Dehydrated hiker rescued

[Vnthali]

As a retired marine (and a little embarassed about my brothers risking their lives needlessly in an American desert) I will attest that some of us don't know our limitations until we've started peeing red.

[bluerail]

wow...and I'm afraid of it just being yellow.

[Lcpl Hughes]

As a former Infantry Marine, you would of never caught me hiking on my days off when I was in..I did enough of that while I was working..I am sure they are admin Marines..have to be

Never seen red urine, but have seen dark brown a few times

[Hikin_Jim]

Dehydrated hiker? Is that the kind where you just add water, and you've got a fully reconstituted hiker?

Hope he's OK.

HJ

[Andy]

Dehydrated hiker? Is that the kind where you just add water, and you've got a fully reconstituted hiker?

HJ

Brings a new meaning to Ultra Light But of course nothing but the best wishes for any poor soul caught in those conditions.

[DSSAR guy]

Once your body get's to a mild-severe level of dehydration its a slow process to rehydrate, especially when your body automatically wants to throw up any thing you put in it.

It would be nice to work with the marines aviation division in order to help get their property/soldiers off the mountain.

[Hikin_Jim]

Actually, working with the Marines would be a great P-SAR idea.

A lot of Marines are strong -- super strong. When I was in the Army, we almost always lost to the Marines when we'd do an annual run to see who could complete a course in the fastest time. The problem with being strong and knowing it is that, if not seasoned withe experience, one can become overconfident.

They say the demographic group with the most heat casualties in the Grand Canyon is young, fit males.

Perhaps DSSAR or the SB Co Sheriff's SAR Office or whomever could make a short video about desert hiking in general and desert to mountain hiking in particular (without making any route suggestions!). Hopefully a few true-to-life stories about marines in snow chutes or collapsed in a heap on a sun baked mountainside would grab their attention. That story about a marine who was left behind by his unit and died a few years ago (I'm pretty sure it was at 29 Palms) ought to illustrate vividly the very real and present danger of the desert.

HJ

P.S. You might not want to refer to a marine as a "soldier"; you'll tick him off good. Soldiers are those guys over in the army. A marine is a marine and is proud of it.

[Lcpl Hughes]

Since I was in both the Army and the Marine Corps Infantry..I would definitely say that the Marines are generally in better shape..Also agree on the mentality thing, lots of over confidence going on in the Marine Corps, it is just the way they are trained..with a mentality that nothing is too hard and can be overcome..but I am sure skyline humbled them pretty good

As for the story about the Marine that was left behind out in 29 Palms and died..I dont know if that happened again recently, but they were telling that story when I was stationed out there 17 years ago..

[Hikin_Jim]

Since I was in both the Army and the Marine Corps Infantry..I would definitely say that the Marines are generally in better shape..Also agree on the mentality thing, lots of over confidence going on in the Marine Corps, it is just the way they are trained..with a mentality that nothing is too hard and can be overcome..but I am sure skyline humbled them pretty good

Well said. That's what I was getting at. Bravado is a good thing, but it can get you killed when you're confronting Mother Nature. Mother Nature is not a human opponent who can be intimidated with bravado or overcome by determined human will. Know your opponent.

As for the story about the Marine that was left behind out in 29 Palms and died..I dont know if that happened again recently, but they were telling that story when I was stationed out there 17 years ago..

That sounds like the one I'm talking about. Jason Rother was the marine's name. He never lost his weapon. Good marine; bad commander. I was an Army lieutenant at the time. I remember thinking that the coward who counted him as "present" on the roles while he was missing should be subjected to courts-martial and a bad conduct discharge as well as doing time in a military prison.

Jim

[Lcpl Hughes]

Yeah, that was the one that died, sad story when you retrace his steps..it still amazes me how long it took to find him..

in 88', I was in the Army also