[pct-l] Fwd: Excessive Information Gathering on Hikers

[jeff.singewald at comcast.net]

>Or does his "right to privacy" include a right to die privately while 
>lost in the mountains in a storm? 

> I'd be interested in hearing YOUR opinion on this. 

Brick,

Personally, when I head into the back-country I always leave my tentative itinerary with an emergency contact.  I think this is wise for everyone, however, I think people need to make that decision for themselves.  For me, I always share with my emergency contacts that my schedule may vary by up to 2 days to allow for such circumstances like those we are discussing.

>From what I recall from reading the list-serve in the case of the hikers that were "rescued" near Stevens Pass, I believe that S&R was called in the day after the expected arrival time.  Personally, I thought this was a bit early but I wasn't on-site nor did I have first hand knowledge of the experience or preparedness of these hikers.

While some may feel that these hikers were surprised by the early winter storms, the weather forecast had called for winter storms 5-8 days in advance, so I would suggest that any well prepared hiker would have checked the weather in Snoqualmie in advance of heading north.  Additionally, it is my understanding that these specific hikers had first-hand knowledge of this specific section of the trail, so this would have come into the decision as well if it were me that were the emergency contact responsible for these two hikers.

Just my $0.02

Elevator
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