[pct-l] safety on the pct

[Moynihan]

Hey there,
As a solo female who has thru hiked the AT and the PCT, I understand
your parents concern. I was 22 setting foot on the AT last year with
mere day-hiking experience, so my mother was worried about all sorts
of things, and I being with such little experience  I could only tell
my parents not to worry(and of course as parents they do) and that I'd
call every couple of weeks. Being 23 and setting foot on the PCt this
last year, my parents were much more comfortable.
They realized the people hiking the trail(other thrus) are an
incredible group of people, very intelligent and sociable and not out
to kill other hikers.
If you were to get injured on trail and you are in a prime hiking
season, someone will come along, and sooner than you think.
Bear encounters(and other animal encounters) are more likely to be had
in overly used areas, which I avoided when camping
I didn't find it an issue on the PCT, but on the AT I made sure not to
camp to close to town to avoid any locals who might be of nuisance
Your more likely to have an accident, be mugged, have your car stolen,
witness a shootout or some other problem if you are living in a city,
which I have had all these except being mugged, and thats why I don't
care too much for cities. The trail is an incredibly more safe option
than towns/cities.

Thats what I think comforts my parents. My mom still worries about
bears. I'm more worried about running out of food, so....

Speedstick


On 1/11/08, Eric Lee (GAMES) <elee at microsoft.com> wrote:
> Jana wrote:
> >
> i am a college freshman and my friend (who is also college age) and I
> want to hike a section of the PCT this summer for about 2 or 3 weeks.
> We are having trouble convincing our mom's that 2 girls will be safe
> alone out on the trail.....what should we tell them?
> >
>
> Tell them that the most dangerous part of your hike, by far, will be driving
> to and from the trailheads.  Seriously.
>
> Unknown things always feel more scary to people than they really are, and
> familiar things always feel safer than they really are.  It's a strange fact
> that the human sense of risk is often quite warped.  Sure, you're not
> absolutely safe out on the trail, and sure, something could theoretically
> happen, but every year in the US about 41,000 people are killed in auto
> accidents and another 3 million (!) are injured.  In other words, you have
> about a 1 in 100 chance of being injured in an auto accident and a 1 in 7000
> chance of being killed every year if you are crazy enough to get into a car.
>  I don't have accident statistics for hikers handy, but I'm pretty sure the
> rates are lower, sensational news reports notwithstanding.
>
> For example, your mom might be worried about bears.  What if you're attacked
> by a bear?  Well, you can't guarantee that won't happen, but if you think
> about the fact that only 56 people have been killed by black bears in the US
> *in total over the past 100 years* (seriously!), it changes things a bit.
> Let's see, a 1 in 7000 chance of dying in an auto accident, or a 1 in 600
> million chance of dying in a bear attack.  Personally, I think the drivers
> are the crazy ones.
>
> (For any mathematical types out there, yes, the risk exposure should
> actually based on how much you drive and how much you're exposed to bears,
> but the basic point still stands.)
>
> Of course, fear is an emotional thing and not always a logical thing so
> talking numbers may not solve the problem.  But it sometimes helps to put
> things into perspective.
>
> Eric
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