Four more hikers stranded in the GSMNP

“Dear idiots,

We here at thebackpacker.com would like to enlighten you on the finer points of the art of backpacking. By following our advice you will be able to journey safely into the wilderness to commune with nature and return unharmed. You will also learn the proper methods for carrying alcohol into the backcountry and meet many "interesting" people. So please come on over to www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk where we can help you to progress from lowly idiots to full fledged backpacking whacko's.

Sincerely,

TownDawg”

“Shultz don't exist.. and the only Hendrick is a Sean. A lot of stuff about Hendrick Motorsports though.. might be his dad.”

“Hello, Ivan Saldarriaga. I realize you don't know me, but your recent trip to GSMNP sparked a lot of discussion in the backpacking community.

We are glad to hear that Matthew Shultz is going to be fine, and glad that you, Brian Hendrick and Ryan McCall are going to be around to tell some good stories about your escapade. Which brings me to my request.

There are several of us that would love to talk with you further, and hope you will consider logging onto TrailTalk, a message board for backpackers.

http://www.thebackpacker.com (click on TrailTalk)

Yes, we'd already talked about you quite a bit, but please don't be offended. Most of us have survived similar challenges with the winter elements, and your story brought a lot of those experiences back to us.

I hope the four of you will consider logging onto the site. We'd love to have you.”

“hehe.. I love Bison's version though.”

“before you invite them maybe they would like to make a donation?

To help offset the cost of providing search and rescue services, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has established a Search and Rescue Fund. This fund is used exclusively for the purchase of SAR equipment, emergency medical equipment, and providing advanced training to Park Ranger Search and Rescue personnel. If you would like to help the park continue to provide these much needed services send your tax-deductible donation to:

Great Smoky Mountain National Park
Search and Rescue Fund
107 Park Headquarters Road
Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738

Or take a course?

Introduction to Search & Rescue Management
This workshop is an introduction to the management skills involved in conducting land search and rescue operations. It involves the use of the National Incident Command System used by the majority of land managing agencies. “Table Top” searches will be completed by teams in a classroom environment. Instructor: Joe Kelley.
Course #254956 Fee: $49
Sat., July 30, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet in the training room at Sugarlands Visitor Center.)
last edited: 3/10/05 9:56:09 AM”

“Dear Stalker,

I realize that I had a harrowing experience in the wilderness but that does not mean that I would like every southern redneck who wants to stick it in my backside sending me an invitation to chat on the internet...”

“lmao!!!!!”

“LMAO Bison!”

“"Hello stupid gringo. My father, the Colombian drug lord, is sending men to kill you now. Hope you enjoyed life on this earth, chulo..."”

“ok ok. i won't send it..

it wuld be soo funny though.”

“I hate people that cater to my paranoid side.”

“aWw. screw it.. I sent it anyway.”

“Experience is a harsh enough teacher.”

“Well, hopefully, at 18-21, these guys are learning that you need to do some research before venturing out into the unknown!

Great thread everyone... And TownDawg, I hope they take you up on the offer and check out TT! :-) They should be glad that they didn't lose their friend and that people took the time to help, vs. walking away and saying "That's none of my business."

:-)”

“At some point or another, we are all newbies and go through some ridiculously "obvious" errors in judgement...

The problem is that when you are in your late teens/early 20s, you feel like you are invincible and sensibilities tend to be thrown out over the excitement of a new adventure...Hopefully, they will have learned a valuable lesson, both in the errors of their actions and also in the kindness of strangers... It would be great if they can do the research to prepare themselves for a safer and more rewarding trip in the future, and if they are able to pass their experiences on to others in the future...
last edited: 3/10/05 10:11:35 AM”

“The problem is that when you are in your late teens/early 20s, you feel like you are invincible and sensibilities tend to be thrown out over the excitement of a new adventure.
last edited: 3/10/05 11:11:35 AM”
pinkbubelz
11:11:15 AM
3/10/05

Ahhhhhhhh. College. The times I had. The things I did, glove or not. Usually not. I know better now.............................usually.”

“I'm still hopin' no one shows up one day on my doorstep with a 7 or 8 year old kid who looks like me...”

“lmbo!!..

ya.. for real, bison.. I have those thoughts occasionally too.”

“Bison!!!!!!!!!”

“Oh, I almost forgot this little tidbit.

When I got home yesterday, I recounted the story of these hikers to my family, explaining what happened and how they went wrong. After I mentioned that they were hiking in blue jeans, my daughter piped up and said "At least they weren't wearing shorts!"”

“Blue jean shorts.”

“Back in the 70's that what people hiked in, jeans.”

“Sooooooooooooooooooooo Bison, what are the odds? I mean, since you're still sweating it then the odds must be high, yes?

ENS - 70'3 was before they were born. Are you saying they might be into "retro-hiking"?
last edited: 3/10/05 11:29:56 AM”

“I saw these guys that walked out on Channel 13 Asheville, NC last night. They appeared to be healthy, not overweight, and dressed in clothes that seemed suitable for the hike. Something must have happened to the fourth guy, the one they airlifted out. This story has probably been blown way out of proportion as to what really happened. Let's cut the guys some slack.
>
Everyone of us has done a dumb thing or two in our lives. When I was 24 I and a friend once decided to walk 5 miles to the base of a 13,900 ft Colorado mountain and then climb it. There wasn't any technical climbing involved so I didn't have a pack, or rain gear.no nothing. All we had were 2 oranges and one quart of water. I was wearing jeans, a cotton long handle top, and a cotton flannel shirt. My friend baled half-way up but I kept on and had gained the summit ridge. All I had to do was walk 500 kinda horizontal feet to the top. But this was July and a very violent thunderstorm came up. Lightening was popping off all over the place. All I could do was hunker down with my back to the rain and marble sized hail. When the lightening died off a tad I beat a hasty retreat off the mountain. Never reached the top.
>
At the time I didn't think a thing about it. It was fun. Looking back it was a dicey adventure. But I wouldn't trade the memories for the world and I still want to climb that mountain. (Mt Ouray at O'Haver Lake.)”

“I'm not gettin' in any more trouble than I'm already in...”

“Cut them slack? Here???????????????? I think I've seen worse treatment here for people who died in the wilderness. At least these guys survived.


Bison, if you can't think before you type then how bad are you while Drinking?

Next time I drink with you guys I'm gonna keep my mouth shut and just wait for it! LOL!”

“I disagree with you about the clothing though.

I saw t-shirts with some cheap cotton overgear..

Not the first sign of raingear, windbreak, or any technical clothing. Even the boots looked like street gear to be honest.
last edited: 3/10/05 11:41:50 AM”

“

"...ideal for navigating both offices and wet sidewalks."
last edited: 3/10/05 11:47:08 AM”

“And What's wrong with hiking in jean shorts?


”

“lmbo.. sweet.”

“





I'm not complaining though. I've been fortunate of having several occasions of being GLAD I'm a slow hiker.”

“nm
last edited: 3/10/05 12:29:11 PM”

“there was an interview with the PA hikers on NPR on my way home. Not much detail though. The guy said all of the NC hikers seemed to be hypothermic and that they were all in wet clothing and they knew they had to act fast. 2 of the PA guys (go PA!) had training in back country first aide and they stayed back with the NC hikers while the others went for help.”

“well the bottom line.. is that if you watch the video.. you can see what they had on.. one guy was even still shivering the whole time the camera was on him..

its like a t-shirt.. and a jacket.. wow.. you KNOW they froze their butt off.”

“Memphishiker send me or Chili an email and we will make plans on meeting you somewhere!”

“Before you guys go all out and send lovey invites to these frigid guys, why don't we just wait 'til something similar happens to a group of young college gals..... then we'll all invite'em to some TT trips for some learnin. Don't we need to be "improving" the gender pool, instead of hurtn'it!”

“racquetball club eh?...that's where Ivan gained the survival skills, and will to live. If only young Matthew was a member of such a club...hell, even chess club could have had him limping out under his own power.

College intermural...geeks who like semi-sports...LMAO...jk”

“"The Park sees about 50 to 60 such search and rescues a year, Miller said."

"All except Hendricks, who attends the University of Virginia, are freshmen at North Carolina State in Raleigh."

"'Basically we weren't prepared enough,' said McCall. 'We didn't do our homework. A combination of mistakes led us to getting into trouble. ...'
Rain set in on Monday as the men hiked between Spence Field and Derrick Knob, and soaked their gear and cotton clothing."
Four hikers rescued”

“Before you guys go all out and send lovey invites to these frigid guys, why don't we just wait 'til something similar happens to a group of young college gals..... then we'll all invite'em to some TT trips for some learnin. Don't we need to be "improving" the gender pool, instead of hurtn'it!”
naked ape
6:27:35 PM
3/10/05

We get them to invite coeds. Once out in the woods, their young testosterone will take over, their chests will puff out, and they won't listen to anyone.

History will repeat itself, they'll have to get dumbass-evac'd out, and we'll be left with the coeds.”

“Now you're thinking.”

“I remember the days when I started hiking...the gear that I had sucked...It could have been me out there stranded...the thing that saved me was FEAR...fear of getting myself into trouble, with regards to weather, conditions, experience, and the unexpected...so that is why I started with 2 nights then, 4 nights then a week, then Mt. Whitney, the Smokys, Mt. Rainier, Death Valley, Brice, Zion, etc, now back to the Smokys for a 7 nights...but I can gaurentee...I will overpack and will get out alive all due to FEAR....you need to fear things in order to prevail....I do not fault these men for their efforts..however, I do fault them for the lack of FEAR...Anyway...We leave Saturday and thru hike from New Found Gap to Lake Shore Drive...50 some odd miles...yeah we are taking our sweet time....Stay safe....”

“i say not too be so harsh. i grew up right outside the mountains there and yes everyone knows it can change overnight but sometimes it doesnt even snow! ALOT of times this time year it dosent become a blizzard overnight!! and it can turn out to be pretty damn warm! so they werent experinced hikers like some of yall but at least they were trying. NOT EVERYONE OWNS $300 EQUIPMENT AND CAN SHOP AT REI. and what about those hikers who do the whole trail w/ hardly anything. these guys are just some college students wanting to have an outdoor trip instead of bikinis and sand. everybody seems to be calling them stupid and pretty much saying they deserved it for not being perfectly prepared.. but as a not so SUPER EXPERIENCED person myself i feel for these guys. i bet it was somthing horrible and scary. thank god for the other hikers and the park service. who says next time you are out you dont forget to be perfectly prepared or forget somthing, or somthing eats all your food, or you get hurt. i hope we dont call you stupid.”

“you know what TOWNDAWG you sound like a jerk. i usally am not like this.... but i hope somthing happends to you on the trail so we CAN ALL LAUGH AT YOUR SORRY ASS. but wait......... I"M SURE YOUVE NEVER DONE ANYTHING WRONG IN YOUR LIFE!”

“sunnidbean - It's one thing to take all the normal precautions and end up in a bad situation, It's a whole other deal to go into it unprepared as they were. It doesn't cost $300 bucks to load up on non-cotton clothing for the backcountry. Going into the mountains, in winter, in cotton, is asking for it.”

“I would take bikinis and sand over a Winter trip in GSMNP any day. So yes, they are stupid.

Although, I'm not SUPER EXPERIENCED. But I'm taking the REI REALLY EXPERIENCED class as soon as I save up the $200. After I complete that I will be eligible for the SUPER EXPERIENCED class.

TD is not a Jerk, you are, you, you, you big Moron!
last edited: 3/11/05 12:02:38 PM”

“ok so i feel bad for saying that. see i'm a nice person. so i apolgize TOWNDOG i was taking it all out on you cause you can be mean. but still you guys should be nice.”

“Male or Female?”

“So, does sunnidbean sound like they're a sophpmore in high school or what?”

“Male Sophmore or Female Sophmore?”

“Um, yah.”