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Two California hikers found a family's message in a bottle and helped save them

cnn.com

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Re: Two California hikers found a family's message in a bottle and helped save them

#21

Post by radicalbyte »

bedhead wrote: post #19
carlmr wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is almost a phenomenon. Europeans have trouble imagining the vastness and untouchedness of American national parks. In Europe almost all hiking trails are close to civilization and well-marked. If you expect the same in America you're in for a surprise.

I just returned from a three week RV trip to some of the national parks out west, including Death Valley. Two of the things I noticed were (1) Europeans outnumbered Americans in the RV parks and (2) Europeans seemed far more inclined to break the national park rules. At one point we were in a guided jeep tour in Canyonlands which is some seriously treacherous driving on cliffside switchbacks. An Escalade sped by us a…

I've spent a decent amount of time in the parks in South Africa and the people doing stupid and dangerous things were either American or Chinese.

The locals were well known for drink driving and driving too fast (they treat it like the British treat the Spanish islands and Amsterdam).

Re: Two California hikers found a family's message in a bottle and helped save them

#22

Post by Spare_account »

rpmisms wrote: post #13
lonelappde wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Oxford comma isn't the issue here. The issue is that "his" binds both son and girlfriend, and therefore needs an "and" in front of it. It's not grammatical as is.

It would still read perplexingly. The Oxford comma isn't a tool for the inept; rather, the ept.

It's interesting how sometimes what appears to be a prefix, isn't.

Re: Two California hikers found a family's message in a bottle and helped save them

#23

Post by gardnerbickford »

I don't mean to be rude but: why is this here? It would be a neat project to map out the changes in the types of stories and comments on HN over time. Over the years, HN has grown more and more in the direction of reddit front page and become less and less like an irc channel where people talk about technology.

Re: Two California hikers found a family's message in a bottle and helped save them

#24

Post by lelf »

gardnerbickford wrote: post #23

I don't mean to be rude but: why is this here? It would be a neat project to map out the changes in the types of stories and comments on HN over time. Over the years, HN has grown more and more in the direction of reddit front page and become less and less like an irc channel where people talk about technology.

> Please don't submit comments saying that HN is turning into Reddit. It's a semi-noob illusion, as old as the hills.

(c) https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html, should be in FAQ too ;-)

Re: Two California hikers found a family's message in a bottle and helped save them

#25

Post by ant6n »

mikeash wrote: post #12
hervature wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just an fyi, Oxford comma only applies to lists of 3 or more. I think this is just a dangling modifier.

This is a list of three: Whitson, his son, and his girlfriend.

Girlfriend of the whitson or the his son?

Re: Two California hikers found a family's message in a bottle and helped save them

#26

Post by sizzzzlerz »

carlmr wrote: post #18
sizzzzlerz wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a fascinating story and the persistance of the author in trying to find the family is remarkable but its totally different than this story. The Germans were completely unprepared for their adventure without the correct clothing, not enough water, and apparently little or no knowledge of where they were going or where they were. The family in this story were prepared, knew exactly where they were going and where…

I think this is almost a phenomenon. Europeans have trouble imagining the vastness and untouchedness of American national parks. In Europe almost all hiking trails are close to civilization and well-marked. If you expect the same in America you're in for a surprise.

A lot of it is the uniqueness of the American west. I think that Europeans are infatuated with the John Wayne westerns and Louis L'Amour books and think of the parks as just more remote Disneylands where nothing can hurt you. I understand that it's a popular thing to visit DVNP in friggin' August when the temps reach 125 degrees or higher. And then, like the German family, go off to remote regions of the park unprepared and with no reasonable hope of rescue if something bad happens. There have been several books written about deaths that have occurred in the Parks, most of which happen because those involved did not respect nor understand the environment into which they were going.

Re: Two California hikers found a family's message in a bottle and helped save them

#27

Post by ChristianBundy »

kbutler wrote: post #9
laumars wrote: post #2

I really enjoyed this story. However I did struggle on one part: > Whitson, his 13-year-old son and girlfriend, Krystal Ramirez, had decided to spend Father's Day weekend backpacking the Arroyo Seco River. It took me longer to parse this sentence than I should perhaps admit to. The first couple of reads lead me to believe his son and girlfriend were the same person.

Leaving out the oxford comma is like relying on JavaScript automatic semicolon insertion - it works fine, until it doesn't.

Thankfully we have linters!

Re: Two California hikers found a family's message in a bottle and helped save them

#28

Post by andy_ppp »

gardnerbickford wrote: post #23

I don't mean to be rude but: why is this here? It would be a neat project to map out the changes in the types of stories and comments on HN over time. Over the years, HN has grown more and more in the direction of reddit front page and become less and less like an irc channel where people talk about technology.

Surely you already know the reason it’s here? Someone submitted it and the community upvoted it. Chances are it’s probably interesting.

Re: Two California hikers found a family's message in a bottle and helped save them

#29

Post by is_true »

gardnerbickford wrote: post #23

I don't mean to be rude but: why is this here? It would be a neat project to map out the changes in the types of stories and comments on HN over time. Over the years, HN has grown more and more in the direction of reddit front page and become less and less like an irc channel where people talk about technology.

It's amazing. It's a story that connects us with a more simple life, with an unreliable communication method and involving lots of luck.

Re: Two California hikers found a family's message in a bottle and helped save them

#30

Post by sizzzzlerz »

bedhead wrote: post #19
carlmr wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is almost a phenomenon. Europeans have trouble imagining the vastness and untouchedness of American national parks. In Europe almost all hiking trails are close to civilization and well-marked. If you expect the same in America you're in for a surprise.

I just returned from a three week RV trip to some of the national parks out west, including Death Valley. Two of the things I noticed were (1) Europeans outnumbered Americans in the RV parks and (2) Europeans seemed far more inclined to break the national park rules. At one point we were in a guided jeep tour in Canyonlands which is some seriously treacherous driving on cliffside switchbacks. An Escalade sped by us a…

I've been visiting Parks throughout the west for decades and have noticed the same thing. Its a virtual United Nations when you go into the Visitor's Center, gift shop, or restaurant. Personally, I think its great and love to show off what the US has that no other nation does. But, things like abusing the wildlife, putting themselves or others a risk because of stupid (and illegal) behaviors, and generally disrespecting the Park push me close to the edge. That kind of behavior isn't tolerated in the monuments and cathedrals in Europe; don't do it here.
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