Fwd: [at-l] Homemade Snowshoes Break in person

[spiriteagle99@hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

Clifford R. Haynes wrote:
>Yah know a while back lost of folks were upset because some guy got lost 
>without a compass and map, they sent out search parties, and folks were 
>upset.

Sheeesh - you really should get the story straight before you get all 
judgmental, Cliff.  Nobody said he didn't have a map - and I don't know many 
thruhikers who hang onto the compass past Hot Springs.  Did you?
What search parties?  Who was upset?  There were no search parties cause no 
one knew where he was.

>I'll bet you dollars to donuts, the lost guy cost a lot less than this snow 
>storm did for rescues. This person that broke >into the shed and fabricated 
>snowshoes isn't someone to admire in my >book. He simple demonstrated his 
>selfishness when he broke into the >shed in order to survive

You mean you wouldn't break into a shed in order to survive?  C'mon - we 
both know better.

>his own ignorance in being unprepared in the first place.

Let's see - when you went through the Shenandoah, you were prepared for 3 
foot snow, right?  The Weathercarrot can probably correct me if I'm wrong 
but a 3 ft snow is probably a once in 50 or 100 year event.  Tell me, Cliff 
- did you hike prepared for that kind of problem?  I think not.  So you were 
unprepared too, weren't you?


>But worse of he demonstrated his lack of respect and lack of honesty >in 
>not reporting his break in.

A couple points, Cliff - who would you like him to have reported it to - he 
was out of the Park and didn't go back.  More to the point - are you so 
trusting that you'd take a chance that the Park Service wouldn't prosecute 
you for B&E?  If so, you haven't spent enough time around the Parks.


>In the country breaking into a camp by a person in trouble is acceptable by 
>one who was prepared for the situation they put themselves in, but not when
>the person foolishly went out unprepared and selfishly depended on breaking 
>into someone else's camp or shed to bail themselves out. Not only did this 
>person bring shame on himself, but to some extent the entire hiking 
>community.

You make a lot of assumptions there - for someone who doesn't know anything 
about what actually happened.  He was prepared for a thruhike - How many 
thruhikers are prepared for a 3 foot snow?  Were you?  You know better - and 
so do I.  What's your beef here?

The people who bring shame on the Trail and the community are those who burn 
down dance halls, get drunk in towns, break into bars and get into fights 
with Trail Angels.  There have been more than enough of them - but this 
wasn't one of them.  If you want to bitch about something, I can give you 
plenty of stories - real stories, not the wildly inaccurate stuff that you 
just came up with.

Walk softly,
Jim


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