We knew the general area, but it was a big area to search for the female ranger. At one time I was part of a search crew going into a dense forest. We found her in two days. Apparently, she had been hit by a large swarm of wasp. She then fell and broke her arm and injured her leg. It could have been a lot worse had she not left a voice mail with a fellow ranger. I’ll admit to solo hiking looking for elk, but I wouldn’t have done it unless I knew what to expect.
The article mentioned that someone spotted her with a (I assume commercial) drone. This makes me wonder if future search and rescue operations could include an array of drones flying in a wide formation, sweeping across a large grid. They could even have thermal imaging cameras on board, which in winter weather should be magnitudes more helpful.
If something like this technique has been employed already I would love to read about it. Not sure I’ve heard of it before.
I can see their reasoning for it. Lithium Ion batteries inherently carry a fire risk, I’ve always heard. So unless they made the batteries bulletproof it’s possible a fall could end up puncturing/cracking one and starting a wildfire. Didn’t consider this until you mentioned the bans. 👍
These replies are a bit amusing considering the post here yesterday about all the target shooting that’s (legally) done in these same wilderness areas which means igniting gun powder and lots of loud bangs (along with the trash and danger to nearby individuals).
Thank goodness normal drones are banned. They can be so annoying when you’re trying to be in nature, and you’re inflicting your hobby and noise on everyone in a huge area. It’s like people who bring a speaker to broadcast their shitty music, only on a much larger scale. Good riddance.
I think it would have to be be a rescue drone anyway - I bet thermal imaging would be a huge benefit, any time it’s night or cold. Do consumer drones have thermal?
Actually, this is where we need military technology. Imagine a full sized drone taking off from a few central bases, able to fly search grids independently for an entire day, and recognize humans to rescue. You just have to remember to replace that Ninja Missile with a survival kit that can be dropped near a survivor
Wyoming resident and mountain aficionado since 2012 here. I just can’t figure out her reasoning here. Anybody that has had to treck through just ten inches of fresh snowfall will tell you that things get hairy real quick. Given that they were expected to get over three feet in less than 24 hours, a solo hike (any hike) was tantamount to suicide.
Colorado here. I didn’t know, coming from warmer climates, that in a blizzard, visibility becomes very limited (by definition). I knew the low temperature and wind together are extremely dangerous. It’s bad enough encountering one in town much less outdoors on a hike.
Some people don’t really grasp how risky nature is and don’t do the necessary research and preparation before venturing out. Not sure if she was like that or not.
Either way, it sucks to see someone lose their life from something so easily avoided.
I read an article recently about a “journalist” that was planning to hike/camp through Joshua tree and started with camping overnight. They went into town 2x and spent most of the night awake due to the cold and lack of cold-weather camping gear. They then posted a photo of a bobcat saying they opened their tent and saw it, which is a lie to anyone that knows the area.
Such a weird time to start a hike. In the snow, during the onset of a blizzard. That’s a popular hiking spot, but there probably weren’t very many people on the trails at that time.
In my neck of the CA the city and state put signs around the parking lots to tell people the trails are closed when weather is bad. Although, you still see people out there in the shit conditions.
I watch a YT channel called Outdoor Boys, and this guy frequently camps in Alaska blizzards. The difference is he’s super experienced, has the equipment and experience to survive these conditions, and has the seemingly elusive ability to call it quits when things reach a point that safety is a concern. He also has a call in schedule and support network with people that knows when and where he’s at.
And safety was unquestionably a concern in this case. This wasn’t just a blizzard, it was one being caused by an atmospheric river. Apparently the San Gabriels got 20 inches of snow.
Depends on your reason, I guess. Some people like to ice climb. They see it as not only a challenge but a pure form of climbing. To those kind of people it’s a matter of can, not should.
Sorry, misread with my first response. Yes, there is a difference between can and should. And while it is indeed possible to survive a solo hike in a blizzard, it is a very stupid thing to do.
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