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Escape from Creek Fire

jmeshe.co

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Re: Escape from Creek Fire

#11

Post by vegardx »

kepler1 wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm just being harsh, but after reading several times and figuring out what was going on, it's an instagrammer's slight inconvenience and detour being dramatized (or implied, given the photos and hour-by-hour narrative) into a life-or-death hike out, yet with "smoked salmon and mussels accompanied by biryani rice". They had a weeklong backpacking trip planned, hiked to where they thought they would start it, en…

You're being a bit harsh.

There are some good lessons in what you shouldn't do, perhaps not intended so, but still interesting.

We don't have many forest fires here in Norway, but we do have very harsh winters. Every year a family or group of people are trapped in a blizzard and die. And most of it could have been avoided by following the "Norwegain Mountain Code"[1], which I imagine is similar all over the world. Turning back before it's too late, seeking shelter, and not exhausting yourself when you realize that you're in trouble. I'd be very worried if people in my group started getting nauseous. That's when you start making those deadly mistakes.

[1]: https://english.dnt.no/the-norwegian-mountain-code/

Re: Escape from Creek Fire

#13

Post by pixl97 »

paranoidrobot wrote: post #8

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was known well ahead of time that there were going to be severe temperatures and a high risk of bushfire, right? Given that, who in their right mind decides that this is a good time to go hiking in this area?

In California pretty much all summer has been a high risk of fire. Something like 24 major fires occurring currently. So if you want to go hiking at all you are taking on some risk.

Re: Escape from Creek Fire

#14

Post by moultano »

yread wrote: post #4
kepler1 wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm just being harsh, but after reading several times and figuring out what was going on, it's an instagrammer's slight inconvenience and detour being dramatized (or implied, given the photos and hour-by-hour narrative) into a life-or-death hike out, yet with "smoked salmon and mussels accompanied by biryani rice". They had a weeklong backpacking trip planned, hiked to where they thought they would start it, en…

Yes, while complaining about 4000ft of elevation and 13 miles. I wonder what was their program for the rest of the week if that sounds like a lot

That is objectively a lot.

Re: Escape from Creek Fire

#15

Post by arcticfox »

yread wrote: post #4
kepler1 wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm just being harsh, but after reading several times and figuring out what was going on, it's an instagrammer's slight inconvenience and detour being dramatized (or implied, given the photos and hour-by-hour narrative) into a life-or-death hike out, yet with "smoked salmon and mussels accompanied by biryani rice". They had a weeklong backpacking trip planned, hiked to where they thought they would start it, en…

Yes, while complaining about 4000ft of elevation and 13 miles. I wonder what was their program for the rest of the week if that sounds like a lot

That is a lot for most people. Obviously the upper bound on what's possible is massively higher, but if you take a mildly fit person off the street and put them through 4k feet & 13 miles w/ a 45 lbs pack, they'll be feeling it. An out-of-shape person would be completely destroyed at that point.

Re: Escape from Creek Fire

#16

Post by derwiki »

pixl97 wrote: post #13
paranoidrobot wrote: post #8

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was known well ahead of time that there were going to be severe temperatures and a high risk of bushfire, right? Given that, who in their right mind decides that this is a good time to go hiking in this area?

In California pretty much all summer has been a high risk of fire. Something like 24 major fires occurring currently. So if you want to go hiking at all you are taking on some risk.

If you want to go multi day backpacking you’re taking on some risk. But most hiking is very low risk. I just spent some time in Mammoth and there are dozens of day hikes that are low fire hazard (I’m looking at you, Convict Creek trail).

Re: Escape from Creek Fire

#17

Post by [deleted] »

kepler1 wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm just being harsh, but after reading several times and figuring out what was going on, it's an instagrammer's slight inconvenience and detour being dramatized (or implied, given the photos and hour-by-hour narrative) into a life-or-death hike out, yet with "smoked salmon and mussels accompanied by biryani rice". They had a weeklong backpacking trip planned, hiked to where they thought they would start it, en…

[deleted]

Re: Escape from Creek Fire

#18

Post by davidu »

I appreciated this write-up. The line between "mildly interesting story with some great photos" and "we made a wrong turn or wrong decision and died" is a lot thinner than I think this post makes clear.

There are very few roads and people in the High Sierras, and Red Meadows pack station is basically it when it comes to services.

Surrounded by smoke, changing winds, and uncertain information, they had to try and get information through very low bandwidth, high latency satellite text systems (I have an InReach, and it's great, but leaves a lot to be desired).

I'm impressed with their retelling of the story and am glad they made it out safe.

Re: Escape from Creek Fire

#19

Post by jschwartzi »

yread wrote: post #4
kepler1 wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm just being harsh, but after reading several times and figuring out what was going on, it's an instagrammer's slight inconvenience and detour being dramatized (or implied, given the photos and hour-by-hour narrative) into a life-or-death hike out, yet with "smoked salmon and mussels accompanied by biryani rice". They had a weeklong backpacking trip planned, hiked to where they thought they would start it, en…

Yes, while complaining about 4000ft of elevation and 13 miles. I wonder what was their program for the rest of the week if that sounds like a lot

A lot of the 8 to 10 thousand foot climbs around here are multi-day because lugging 60 pounds of gear up 4000 feet through 10 or 12 miles of approach is hard work.

Re: Escape from Creek Fire

#20

Post by sailfast »

This looks harrowing and I appreciate the person taking the time to share their experience and their lessons.

Total technical aside: is this a submarine for a new version of exposure?

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