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CarriesNineFires
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PostThu Aug 29, 2019 6:23 pm 
kiliki wrote:
Seems like SAR and the media don't want to harsh on lost hikers even after they are found, and I get that, but I would love to see something--maybe a blog by a SAR person? That talks to the found hikers and puts together a "lessons learned" article.
Yes, that would be interesting and I'm sure it's out there already. I spent a few hours in the King County SAR mobile command center (an impressive vehicle, to say the least) while waiting for a friend to get carried down from Gem Lake on a Stokes litter by about 30 volunteers. I heard plenty of fun, interesting and sad stories from those guys. Some of the cases they cited involved people who were ostensibly imperiled enough to summon help but then, once they were given water and had the comfort of assistance, were indignant and ungrateful for the escort out of the mountains that was now their only option. I suppose people get embarrassed, or they are overwhelmed, and some, I assume, are good people. These volunteers are highly trained and experienced in specific aspects of search and rescue and they are pretty confident that they know the thought processes of coherent and incoherent subjects. The insight they possess makes for great stories.

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Brushwork
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PostThu Aug 29, 2019 7:01 pm 
It would seem that one lesson would be to not have your gear, including boots very close to a fire, especially if under the influence..... but a more pertinent one might be that an off trail “short cut” may not be a good idea. If they went down the way they came, they at least would have been nearer if not on the trail and would have been found sooner. I'm sure I’m sure I’m not the only one who takes “short cuts” ...

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Bedivere
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PostThu Aug 29, 2019 9:22 pm 
Where are you guys getting these quotes from? I don't see any links to any articles about this, other than the blurb in the Times and from the Sheriff's dept. on Facebook that just says they were found. Lost a boot and his sleeping bag in a campfire accident? That sounds like Whisky fueled shenanigans to me.

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rbuzby
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PostThu Aug 29, 2019 9:54 pm 
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Chief Joseph
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PostThu Aug 29, 2019 10:49 pm 
""Every time I saw a creek, I'd just fill my belly up with that water," he said."....He might come down with another problem in a week or so...

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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Bedivere
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PostFri Aug 30, 2019 12:11 am 
Thanks rbuzby. What were they thinking? Going down into Sulphur Creek isn't a shortcut, especially since there's no maintained trail there.

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Sculpin
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PostFri Aug 30, 2019 7:03 am 
kiliki wrote:
I don't know my 'shrooms. It's not a bad idea to learn the poisonous ones, I can see now.
Eating raw mushrooms might make your tummy feel better, but it will not postpone starvation. If you analyze mushroom in the lab, you will find that it has protein. However, little if any of the protein is metabolized under the best of circumstances, and those circumstances would always involve cooking to break down the indigestible fiber to some degree. What you need are carbs to burn and mushrooms do not have any. It would be useful to know all the berries, because they do have abundant carbs. I could have made a meal of thimbleberries on my hike out yesterday. agree.gif However, the edible thimbleberries, raspberries, and serviceberries were mixed with the toxic berries of Actaea rubra. And by all means drink the water! That girl that walked out from a plane crash a few years ago had been brainwashed into thinking that the pristine creek water would make her sick. So she got severely dehydrated while hiking next to some of the finest water in the northern hemisphere. shakehead.gif

Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir
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slabbyd
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PostFri Aug 30, 2019 8:25 am 
I know a guy who knows a guy who was attacked or harassed by Sasquatch while making some sort of non-standard direct descent to Cub Lake west of Itswoot Ridge. In heavy brush something started shrieking and throwing large chunks of tree bark at them. Eventually necessitating a retreat. I think this was all 20+ years ago now. Cool story, I hope these two rednecks speak up!

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rbuzby
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PostFri Aug 30, 2019 8:38 am 
Sculpin wrote:
And by all means drink the water! That girl that walked out from a plane crash a few years ago had been brainwashed into thinking that the pristine creek water would make her sick. So she got severely dehydrated while hiking next to some of the finest water in the northern hemisphere. shakehead.gif
This seems to be very common now, and it drives me totally nuts. There was a TR of a guy who was climbing in the Colonial peak area, and he said he got severely dehydrated because his water filter broke, and he didn't want to drink the water coming out of the snow! Incredible. Yes, filter your water when you can, but no, the water up in the mountains is not poisonous, and giardia is not in every drop of water. Not even close.

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Chief Joseph
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PostFri Aug 30, 2019 9:09 am 
Sculpin wrote:
And by all means drink the water! That girl that walked out from a plane crash a few years ago had been brainwashed into thinking that the pristine creek water would make her sick. So she got severely dehydrated while hiking next to some of the finest water in the northern hemisphere. shakehead.gif
Well, sure you have to drink the water, but that doesn't mean you won't come down with Giardia later. Myself, I never hike without a filter now. I had Giardia once and it was brutal, it hit me about a week and a half after drinking questionable water.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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Sculpin
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PostFri Aug 30, 2019 9:32 am 
Chief Joseph wrote:
Well, sure you have to drink the water, but that doesn't mean you won't come down with Giardia later.
OK, don't want to thread-bomb about water, as it has been covered elsewhere, but I have been drinking cold, clear water directly from mountain streams for 37 years and have never had a problem. At this point, I am sure I have sampled every major drainage in the state, plus many more throughout the west. Not everyone who gets exposed gets sick, and very few water sources have been cultured, so you can't resolve this by seeking out the science. A peer-reviewed paper exists that will tell you that all the water is safe, none of the water is safe, and everything in between. dizzy.gif

Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir
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MtnGoat
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PostFri Aug 30, 2019 10:34 am 
Chief Joseph wrote:
Well, sure you have to drink the water, but that doesn't mean you won't come down with Giardia later. Myself, I never hike without a filter now. I had Giardia once and it was brutal, it hit me about a week and a half after drinking questionable water.
I had a round as well...but it is not worse than dying of dehydration or a mistake made because you're dehydrated. Most of the water is fine. It's that you can't tell what few sources are not at any given time, which is the real issue.

Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. - Will Rogers
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Bronco
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PostFri Aug 30, 2019 11:16 am 
kiliki wrote:
Seems like SAR and the media don't want to harsh on lost hikers even after they are found, and I get that, but I would love to see something--maybe a blog by a SAR person? That talks to the found hikers and puts together a "lessons learned" article.
Check out the FB page for Snohomish County Search and Rescue, they published a post this spring/summer with general advice for newbs. Not that a 60 year old from Darrington is going to pay it much heed. smile.gif Brie Loewen published a couple of books on her experiences in Seattle Mountain Rescue: A Life in Mountain Rescue

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kiliki
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PostFri Aug 30, 2019 12:50 pm 
Count me as another person that has had giardia ( probably from volunteering at the animal shelter, not drinking mountain water), and it's not THAT bad. It's way better than dying from dehydration. My last visit to Canyonlands I was told of a man who was found after being lost; he ended up dying after rescue because he had been too afraid to drink the murky puddles he saw. This was part of a ranger talk where they were trying to emphasize, just drink the water if you have to.

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kiliki
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PostFri Aug 30, 2019 12:53 pm 
Bronco wrote:
kiliki wrote:
Seems like SAR and the media don't want to harsh on lost hikers even after they are found, and I get that, but I would love to see something--maybe a blog by a SAR person? That talks to the found hikers and puts together a "lessons learned" article.
Check out the FB page for Snohomish County Search and Rescue, they published a post this spring/summer with general advice for newbs. Not that a 60 year old from Darrington is going to pay it much heed. smile.gif Brie Loewen published a couple of books on her experiences in Seattle Mountain Rescue: A Life in Mountain Rescue
Thanks, I'll look for that post. I've read Brie's books and found them interesting/depressing. (The Mennonites on the Muir Snowfield!!). What would be really nice is if it could be incorporated into the news articles that have people's attention.

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