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Iceland tire of tourists trashing their nature

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Re: Iceland tire of tourists trashing their nature

#251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, people die taking selfies pretty much every year on one of our local hikes here in Washington. It's the easiest trail with a spectacular view(~1200ft of gain) in the entire metro area, so people flock to it in droves. It's a hike out to a cliff that looks down on a valley floor. Every single "outdoorsy" girl on Tinder has a picture of themselves there, standing in front of the precipice. There's also the easies…

Happens all the time in Scotland - I assume people look at the height of the mountains and assume they are safe for a quick stroll if the weather is nice. e.g. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-457... "Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team said the walkers' attire had included shorts and leggings, but no jackets." I've never actually said to people I've passed that I thought they were inappropriately…

Yep that's a regular occurrence here as well. People assume that because it's in the high 70s on the valley floor that it will be the same temperature at the peak. Well, if you're gaining 3000 feet of altitude the temperature might be in the low 60s if you're lucky. And there will be wind chill as the air currents cut across the peak.

I've also seen a ton of hikers go 3 or 4 miles in without any food, water, or emergency gear at all.

I've heard of people on St. Helens doing the climb up the summer route in shorts and T-shirts with no other gear and becoming hypothermic at the top and requiring rescue. And that's a permitted route, meaning you have to win a permit lottery the year that you plan to do it.

Re: Iceland tire of tourists trashing their nature

#252
post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, people die taking selfies pretty much every year on one of our local hikes here in Washington. It's the easiest trail with a spectacular view(~1200ft of gain) in the entire metro area, so people flock to it in droves. It's a hike out to a cliff that looks down on a valley floor. Every single "outdoorsy" girl on Tinder has a picture of themselves there, standing in front of the precipice. There's also the easies…

What they need is a "stupid hiker fee". Some states require hikers to buy a hiking pass, and the fees for this fund rescues, but if someone doesn't get the pass and needs to be rescued, they can be charged the entire cost of the rescue.

They could do that and also require people get a card that says they're aware of the dangers and have a minimal set of equipment such as the 10 essentials to ensure that they can survive while they wait for search and rescue, which could be overnight in bad enough weather.
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