HikeArizona.COM

Hahahahaha! This seems to be a combination of outrageous arrogance, along with somewhat ridiculous levels of stupidity, naïveté and ignorance. How much do you want to bet the Park won't even issue him a permit, let alone the Havasupais. I really hope we hear more about this...

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_19748002

In my youth, my greatest and best adventures were highly unreasonable... possibly a bit crazy. The standards for safety and the thoughts of what is necessary for safety vary through the decades. Life is terminal. Getting out the door is better than staying locked up behind it. The absolute percentages of dying on Everest remain far higher than trekking cross desert scapes, yet people continue to pay big bucks for that risk... and be admired for their efforts.

As a culture... as a species... we should celebrate the edges, not turn away from them.

What gives an experienced Canyon backpacker the right to comment, or to warn someone that what they plan to do is not going to work for them? That they need a lot more experience before trying it? Sheesh, sounds like the dad is just as clueless as the son. Glad he is not going to do it, anyway. Park wouldn't have given him the permits, anyway.

Shades of Gary Palmer. ;)

Gary Palmer is a criminal, though. But as far as I know, he is a competent backpacker. (Many of you may think that Palmer is just that guy who liked to hike the Canyon without a permit, and got busted for it...but that's not why I said he's a criminal. There's a lot more to that story...)