[pct-l] Re: Hikers Rescued thanks to Cell Phone

[calliger at infolane.com (Richard)]

shorts and then went into 3 feet of snow?? duh??
Maybe Darwin should have paid them a brutal visit so
they do not pass that intelligence onto the next generation!!

Come on people...wake up!!! wow!


Humbly, but succintly! (sp??)


R
At 01:12 PM 1/9/2005 -0500, Brett wrote:
>>>"Next time, maybe we'll be  more prepared, more ready for 
>>>the
>unexpected," Krier  said.<<
>
>MAYBE?! Somebody oughta slap that guy silly.
>
>New term for dummies in the woods: newspaper boys. Do 
>something stupid, get your story delivered to everybody's 
>front step.
>
>- bf.
>
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>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: <Lonetrail@aol.com>
>To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
>Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 1:02 PM
>Subject: [pct-l] Re: Hikers Rescued thanks to Cell Phone
>
>
>>
>> In a message dated 1/9/2005 9:36:06 AM Pacific Standard 
>> Time, Lonetrail
>> writes:
>>
>>
>> Hikers  recall near-death trek through snowy forest
>>
>> By Quintin Cushner -  Staff Writer
>> 1/6/05 As they trudged through thigh-high snow in Los 
>> Padres  National
>> Forest, with too little clothing for the weather, Joel 
>> Degner  and
>> Nathan Krier knew they had to keep moving.
>>
>> The two Santa Maria  men, who were suffering from severe 
>> cold and
>> exhaustion, feared they  would die if they stopped.
>>
>> Their ordeal, which they recounted  Wednesday, began 
>> Tuesday morning as
>> a carefree hike into the forest to  spot some waterfalls. 
>> It ended late
>> that night with the pair being  rescued and taken to a 
>> hospital by
>> helicopter.
>>
>> "My biggest fear is  dying alone in the wilderness," 
>> Degner said. "We
>> knew we had to at least  make it to the road so we would 
>> be found."
>>
>> Degner, 22, and Krier, 24  - buddies from their years at 
>> Righetti High
>> School - started out at the  Cachuma Saddle, about 10 
>> miles east of
>> Santa Ynez, and walked along  McKinley Road.
>>
>> After several hours, they decided to get off the road  and 
>> hike down to
>> the Manzana River. Using maps compiled by Degner, the  two 
>> followed the
>> river to the east before taking the unmaintained Big  Cone 
>> Spruce trail
>> up to McKinley Mountain.
>>
>> To the men's dismay,  the trail was covered with about 
>> three feet of snow.
>>
>> "It felt like  the longest hike," Krier said. "I was just 
>> trying to
>> conserve and keep  warm."
>>
>> The men took three hours to travel about a mile through 
>> the  snow at an
>> elevation of about 5,000 feet.
>>
>> Degner was wearing  shorts, and because his bare legs were 
>> numbed by
>> the snow, he often lost  his balance. Both men said they 
>> fell into
>> sharp bushes and shrubs along  the rugged trail.
>>
>> The cell phone they carried didn't work in the  forest 
>> canyons. Their
>> only hope, they believed, was to find reception on  a road 
>> near the
>> mountain's ridge so they could call for help.
>>
>> When  they did reach the road connecting McKinley Mountain 
>> back to
>> Cachuma  Saddle, both were exhausted and very cold. Degner 
>> was almost
>> incoherent,  suffering from severe hypothermia - a 
>> potentially fatal
>> lowering of the  body's core temperature.
>>
>> Luckily, their cell phone worked. They  dialed 9-1-1 about 
>> 8:30 p.m.,
>> and walked slowly down the road to stay  warm while help 
>> arrived.
>>
>> Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue team  members 
>> responded, and
>> were able to drive through mud and snow to find  the 
>> hikers about 9:40
>> p.m.
>>
>> Once they were located, the search and  rescue team 
>> directed a
>> helicopter from Ventura County to airlift Degner  and 
>> Krier to Goleta
>> Valley Cottage Hospital.
>>
>> Degner's temperature  at the hospital was measured at 90 
>> degrees, while
>> Krier's was 96. Both  were released early Wednesday. The 
>> two said they
>> were grateful to the  emergency personnel who saved their 
>> lives.
>>
>> "They hiked a long way in  very cold conditions," said 
>> Nelson Trichler,
>> Search and Rescue incident  commander. "If (Degner) didn't 
>> have his
>> cell phone it wouldn't have been  a rescue. It would have 
>> been a (body)
>> recovery."
>>
>> Degner, a recent  UCSB graduate, and Krier, a student at 
>> Chaminade
>> University in Honolulu,  said they likely would hike again 
>> soon.
>>
>> "Next time, maybe we'll be  more prepared, more ready for 
>> the
>> unexpected," Krier  said.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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