Tragedy On The Trail

[jdmidwest]

The Ozark trail maps clearly put the total roundtrip distance at app. 16 miles. Too much for one day with young children.

I wonder if he had a map. It would appear from this map that at Mile 93.5 he could have went down the "Missouri Branch" creek hollow along a rough logging road. This would have got him "out of the woods" so to speak. Yes, possibly flash flooded but structures are shown on the map in near vicinity. If I was in trouble at that point that's likely what I would have done.

Did he have a map? I haven't seen this referenced. To be on a 16 mile hike without a map, not good.

I have not seen any references to any preparation other than a flashlight and some food. Light clothing, not weather proof.

[Mark]

Hindsight is 20/20, but hard to imagine taking an 8 and 10 year old on a 16 mile hike in the winter without better preparation. Lots of tragic mistakes.

[mic]

Turns out the guy worked for DISA (DoD's agency that manages commerical circuits from base to base). Some of the guys at my place knew him, and he was a good guy and great father.

[LarrySTL]

Hypothermia can be a very sneaky thing.

Many years ago I was fishing Table Rock in the early spring with a friend in my boat. It was a 40-ish degree day and I was wearing a non-waterproof snow suit. After an hour or two a cold light drizzle started and I thought about putting my raingear on under the snow suit but didnt. An hour or two later I was pretty wet and disoriented but didnt realize it. We were just a few miles from the boat dock in an area I knew very well when my friend noticed I was staring at a lake map "trying to find" a particular main lake point that was about 200 yards from us. He asked me a few simple questions, was unimpressed with my answers ( since I didnt know anything about where I was or what we were doing ), and insisted on him driving my boat back to the dock immediately which I quite reluctantly agreed to.

At the boat dock we went into the office and I stood in front of a desk-size heater of some type, taking off several layers of damp clothes. It was about 20 minutes til I started to shivver and about an hour until I felt somewhat normal.

If I had been in the same situation and been alone, or if my friend hadnt been so insistent that we go in, it could have gotten really ugly. Now I am one of the guys with the space blanket tucked in a pocket if its not the middle of summer.

[jdmidwest]

I was not making light of the tragedy, just using it hoping to prevent something like this in the future. Some of my friends swear that I could live out of my vehicle for a week in any type of weather, but they have appreciated that also when I have stuff to spare.

On any trip, there is usually one change of dry clothes and rain gear close by. I hardly wear cotton any more, poly, wool, goretex are all staples. I have sit out in an open kayak in the pouring rain duck hunting and been so comfortable that my snoring irritates my buddy. But I will be the last to ever say it could not happen to me.

There was this one time at Baptist Access where I stripped down to jeans and a shirt and run up to use the pit toilet after fishing all day. Something happened and the door stuck, I was locked in, metal against metal froze in the 20 degree weather. I was able to get out after a little work prying the latch with my leatherman. But 20 degrees, night approaching, no warm clothing, food, or water, nobody really knew I was there, and chances of anyone coming along slim. I could have been toast if I had not gotten out.

[fishinwrench]

Dying in the $#itter..... now that would suck.

[Al Agnew]

Yeah, we can dissect all the mistakes he made, but really, it's easy to get complacent. The Ozarks are "friendly country" compared to many other parts of North America...no dangerous carnivores, no huge mountain ranges where you could get in trouble on talus slopes, seldom any extreme weather.

But you still have to be prudent. I don't depend upon GPS, but I ALWAYS have the best topo maps available whenever going on a hike anywhere but places where I've been to many, many times. I ALWAYS get the latest weather forecast, and prepare accordingly. I ALWAYS have more than enough water, and some high energy snacks, even on a short hike. "Roughing it" is never comfortable, and can obviously be dangerous. But it's the comfort factor that I really pay attention to. I don't go hiking to test my survival skills, I go to experience beautiful places in the most efficient way possible. And if I have kids along, then I plan the hike according to THEIR capabilities, not mine.

[jdmidwest]

Dying in the $#itter..... now that would suck.

Yep. Pretty bad in there, they had not wiped the seat down in a while. I had to start the encounter with a "hover". Trapped there overnight with the smell would have been tragic. I would have died from the methane buildup long before hypothermia set in.

[joeD]

A father died with his sons. Yet, apparently, this story is about YOU. And what YOU would've done. And what happened to YOU when such and such happened. Or YOU would never have done (fill in the blank). Little sympathy, lots of advise. Tsk tsking. (Haaaaaaaaaarrumph! He shoulda...I woulda... why didn't he...I can't believe..blah blah blah).

Don't believe me? Then look at how many times the pronoun "I" occurs in our responses.

It's always about us isn't it?

(yeah but, Joe, if the good guys had guns, it never would have happened)!

[fishinwrench]

A father died with his sons. Yet, apparently, this story is about YOU. And what YOU would've done. And what happened to YOU when such and such happened. Or YOU would never have done (fill in the blank). Little sympathy, lots of advise. Tsk tsking. (Haaaaaaaaaarrumph! He shoulda...I woulda... why didn't he...I can't believe..blah blah blah).

Don't believe me? Then look at how many times the pronoun "I" occurs in our responses.

It's always about us isn't it?

(yeah but, Joe, if the good guys had guns, it never would have happened)!

Well ! I can tell ya one thing for certain; An incident like this would never happen on MY watch because hiking 16 miles to a place that can easily be driven to in the car is beneath MY level of intellect and reasoning. And I wpuld hope that a USAF veteran/ Dept. of Defense guy is considerably smarter than ME.

Heading out like that with two 100+ lb. Kids and a dog of whom I would be solely responsible for ????

Hell, something as common and likely as a twisted ankle and you've got major problems. How far can you carry a 10 year old while encouraging the 8 y/o to keep up and keep the dog corraled...yet still expect to get home before dark? Puleeeze!

When you stop to think about it and put yourself in his (Dads) shoes you really gotta wonder if the real reason they headed out in the first place had NOTHING to do with an "enjoyable hike". More likely than not it was to escape a (typical family vacation style) ongoing verbal assault from you know who.

"He's been known to hunker down and wait out storms" she says.

Uhhhh hu, I bet he has. Poor basturd. LOL