[pct-l] physiologic effects of icy cold immersion

[Eric Lee]

Andrea wrote:
> How many PCT hikers have crossed these rivers in the past 10 years ?? How
> many lived to tell their stories ?? How many didn't ??

Many people have crossed many rivers and lived, of course.  I'm aware of 
only one PCT drowning death in the past 10 years - Sarah Bishop died in 2004 
in the Sandy River on Mt. Hood.  There may have been others, but that's the 
only one I recall right now.

Sarah's body was found still buckled into a 65-pound pack.  Of course it's 
impossible to say whether leaving her pack straps unbuckled would have made 
any difference in the end, but in any case she clearly didn't manage to get 
her pack off.  Her primary mistake was in attempting the crossing the first 
place.  News article can be found here, among other places:

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

The important thing to take away from all this is to have a healthy, 
balanced respect for the trail.  Yes, in general thru-hiking is a very safe 
activity.  Probably safer than whizzing around on the freeways every day as 
many of us do.  On the other hand, there are certain very dangerous 
situations that can be encountered on the trail.  Your odds of successfully 
dealing with those situations are improved if you a) understand what the 
dangers actually are, b) understand how to minimize those dangers, and c) 
understand that the best prevention is to not place yourself in danger in 
the first place.  Wait, rest, go back - these are all excellent survival 
strategies . . . much better than unbuckling one's pack straps, when you get 
down to it.

Eric