[chumley]

Oct. 19, 2010-
Four hikers were rescued the same day last Friday in the Flagstaff area after a Search and Rescue Unit responded to two incidents, the Coconino County Sheriff's Office reported Tuesday.

The first call came in at 4:45 p.m. after two hikers reported they had lost the trail and had become disoriented. They started out at the Kachina Trailhead at Snowbowl and hiked their way toward the Weatherford Trail. The pair contacted 911 after they lost the trail on their return to the trailhead.

Search and Rescue volunteers were able to locate both hikers in good condition near First Gully and assisted them back to the trailhead.

According to a sheriff's press release, the second pair of hikers called 911 around 8 p.m. after they also could not find their way back to the trailhead and became disoriented.

Those hikers started out at Aspen Pike on Snowbowl Road. A deputy sheriff on Hart Prairie Road was patrolling the area when he used his siren and emergency lights to catch the hikers' attention. The hikers were then assisted by the deputy and Search and Rescue personnel to their vehicle on Snowbowl Road.

The Search and Rescue Unit urges hikers to be prepared for changing conditions, adding that there are areas in northern Arizona that do not have cellphone coverage. They recommend that hikers let someone know where they are going and what they will be doing so a search can be conducted if they do not return.

Question #1: Where is "Aspen Pike" on Snowbowl Road?

Question #2: How the pumpkin do you "lose" the Kachina Trail short of having a vision disability or a pretty good substance-abuse problem? Either way, hike downhill until you hit the Freidlein Prairie road. That trail is like pumpkin I-17!! This is not a situation that should require an emergency call.

[big_load]

Question #2: How the pumpkin do you "lose" the Kachina Trail short of having a vision disability or a pretty good substance-abuse problem? Either way, hike downhill until you hit the Freidlein Prairie road. That trail is like pumpkin I-17!! This is not a situation that should require an emergency call.

Darn good question. They probably weren't too skilled to begin with, and panic eroded whatever reasoning ability remained. Two separate pairs on the same day? That's just bizarre.

[hippiepunkpirate]

I want to know how you become disorientated up there. I mean, if you lost the trail there, you SHOULD realize it within, I don't know, 30 seconds or so. It should be a simple measure of walking downhill a ways...nope it's not there...walk back up hill a ways...oh, there it is. Seriously, out of anywhere to get lost....

[chumley]

Too bad you never see this headline in the news:
"Thousands of responsible and prepared hikers returned home without assistance today"

[joe bartels]

You are not lost until you are lost at which point you will know that you are lost.

These folks probably don't hike much and were out to see the Autumn foliage. It's like being a six year old kid going into a mall at Christmas. Getting to the toy store is a no brainer, getting out you find out your orientation skills aren't up to par. All the stores(trees) look the same and you can't remember which way you came in.

While most reading this may not get tired on such a hike, folks that don't get much exercise do easily at which point judgement skills deteriorate quickly.

BTW... was the last name Sedler?

[big_load]

judgement skills deteriorate quickly

This can't be emphasized enough. Most people cope fairly well with difficulty in their everyday lives, but loose their judgment altogether when the chips are down in an unfamiliar environment.

[azbackpackr]

Yes, people lose their way when they become disoriented.

Just sayin', vis-a-vis that other thread...

So, slap me next time you see me!

[chumley]

Yeah, I would like to have heard the actual 911 call or read the full rescue report.

My re-enactment of the situation goes something like Joe's: Hike a short way down the trail. See a nice grove of aspens off trail a bit. Hike down to see them up close. See another grove over there a ways. Go check em out. Maybe something else cool just over there. A couple of pictures. Turn around to come back. Don't find the trail. Realize its nearly sunset and you're wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and have only your nearly-dead camera battery to keep you warm and no food or water. Better call 911 now rather than let this turn into a night on the mountain.

[BobP]

BTW... was the last name Sedler?

No... he would of been found close to the trail sitting in a comfy chair .

[chumley]

Just sayin', vis-a-vis that other thread...

I noticed that too. I see that one a lot. (Or is it alot? ) But I decided not to bring it up since he wasn't an active participant in that thread...

[azbackpackr]

I see a lot of things a lot. It is like having a disease. It jumps out at me on the page. I have tried to train myself to ignore it. However, someone ELSE recently brought up the topic...

Anyway BACK ON TOPIC, the scenario above sounds very plausible, something that could happen to non-hikers who are out walking around on and off trails. I say "non-hikers" because I don't presume to call someone a "hiker" just because they happen to be walking on a trail. A "hiker" has some skills and knowledge, or I am not going to acknowledge them as such. Call me a snob, I don't care.

[Jim_H]

As the god that I am, I walked that trail at night from just above the burn scars to Snowbowl, back in September of 2008. I' ll never get how anyone can get lost on the Peaks, but if it's your first time out it is your first time out. The 6 year old in tha mall is a perfect analogy. The question is, did they have the permits they needed to leave the Ski area boundary? No, but seriously, we'll have a flurry of those reports in a few months, snow level permitting.

The headline should have read: Two Groups of Urban Strollers Rescued on Heavily Traveled Trail.

[azbackpackr]

It reminds me of when the media referred to the woman who started the Rodeo Fire as a "hiker." If that broad was a hiker, then I'm Queen of England.

[joe bartels]

Man you are cold. Her vocabulary probably is not up to snuff for you either

[chumley]

I don't see where Shakespearean references to snorting tobacco comes into this

[azbackpackr]

Oh, please, Joe. Do you know anything about that story? The woman started a fire to alert a news helicopter (which was reporting on the Chediski Fire) which then flew over her and fanned the flames, and picked her up. They reported it live. She wasn't lost at all, but her and her friend's car had broken down, and she was walking along a road to the highway to get help. They changed the story later that evening when they realized that she, plus that news helicopter, had started a huge fire, the Rodeo Fire, which soon merged with the Chediski Fire to become the state's largest wildfire in recorded history, at over 500,000 acres. They changed the story, said she was lost.

She should have gone to jail, just like the Chediski guy had to do. Heck, he had an even better reason to start his end of that fire than she did. He was out of a job and was a firefighter. Anyway, they called her a hiker, although as I recall, she was wearing flip flops. And illegally trespassing on the reservation.

500,000 acres, 400 homes. $50 million to fight it. 30,000 people evacuated (most of them to Eagar!). You don't want to get me started on Valinda Jo Elliott. She was NOT a hiker.

[joe bartels]

I heard it was staged by an English teacher

[hikeaz]

BTW... was the last name Sedler?

Anything for a helicopter ride I always say.....

[Alston Neal]

Oh, please, Joe. Do you know anything about that story? The woman started a fire to alert a news helicopter (which was reporting on the Chediski Fire) which then flew over her and fanned the flames, and picked her up. They reported it live. She wasn't lost at all, but her and her friend's car had broken down, and she was walking along a road to the highway to get help. They changed the story later that evening when they realized that she, plus that news helicopter, had started a huge fire, the Rodeo Fire, which soon merged with the Chediski Fire to become the state's largest wildfire in recorded history, at over 500,000 acres. They changed the story, said she was lost.

She should have gone to jail, just like the Chediski guy had to do. Heck, he had an even better reason to start his end of that fire than she did. He was out of a job and was a firefighter. Anyway, they called her a hiker, although as I recall, she was wearing flip flops. And illegally trespassing on the reservation.

500,000 acres, 400 homes. $50 million to fight it. 30,000 people evacuated (most of them to Eagar!). You don't want to get me started on Valinda Jo Elliott. She was NOT a hiker.

An interesting side note on this that will make you love Valinda even more. According to some of our biz friends.......they were pot hunters.
Didn't read much about that did ya?

[Rob del Desierto]

Hadn't heard that tidbit Alston.