[pct-l] "What's in your head?"

Mon Jan 25 18:36:29 CST 2010

This is true,

Very, very true.  Even a toothbrush can be dangerous in the hands of an
idiot.

No GPS (yet) will tell the hiker, "Warning, the weather is really bad and
there is an 89% change you will die if you decide to hike today."

Eventually one will be made, and then thousands will die when it runs out of
batteries.

GPS is no substitute for wisdom, of course.  But I bet GPS has saved more
lives in the hands of average people than it has lost in the hands of
idiots.

A fool in the backcountry - especially a solo one - can't be saved from
himself.... no matter how much gear he may wrap himself in.

But as for this poor older gentleman, Mr. Donovan, I don't think he was such
a fool.  I do suspect he was overconfident.  Anybody, especially the
independent back-country-hiker-type,  can fall susceptible to that kind of
misjudgment.  His unfortunate demise should be a reminder for the rest of
us.

On Mon, Jan 25, 2010 at 4:13 PM, <ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com> wrote:

> Of all the statements I've read, this one hits the nail on the head:
>
> "If a compass and GPS gave you the confidence to enter a mountain range
> under
> those conditions, than they just might be the most dangerous gear in your
> pack."
>
> Modern technologies can be helpful and hazardous. Even the ice axe,
> carrying
> one can lend a feeling of security, but if you can't recognize when to stop
> forward progress and take off your axe and put it in your hand, then it is
> useless. The key, here, is what are you thinking?
>
> You can have all the waypoints entered into your
> electronic-device-of-the-decade, and not know where you are. You can go
> from
> point A to point B and not know where you've been. Are you spending all
> your
> walking attention looking at the gps screen rather than your surroundings?
> Are you more aware of the landmarks, ridge lines, creek curves, and the
> shapes of meadows and tree lines in order to locate them on the topo and,
> thereby, know where you are, or are you stumbling across the snow simply
> staring at some electronic line on a 2" x 3" handheld screen? And if the
> thing freezes, falls into the creek, batteries die, or in other ways fails,
> what do you have in your memories, experience, training to fall back on? Do
> you know where you are and where you are going at any given moment of the
> day, anyway? This is the skill of the mountain traveler that will keep you
> alive and safe.
>
> Do you remember the Capitol One credit card ads that asked, "What's in your
> wallet?"? Relative to this thread, I have to ask, "What's in your head?" If
> the snowy conditions around you are setting off alarms of common sense in
> your head, will you hear them? Do you know from prior practice and
> experience what a dangerous snow slope looks like such that you should stop
> and consider the use of your axe or beware of an avalanche? Have you poured
> over your maps so well that you already know what the area looks like in
> your head before you get there (so you'll know if you're going over the
> wrong pass)? Are you questioning the footprints in the snow ahead of you
> for
> guidance; are they really going the way you want to go? Can you think for
> yourself, or are you relying on some electronic device to do that for you?
> If it fails, you've lost.
>
> Train, practice, and learn from those who have gone before. Do this prior
> to
> departure. Don't hope to learn from someone else on the trail. Most of them
> are "learning as they go" as well. If this is the kind of situation you
> want
> to put yourself in, hopefully learning before you need the skill (I'm also
> thinking creek crossings, here!), then I hope you come out the other end,
> otherwise, be realistic and responsible for your own safety and train-up!
> At
> least have a back-up navigational method and the skills to use it.
>
> Mtnned
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Paul Mitchell" <bluebrain at bluebrain.ca>
> To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
> Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 1:00 PM
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Death on the PCT / John Joseph Donovan
>
>
> > With all due respect to the late Mr. Donovan, I'd chime in to say that
> > much
> > more valuable than a compass and GPS in his situation would have been a
> > bit
> > of caution and sense.  John took on the San Jacinto stretch with
> > ultra-light
> > gear, 3 feet of snow on the ground and foreknowledge that a storm was
> > blowing in that night.  The other hikers who last met him had the sense
> to
> > descent to Idyllwild to shelter from the inbound snowstorm, yet John
> > decided
> > to press on through serious snow into a high altitude snow storm.
> >
> > If a compass and GPS gave you the confidence to enter a mountain range
> > under
> > those conditions, than they just might be the most dangerous gear in your
> > pack.
> >
> > - P178
> >
> > "This year the Idyllwild area has had its highest snow fall in 40 years,
> > and
> > the area John was last seen in had approximately 3 ft. of snow and the
> > weather report, (which John knew about) for that night was that a storm
> > was
> > coming in. Other PCT hikers came into Idyllwild for shelter from the
> > storm."
> >
> > http://www.rmru.org/missions/2005/2005-017.html
> >
> >
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-- 
Austin Williams
PlanYourHike.com

"The mountains are calling and I must go."   -John Muir