitch to Lee Vining. Rather than quit, take a break or jump all the way up to NorCal, they immediately got a ride around Bridgeport to Sonora pass and resumed their hike north the very next day. She (Jen) posted some recent updates from Tahoe:

https://jennhikes.wordpress.com/author/jennwallball/

For those who have been in testing alpine conditions and/or have done this kind of hiking - Brian immediately comes to mind - you know firsthand how stressful & taxing it is both physically and mentally. IMO, encouraging and/or allowing certain attitudes that dismiss or diminish these kinds of super human efforts (I mean, come on, road walk 8 miles along the 120, and then just keep going likes it's no big thing?) from self constructed pedestals is ultimately very destructive.

It's not my website (ie I don't have a dog in the hunt), so if HST is meant to merely be an echo chamber for those kinds of opinions, so be it. However, if there's any intention or desire to create/maintain a learning resource, and foster an environment of generational involvement, then I can guarantee you 100% that these kinds of remarks & attitudes will kill the site.

Eric is going to have to make an editorial decision on which direction he wants HST to take. One path embraces inclusion, offers assistance to people seeking guidance, and provides ready "attaboys" to those who deserve the recognition. The other leads to hallowed out readership like PCT-L which has become a much disdained and widely derided site filled with yesterday's men (and women).

[AlmostThere]

There's a balance to be had.

It's hard to maintain, but doing stupid reckless things is not to be encouraged -- it's not hard to see how easily people are influenced, what with lawsuits about people being held accountable for texting someone telling them to commit suicide.

There are too too too many people who don't belong out there who are being cheered on by clueless people on social media -- you don't have to look far to see that. It's not really our job to identify them or do anything about them. Giving people who ask for it solid advice does depend on asking questions, which we do.

I'll amend the statement -- just say no to pointless, careless, stupid, immediate death. Reserve it for when you're really having an adventure, not when you're crossing a bridge three miles from the trailhead.

[ERIC]

Hobbes, PM sent.