Hikers rescued below mountain station of aerial tramway

[greatshaitan]

Are you sure?

Yup, I was one of those rescue personnel. The person on the facebook page link was not the same person we pulled off skyline. Don't want some innocent getting blamed for the acts of others

Eric-RMRU

[cynthia23]

Ok, thanks for setting me straight. My bad . My apologies to the entirely innocent facebook Matt Jenkins, a harmless accountant who never caused any rescue personnel to risk their life, nor left scraps of raw meat to madden Florian. I'll see if I can edit my original post.

And a MAJOR thanks, GreatShaitan, for being one of those rescue crews. I'm sure everyone on this board takes their hat off to you for your altruism and grit. We all owe you folks a lot more than I can say in one post.

Now, let's resume mocking the real Matthew Jenkins, wherever he is.

[Ellen]

Howdy Oh Great Shaitan

Thank you so much for being a RMRU member

I'm so sorry you were called out to help Mr. Hiking While Clueless

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[halhiker]

I'm pretty surprised by the harshness of the comments about this rescue. Sure, the dude may not be an expert like some of us on the board but he's trying.

I can imagine that there are plenty people out there who, like myself, started hiking with no idea what the hell we were doing. I just got some stuff and went. As time went on, I learned more about what to take and what not to and what works for me. I learned the trails, the seasons, how to read a map and the land and became as comfortable in the wilderness as I am at home.

I've made my fair share of mistakes and had my own growing pains. I've eaten Dinty Moore Stew from a can that was heated over a fire. I've carried a pack with over three gallons of water because at that time I didn't know where the springs were or even if there were any. I've taken some spills, tumbles and ended up with a few scrapes and have been shish kabobbed by quite a few different plants.

Luckily, I haven't ever had to avail myself to the services of any of the SAR teams in the area but that's probably more due to dumb luck than any level of skill, especially in those early adventures.

This dude made plenty of mistakes but I hope he doesn't make the mistake of quitting on the outdoors. Hopefully, he can learn from these experiences, get properly equipped and in shape and get back out there.

[cynthia23]

Yeah, maybe you're right, Hal. This morning, while hiking the Desert Museum (and gazing pensively at the bacon grease pooled on a rock next to a firepit at the picnic tables) I was thinking about Bacon Boy, and it occurred to me: hey, at least he really, really wants to get up Skyline. I'll give him an A for determination. And you're also right that we've all (well. certainly ME) done some majorly ignorant things while beginning to learn about hiking.

I do find the leaving a pile of trash and a smoldering firepit behind selfish, but you're right, we should cut him some slack on the parts of his adventure(s) that were down to mere ignorance--though you'd think getting rescued but two weeks previously would make him stop and do some simple internet research on the trail.

Luckily, no one was killed or seriously injured during his two forays (although they might have been) and I sincerely hope that Jenkins uses his recuperation time to do a simple google search and find this board. If he joins, I'm pretty sure all of us will welcome him with open arms--though I think he can expect a little ongoing ribbing about smoked meat products.

[zippetydude]

I can't believe I'm actually in agreement with halhiker (!) but I have to say your post was spot on. This is a positive board and the tone seemed over-the-top. No matter how dumb a person's actions might be, hope springs eternal and anyone can learn. Yes, leaving trash all over is ridiculous, but I think the craziness of the skillet incident kinda clues us in that we're not dealing with a typical Skyline regular. I can't believe they made it to 7900'. I mean, that's only 500' from the top - they almost pulled it off. And getting rescued twice - most of us would have found even once to be embarrassing, but twice in just a couple weeks! Yikes. I do think that regardless of the rescue they should be required to hike back up to the picnic tables and fix/clean/undo anything they messed up. We clean up after ourselves (and others when we pick up the trash along the trail), they could begin to learn how to behave by having to do the right thing.

z

[Hikin_Jim]

Well, I'm all for cutting people slack, but getting rescued twice in as many weeks qualifies one for a special kind of hiking hat; one enscribed "dunce". You've got to do some real thinking if you have to call in the cavalry, and this guy didn't.

Now, that said, I've done a lot of stupid, stupid, stupid things in my younger days (which I shall not here tell). Let us hope that rescue #2 finally breaks through to him that he needs to learn more/be in better shape.

And what is it with trash on Skyline? What the heck? Serious hikers should know better.

HJ

[halhiker]

I certainly get peeved at people making messes and leaving crap in the wilderness but sadly the Skyline is hardly wilderness anymore. It's a trail that starts in the city and thus gets more novices than most trails of its difficulty. I've done hikes with an urban start and it's amazing how much garbage people leave behind. It's never ceases to infuriate me.

Hopefully, this guy and his buddy will learn to leave no trace and need no rescue.

[cynthia23]

Well said. ++

[bluerail]

I fumble and fall constantly in the wilderness, but on a trip where the risk of life seems high, I try to pay more attention.

His choice of trails would have appeared reckless in the homework phase.