[at-l] Appalled, was Whites Incident & Cell Phone

[thornel@attglobal.net (W F Thorneloe)]

Pardon me, but my comment was to counter a speculation that he was
depressed and that depression led to risky behavior. My full note indicated
that the stressors of the past year possibly led him in to increased risk
of injury or illness. It is possible that he was self destructive, but
nothing I've read about the man would endorse such an opinion. Such an
opinion would have as little credibility as the opinion he slackpacked or
depended on cell phones for safety, perhaps less. I agree with your
sensitivity to such speculation.

The bottom line is that he was injured and encountered adverse
weather/trail conditions. Persistant attempts at rescue failed. A family
member died.

OrangeBug

At 10:55 AM 10/14/2002 -0400, rick boudrie wrote:
>This guy was part of the Trail family.  Perhaps I might be overly sensitive,
>but when people who know very little about the situation, be they a
>Psychiatrist or just a hiker, start speculating as to "suicide by trail" and
>the man's depression, that seems to go way over the line.