Dumb & Dumber

A number of years ago, I was talking with my granddaughter about “critical thinking.” She was taking an English course in college, and this was a topic that they were discussing. At the time, I thought that this was strange, that they would be discussing this topic. Boy was I wrong!

Everyday there is something in the news that reminds me of that discussion. It appears that folks today have failed to grasp that concept. Maybe we can blame it upon the “internet and social media.” The “electronic age.”

It was never so obvious than a story I read yesterday concerning two hikers in California that were going to climb Mt. Whitney.

Mt. Whitney is 14,505 feet above sea level and the elevation at the trailhead where one begins the climb is 8,360 feet. Thus, the climb is approximately 6,000 feet. Mt. Whitney is the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states and the most frequently climbed mountain in the Sierra Nevada mountains. All hikers are required to obtain a permit from either the U.S. Forest Services Inyo National Forest Office or the Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks.

The shortest distance to the summit of Mt. Whitney is 10.7 miles. The roundtrip then is 21.4 miles.

On November 2nd of this year, the Inyo County Search & Rescue (SAR) was called to help two hikers attempting to hike Mt. Whitney.

The reports indicate that two hikers started out Friday evening at approximately 6:00 P.M., with 150 pounds of gear plus 5 gallons of water, another 42 pounds, or a grand total of over 190 pounds. They planned to camp overnight at Lone Pine Lake, a distance of approximately 5.8 miles from the trailhead. Lone Pine Lake lies at an elevation of 10,032 feet. Thus, a climb of approximately 1,672 feet in 5.8 miles. Not strenuous by any measure.

Most hikers will give themselves at least two days to summit Mt. Whitney, but carry only a minimum in their backpack, not 190 pounds or 95 pounds each.

These two hikers, we don’t know ages or gender, although one, a woman , was reported to have a pre-existing brain condition that caused sensitivity to changes in barometric pressure.

All of the above are ingredients for failure, and fail they did!

By around 3:00 A.M. , nine hours after starting out, they had only traveled 2.7 miles. They were physically exhausted and decided to stop to rest. They apparently had a tent, and they pitched it by the trail, but left their boots outside the tent. It snowed that night and by morning, their boots were full of snow. They decided that they needed help, so they activated the S.O.S. feature on their IPhone that sent an emergency distress signal, via satellite, that indicated their location and situation.

The signal was relayed to the Inyo SAR. The Inyo SAR mobilized and reached the hikers around 1:40 P.M. that day and brought them safely down the mountain, two hours later.

“What could go wrong did go wrong!”

Their lack of preparation and experience was a major factor in this disaster. It was reported that they had turned down help in their hike. Also, it was reported that they did not have a map, weather forecast or bear repellant. They are fortunate that nothing worse happened.

Over 30,000 hikers, on an annual basis, hike Mt. Whitney, and the majority are prepared.

Every day, there are stories about wilderness hikers who are found dead. They are hiking alone, have health issues, no map or compass and no way to communicate with the outside world. They believe their mobile phone is all that they need. How stupid!

Also, does the Forest Service evaluate those that they are giving permits to? If not, maybe they should.

As one who has spent a fair amount of time hiking in the Boy Scouts, Army and after, I find it difficult to understand the mentality of those who go into the outdoor wilderness unprepared. Where is their “Critical Thinking?”

As the Boy Scout motto states, “Be Prepared.”

Jess Sweely

Madison, VA.

November 17, 2024