crazedlunatik

So recently my friend went hiking and ended up getting lost. He went on an unfamiliar yet well known trail and where he happened to go was pretty steep and when he got higher up there was snow. Due to the snow he had trouble locating the trail as everything looked familiar but nothing was recognizably the trail. It was 6:00 pm and he had no clue where he was but he managed to find a spot and make a call out. The day went from 65 to 30 degrees at night and he was dressed for the warmer temperatures. Plus with the snow, mud and the creek he accidentally trodged through as it got dark his feet were wet. Anyway he made it through the night and he was found the next morning. Which I am happy about as he is one of 3 friends I have in Oregon and is by far the closest. In the interviews this hardy looking rescue worker points out he was pretty high up there and it was disorienting with the snow and they could easily see how someone could get lost. In fact when they found him they told him it was the most intense rescue hike they had ever done. They had used almost all their water to get to him and all of them ended up needing to be air evac'd out as a result of no one having much water left. Anyway he got back and after he recovered I teased him a little but frankly I am glad he is alive. That was a very scary and dangerous situation that he found himself in. So today was his first day back at work after being all over the news up here and he got a lot of good hearted teasing and some people gave him powerbars and compasses. The thing about it is he did not do anything that stupid, he went for a hike and he happened to not turn around when he encountered snow. He figured it would only last a little while since he had already passed through several spots. Except this time it continued for a while and he found himself lost. Luckily he had a cell phone.

The reason I am mentioning this, besides that it was a big event for me and that I finally had a blog to write, was that all these people are putting in their two cents. They act all high and mighty but here is the thing, we are all human and humans make mistakes. Why spend time ridiculing people. At least he got off the couch and away from the computer. These people that do all the "What an idiot!' kind of posing or comments are such a waste of space. Didn't your mom teach you to only say nice things? You don't know what happened but you are an expert on how dumb someone else is? Grow up.... if you are going to mock someone at least be clever. Don't just repeat stupid things other people said. He was lost and freaked out. He needed help and he called for it. That is why rescue is there. He did not go and try to do something like kayak off Niagara Falls. He went for a hike that hundreds maybe even thousands will try later this summer. The danger was real.... someone died yesterday while hiking on Mt. McKinley. Experienced hikers get lost too. Sometimes they die but this time he didn't. If you ever find yourself thinking "Well they deserve to die because they were stupid" stop. Think about all the things that get done do to humans ability to push the limits and realize we would never have made it this long if sometimes we didn't screw up and instead of quitting decide to try all over again.

I guess the older I get the more sentimental and peace seeking I become. Anyway I am putting my soapbox back in the closet