[at-l] Mislabeling bottles and hiker dumb "mistakes"

[daveh@psknet.com (Dave Hicks)]

OK, I'll play.

With 50 + years in the woods I couldn't list them all (or pick my dumbest
move), but most of mine involved leaving something behind -- at home, in the
car/truck, at a shelter, etc.  Of all the "things" some of the dumber were:
the boots, at home; most of the food, in the cooler in the car; the fuel
bottle, at a shelter; the water filter, somewhere (???); etc.  Generally,
the results of the contempt (which familiarity and routine breeds),
overconfidence, and/or being rushed -- "Every is still in the bag.  Let's
go."

Speaking of overconfidence, probably my dumbest (or most dangerous) move was
when I got badly dehydrated on a solo weekday trail maintaining trip.  To
this day, I don't know how I got back down to a water source.

Some of the dumbest thing that I have seen in the woods were -- a bear bag
hung directly above the tent (in a bad bear area, yet), a guy who had tried
to climb out onto a rock ledge, which he knew was ice covered, to catch the
view, a guy who had mountain biking down a trail and over a twenty foot drop
(he had no map, instructions, and had never been on the trail before),
another biker who had come down hill full speed into a bad bad green brier
thicket, a number of folk w/o compasses or maps (and w/ them but no idea how
to use them) who were miles from where they thought they were, folks trying
to whitewater with only minimal flatwater canoe experience.  Yes, I have
hauled/helped a few casualties out of the woods -- luckily most were still
alive.  And yes, I have been helped out, myself, when I broke a leg (after
having bivouacked overnight on the trail until someone came along), but that
was a different story.

One of my favorite dumb scenes was one year the Washington Post ran an
article on where to enjoy the Fall colors w/o the SNP traffic jams.  They
listed a number of great viewsheds with driving direction to the trailhead,
but w/o any walking distance or elevation change information from that
point.  You should have seen/heard the folk who were totally unprepared to
walk any distance when a few yards from the car it dawned on them, or they
met hikers and asked for information.

Chainsaw

----- Original Message -----
From: Linda Benschop <lvb@syclone.net>
To: Orange Bug <orangebug74@yahoo.com>; Ron Winchester
<winchester@mail.unnet.com>; AT-List <at-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2001 7:06 AM
Subject: [at-l] Mislabeling bottles and hiker dumb "mistakes"


> Speaking of the importance of labeling a bottle when something else is in
> it:
>
> One of the last hikes, I put fuel (ETOH) into an empty water bottle and
did
> not label it.  Sure, I would remember which one it was!  But, waking up
with
> sleepers it my eyes, I reached for the *wrong* bottle and wiped my eyes
with
> the contents.  NOT a pleasant experience.  My friend had to use all of our
> precious water (on top of Blood where there is NONE) to rinse out my eyes.
> Luckily, no real damage...but quite a bit of pain!  And sure did feel
dumb!!
>
> Hmmm...interesting topic.  What was the "dumbest" hiker related thing YOU
> ever did??  NOW confess!!!
>
> Something like burning yourself....right, OB??
>
> Hummingbird
>
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