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Re: [at-l] Murdered Hikers

In a message dated 96-12-18 17:38:36 EST, you write:

<< Felix wrote:
 snip...I felt almost relieved to find that they in 
 fact were not thru-hikers. ...End Snip
 
 It is similar to the reports on plane crashes on the other side of the world
 where if no Americans were on board, no one cares.  It doesn't affect us as 
 much if the victims were not members of the tribe. >>
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I personally was relieved to read that these women were not thru-hikers
because it is one less rumor to add to the erroneous myth that "thru-hikers
get murdered a lot", which is an actual quote from a townsfolk in TN that I
met.  Thanks to Backpacker mag., the myth seems to have been perpetuated by
this incident.

This is similar to a plane crash in one regard: it is a fate for which the
statistics say "Relax" but the paranoia and (perhaps) the feeling of
helplessness that some may experience says "Yikes".  It's like worrying about
getting struck by lightining.

I'd like to know the stats on the number of people who have been killed by a
falling tree on the trail.  It wouldn't suprise me to find that this is a
more common fate for all hikers, thru and otherwise.

Horus 
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