Hiker lost on San Jacinto

[Rob]

HikeUp wrote:

Perhaps public education is needed in this matter. Maybe it should be clearly stated, posted, made clear, etc. what the charges would be (if any) for a rescue.

I looked at the fine print on the reverse of a USFS-SJ wilderness permit and did not see lost or emergency procedures. Did I overlook any? My impression is that the fine print is "all law, and no gospel."

While the fine print might work well to scare most hikers into compliance, it has two weaknesses: first, the obvious absence of "What to do if lost or bewildered" procedures; second, as Jim B mentioned, lost hikers may hide from rescuers because they fear the consequences of being rescued. If the fine print penalty for cutting a switchback is $1,000 (penalty varies from permit to permit?), then how much more trouble is a lost hiker in? Add the effects of altitude, cold, darkness, critters, and physical & mental exhaustion, and the result is another lost hiker admiring the night lights of PS from Carumba.

Bottom line: maybe USFS should consider adding "what to do if" language to wilderness permits.

[HikeUp]

Good points Rob.

...second, as Jim B mentioned, lost hikers may hide from rescuers because they fear the consequences of being rescued.

Specifically, if it is stated on the permit that there will be no charge, then it may eliminate this type of occurrence. But then again it may lead to abuse of the free SAR service. *shrug*

The debate continues.

[Tim Le]

I'm sure most of you have already seen this article, but if not, it's a good read about this issue:

http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/News_Rescue_Charges.htm

It seems like they can charge you for a rescue but you would have to be in gross negligence. Since this is hard to prove even if someone was foolish and made a mistake, the agencies usually don't charge.

By the way, on the FAQs for Grand Canyon National Park they say:

Q: If I get into trouble and need to be rescued, who pays for my rescue?

A: You will be charged for rescue expenses.

Does anyone know if they really do follow through on this? I read they do hundreds of rescues a year. So do they charge all of them?

[halhiker]

Poor guy; he must have been terrified out of his mind.

He did some smart things though:

Harper made shelter out of leaves and rocks, and said he kept his body
warm by lighting a fire near the rocks and placing them against him.

It says he has liver problems possibly from drinking creek water. What on earth is in the Snow Creek area that could cause liver problems?

Edit: I just looked up the symptoms of girardia and cryptosporidium and those both cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, that sort of thing. Nothing to do with the liver. What the heck is in SJ's water??

Snow Creek has wonderfully clean water. I've drank from it, without filtration, many times. Skinny dipped in it, too. (Talk about shrinkage! That water's FREEZING!) The reason the Palm Springs Water Agency gave for closing Snow Creek to climbers was to meet health standards. With no people going into the watershed the Agency wouldn't have to purify the water coming out of Snow Creek but only have to filter it, a much less expensive proposition. With Snow Creek officially closed it could tell the EPA that there was no human impact and it could save lots of money. At least that's the story I was told.

Unless he had liver problems before I doubt there's anything in the water in Snow Creek that could effect one's liver. Perhaps they meant kidneys and that could have been due to dehydration. Reporters are notorious for getting such things wrong.

Unless he packed a bottle of Jack Daniels with him I don't think anything he'd drink in Snow Creek that would harm his liver.

[Hikin_Jim]

I was wondering after I posted that if it might just be press idiots. They've already told us SJ is 8400' high and has a tram to the top.

They also say he was interrupted in making his video last will and testament by the light of the helicopter. Um, he was found during the day. #%&@ press!

[Rob]

Jim B wrote:

We just finished up another rescue yesterday, and a recovery today. A busy holiday weekend for RMRU…

RMRU posted mission summaries at http://www.rmru.org for 11/11/2007 "Father & 3 year old girl off South Ridge Trail" and 11/12/2007 recovery.

[HikeUp]

Ugh at recovery. Anyone know the story behind this?

[Hikin_Jim]

I don't know anything more than what is on the RMRU site, but I did want to highlight one thing:

Following on the heels of two successful rescue missions on the Veteran's Day weekend, RMRU was asked to assist the Riverside County Coroner and the California State Parks Department in recovering the body of a deceased person several miles up the Deer Springs Trail.

Despite the team being worn pretty thin from our other missions this weekend, about a dozen members responded, several coming directly from the previous night's mission with little or no sleep.

Our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.

Now that's dedication. Hats off to RMRU. Three missions in one weekend is a lot to ask.

[cynthia23]

I so agree with HikinJim, these folks are heroes. Just finished reading the account of the rescue of the father and little girl, which entailed a helicopter drop and spending the night in the bush. Far beyond what I can conceive of. These are real heroes.

[Tim Le]

According to the KMIR6-TV story, the father and daughter might have gotten lost after taking a shortcut in the mountains. One of the articles on Richard also said he got lost after trying to take a shortcut to the tram. And the Kim family last year in Oregon got lost partly because they took a shortcut instead of turning around and going back to their intended highway. I think the lesson here is "Don't take a shortcut through the wilderness unless you absolutely know where you are going!"

Of course that seems obvious now, but I can sympathize with the people who make these mistakes. One of my mottos is that it often takes being dumb a few times before you become smart. I did a lot of dumb things when I first started hiking.