Forum Index > Trail Talk > The Forest Service wants you to stop going in the ice caves
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
snowmonkey
Member
Member


Joined: 23 May 2014
Posts: 88 | TRs | Pics
snowmonkey
Member
PostThu Dec 19, 2019 6:53 am 
The deaths at the Ice Caves have one major difference from Enchantments, Rainier and/or other alpine tragedy locations. The victims at the Ice Caves are..standing comfortably, posing or looking with awe at the structure. They are not ascending, descending or mountaineering. The objective is to eliminate the loss of life-period. On any given summer weekend, you can watch droves of all ages walking up to, in to and on top of the Caves- and they’ve all seen the extreme message on the signage. It is comparable to jay-walking; we all know the danger but pedestrians still are hit and killed by cars-because of making a judgment call instead of following the rules.

Ocian in view! O! The joy! William Clark
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Schroder
Member
Member


Joined: 26 Oct 2007
Posts: 6696 | TRs | Pics
Location: on the beach
Schroder
Member
PostThu Dec 19, 2019 7:31 am 
At the Forest Service public hearing a couple of years ago concerning improving safety on the ice caves trail I was one of only 3 people representing the public and the only hiker there. I drove an hour and took a ferry to be there. Just sayin'.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Kim Brown
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Jul 2009
Posts: 6900 | TRs | Pics
Kim Brown
Member
PostThu Dec 19, 2019 10:31 am 
I think there were about 8 people at the one I attended; and like yours, only a few actual hikers - which non- or occasional hikers/strollers are a lot of the kinds of visitors at Big4. No but the on-line comments and ongoing pile of comments after every incident, and that Tam lawsuit combined make up for lack of bodily presence.

"..living on the east side of the Sierra world be ideal - except for harsher winters and the chance of apocalyptic fires burning the whole area." Bosterson, NWHiker's marketing expert
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Anne Elk
BrontosaurusTheorist



Joined: 07 Sep 2018
Posts: 2410 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle
Anne Elk
BrontosaurusTheorist
PostSat Dec 21, 2019 12:44 am 
I participated in one of the focus groups that Kim and Schroder referred to above - there were about 8 people attending. The FS subsequently installed a bunch of new signage, and as Kim mentioned, the end of the trail there is now pretty obvious. During the high season on weekends they even had a ranger wandering around trail's end - don't know how long they kept that up. The only other improvement the FS could make is to go out there in late spring and put up a free-standing cautionary sign right in front of the caves, which also mentions the number of people who died because of going in/on them. The sign would have to be removed before winter set in. I saw something like that in BC at a popular inlet reachable only by boat. There's a waterfall at the head of the inlet with an informal trail that goes to the top. The wardens put up a caution sign about staying off the slippery rocks and noting how many people had died at the site. A good video for the "kiosk" the article suggests:

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Gwen
LO Girl-of-the-Month



Joined: 14 Feb 2010
Posts: 1673 | TRs | Pics
Gwen
LO Girl-of-the-Month
PostSat Dec 21, 2019 8:08 pm 
zephyr wrote:
Malachai Constant wrote:
I favor removing the bridge and moving it to the Suiattle to access Lime Ridge and the PCT hockeygrin.gif
Now there's an idea. Just do it and don't announce it--ever. wink.gif It can be word of mouth for awhile... ~z .
That'll last all is 2.3 seconds. Anyway, I hear tell that the Milk Creek Bridge is already in the works. No idea what the timeline is though.

Tomorrow's not promised to anyone, so be bold, scare yourself, attempt something with no guarantee of success. You'll be amazed at what you can achieve. -Olive McGloin
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Atomc
Member
Member


Joined: 15 Aug 2018
Posts: 19 | TRs | Pics
Atomc
Member
PostFri Dec 27, 2019 6:31 pm 
The price of admission to LR should be crossing a sketchy log over the Suiattle.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Trail Talk > The Forest Service wants you to stop going in the ice caves
  Happy Birthday noahk!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum