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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

#31

Post by hazeii »

hprotagonist wrote: post #6

Among other reasons, this is why i have a contingency email draft that I have ready to go whenever I go out on a serious-ish hike, along these lines: “here’s who is going, this is our license plate, this is our gear, this is how much food we have, here’s a very rough itinerary; if i don’t update this email by such and such a time, contact the following SAR groups...”

In hotels I leave a note on the table saying where to look if I'm not back (never been needed, but stories like this remind me to keep doing it).

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

#32

Post by viach »

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.

>> 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.

Here is HN snapshot from 2008: http://web.archive.org/web/20080105031416/https://news.ycomb...

The top submissions is "Obama's Victory Speech". I don't think it's very technological, at least in common sense.

Probably the only very true HN existed in 2007, for several month. Well, these were good times..

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

#33

Post by bedhead »

sizzzzlerz wrote: post #30
bedhead wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 disrespect…

There were multiple times when we were either in a park visitor center or the RV park's pool and I realized I was the only American. It was all (in order) German, Dutch, and French. Everyone was really friendly and we made some good friends at the pools. But we kept noticing all the people doing dumb stuff at the national parks weren't Americans. Feeding squirrels, flying drones, climbing on stuff that wasn't safe, etc. It kinda became a running joke.

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

#34

Post by dgaudet »

the news article left me wanting to know more about the hike, and i discovered this ropewiki article[0] which seems to be related, and link to a more detailed trip report[1]. i'm more of a peakbagger myself, but the photos of the canyons are fascinating (many examples in google images).

i'm guessing satellite locator beacons (such as resqlink, spot or in-reach) don't work very well in canyons. you'd need a much more monster antenna and transmitter.

[0] http://ropewiki.com/Arroyo_Seco_Gorge_(Los_Padres) [1] http://www.teamsk.org/arroyo/seco.html

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

#35

Post by hprotagonist »

latchkey wrote: post #7
hprotagonist wrote: post #6

Among other reasons, this is why i have a contingency email draft that I have ready to go whenever I go out on a serious-ish hike, along these lines: “here’s who is going, this is our license plate, this is our gear, this is how much food we have, here’s a very rough itinerary; if i don’t update this email by such and such a time, contact the following SAR groups...”

My favorite service for this: https://www.deadmansswitch.net

I just have a template saved in my notebook repository that i can export as needed into an email draft.

It's convenient because it makes me shake my gear down, too.

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

#37

Post by dsfyu404ed »

viach wrote: post #32
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.

>> 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. Here is HN snapshot from 2008: http://web.archive.org/web/20080105031416/https://news.ycomb... The top submissions is "Obama's Victory Speech". I don't think it's very technological, at least in common sense. Probably the only very true HN existed in 2007…

I feel like the comments are becoming more "reddit" than the submissions themselves. Seems like way more ideological up-voting/down-voting than there used to be ~2yr ago. It seems like on every issue there's a side (varies by issue) you can't criticize unless you water down your comment with weasel words.

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

#38

Post by marvin »

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.

I don’t think it’s necessarily a Europe thing, it’s just as likely a tourist thing. When you’re a city-dwelling tourist, you don’t know danger and certainly not the local dangers. Dangers at home are considered part of your upbringing, overgeneralized as absolute facts of the world, while dangers elsewhere are unknown and unexpected.

I’ve seen the same in Norway; tourists from all over the world getting lost in the mountains, caught out in bad weather or early nightfall with poor clothing and footwear, lost at sea in quickly-changing weather, fall off unexpected cliffs, hit by falling glacier ice, swept into the freezing ocean by waves, killed by avalanche, snowed in on the road etc.

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

#39

Post by donretag »

ceejayoz wrote: post #20
bedhead wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

In fairness, Italians have a reputation for driving dangerously when they know the territory, too.

I remember being 18, in Italy, driving my crappy Fiat as fast as I can down an Italian highway. Fifth gear, gas pedal to the max. And I was still getting passed by faster cars. Italians just drive faster. :)

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

#40

Post by newsreview1 »

I grew up in Southern Utah, just a few miles from the Zion Narrows, and have read of many tragic situations that didn't end nearly as well as this group's story. (Including my own brother on an overnight scouting event). God bless the two hikers who "left before the rescue without giving their names!" I hope the family can find them so they can give them personal thanks.
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