After nearly three weeks of surviving in California鈥檚 backcountry, Ron Dailey is finally home.

The 65-year-old hunter was supposed to be gone for a day of hunting when he set out on October 13 in the Sierra National Forest on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains. But after he took a wrong turn, Daily got lost. And eventually, his 2002 Dodge Dakota pickup truck broke down, stranding him in the wilderness.

He spent 20 days alone in the California wilderness鈥攊t wasn鈥檛 until November 1 that聽passersby found him. Dailey was found on the off-road vehicle route, Swamp Lake Trail, a high-elevation mountain route located about 100 miles northeast of Fresno, reported the Fresno County Sheriff鈥檚 Office on .

While search and rescue teams canvassed the backcountry for him, he was running out of gas for his car heater.

Dailey didn鈥檛 have a reserve of food, either. He managed to stretch less than a day鈥檚 worth of food across nearly three weeks.

In a video interview with the California television outlet , the 65-year-old Dailey, who hails from the town of Selma, California,聽described his harrowing tale of survival. Because he was planning to be home in time for dinner, Dailey brought just 900 calories of food. To sustain himself, he rationed every day with 鈥渁 little piece of beef jerky鈥� and 鈥渟even to eight nuts.鈥� He drank from a nearby spring, which is what he largely credits for his survival.

鈥淚 think the water is what sustained my life,鈥� he said.

Dailey also described the incident that prompted his predicament. He took a wrong turn, lost his phone, and his truck broke down.

“I went over this thing, and it was scraping bottom. I looked up the tree in front of it [and] it said Diamond Road, jeep road. That means you’d better have a rock crawler. I don’t have a rock crawler,” he told Fox26.

As the weeks ticked by, Dailey said that self-talk and prayers helped him survive.

“You either try to walk out or you’re going to sit here and die,鈥� said Dailey.

Each day, Dailey would leave his vehicle looking for help. On the day of his rescue, Dailey said that he had walked for about eight hours in search of help. When he returned to his truck, which he was using as a shelter amid the聽wintry conditions, he started a fire. It was at this point that he saw the headlights of a suburban pull up near him.

“I can’t hardly walk anymore, Lord, you gotta help me Father God,” Dailey said. “I raised my head up, there was a car with headlights on and I went ‘Oh God, thank you Lord.'”

Two men got out and began shouting his name, eventually driving down to Dailey鈥檚 location and embracing him in hugs.

In response to his successful recovery, Dailey has vowed to quit hunting, saying that he made a deal never to kill another animal.

The post A California Hunter Went Missing Nearly Three Weeks Ago. He Was Just Found Alive. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

A hiker was evacuated by air on October 29 from the rugged and remote Kalalau Trail in Hawaii after he was 鈥渦nable to hike out due to a rapidly worsening infection from an apparent spider bite,鈥� wrote the Kauai Fire Department (KFD) in a .

The hiker, a 57-year-old local from Kauai, survived the ordeal.

The is a challenging 22-mile round-trip trek from Ke鈥檈 Beach to Kalalau Beach, offering the only access to the rugged coastline of the renowned Napali Coast. Characterized by emerald-hued cliffs, towering waterfalls, and dramatically lush valleys, this region is difficult ot access and even more testing to hike through.

KFD said the department received a text-to-911 message from the hiker, who reported that an infection from a spider bite had spread. He was experiencing fever and weakness, and couldn鈥檛 be safely evacuated.

L墨hu鈥榚 Fire Station responded just after the text came in at 9:45 A.M. Rescuers evacuated the hiker from Kalalau trail, which is located on the northern side of the island, to a softball field located in Waimea, on the southern half of the island. First responders, who arrived at Kalalau Beach, said the hiker could walk but was 鈥渋n visible distress.鈥�

After a medical assessment, the hiker was transported to a local hospital for further medical care.

Meghan Wright, public information officer for the Office of the Mayor, told 国产吃瓜黑料 that the Kaua’i Fire Department conducted the rescue and initial medical aid before transferring the patient to American Medical Response for further care. The patient鈥檚 condition is currently unknown.

Although there are many types of spiders in the Hawaiian Islands, there are two species that can be particularly dangerous to humans: the brown widow and southern black widow, according to the .

鈥淭hough rare, spider bites do occur. Your risk of being bitten increases if you live in areas where there is clutter and debris or if their habitat has been disturbed. Widow spiders prefer warm climates and dark, dry places,鈥� writes the department on its website.

When bitten by the southern black widow, the spider鈥檚 venom attacks the nerve endings in muscles that can cause severe pain and muscle cramps at the source of the bite, which can then spread throughout the body. However, only females can bite鈥攎ales are too small, writes the .

Named for their coloring, the less-aggressive brown widow spiders are considered by the in California to be minor compared to the black widow. It鈥檚 theorized this is because the brown widow isn鈥檛 able to inject as much venom as its larger relative.

Brown widow and bold jumping spiders, which measure only a half-inch in size, also have painful bites that can produce redness, swelling and blistering.

If bitten by a spider, the Hawaii Department of Health advises hikers to remain calm and identify the spider, if possible. Bites should be cleaned with soap and water, and cool compresses can help to reduce swelling. If an infection appears to persist, contact your healthcare provider.

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More than 20 hikers needed to be rescued from the flanks of Mount Washington in New Hampshire after wintry conditions swept across the famed peak on Saturday, October 25.

Officials that many of the hikers were not prepared for the 鈥渇ull winter conditions鈥� that they encountered. The hikers, whose names have not been released, were taken to lower elevations aboard the Mount Washington Cog Railway, a rack-and-pinion railway that runs along the mountain and offers tours.

Rescuers say the hikers鈥� lack of preparedness serves as an important reminder of the dangers and unpredictability that can arise in the backcountry.

鈥淢any [of the hikers] were hypothermic and without gear, even near suitable for the conditions. Most had no idea that summit services would be unavailable and that the state park was closed for the season. A few indicated it was their first hike ever,” Andy Vilaine, railway assistant general manager, on Facebook. Vilaine is also a conductor and was part of the Mount Washington rescue.

Mount Washington sits at an elevation of 6,288 feet, and because the surrounding region is very low-lying, it is one of the most topographically prominent summits in the country. This, along with a range of climatic and geographic factors, means that temperatures and winds on the peak are frequently extreme, and weather conditions can change rapidly. For nearly a century, Mount Washington鈥檚 summit held the world record for the strongest wind ever recorded at 231 miles per hour.

鈥淪ummits at or certainly above 4,000 feet have full winter conditions. This should come as a surprise to no one,鈥� Vilaine said.

The Mount Washington Cog Railway typically runs year-round, but after mid-October, the peak鈥檚 summit facilities, which are part of , are shuttered. From this point until mid-May, the railway carries visitors to a lower point, Waumbek Station at 4,000 feet, instead of continuing to the summit. According to the railway鈥檚 dedicated , 鈥渂y the last week of October, sub-arctic conditions make the summit inhospitable to casual visitors.鈥�

鈥淢ultiple people have arrived at the summit the last few days very unprepared for winter and required assistance. Be 鈥榳ildly Responsible鈥� and please do some research on current higher summits weather and bring everything needed to hike in winter conditions or just hike another day,鈥� writes the New Hampshire State Park on Facebook.

Even in the summer months, Mount Washington sees extreme weather. In June, 国产吃瓜黑料 reported that a hypothermic woman was rescued from the summit, also by the Cog Railway. At the time of the rescue, the summit was recording winds upwards of 120 miles per hour and temperatures of 20 degrees Fahrenheit. More than 150 hikers have died on Mount Summit since record-keeping began in 1849.

New Hampshire Fish and Game (NHFG) officials have begun levying fines on rescued hikers deemed to have entered the wilderness unprepared. Rescuers responded on October 19 to a hiker near the summit of Little Haystack, which is 4,760 feet high, who did not bring water, food, or a headlamp. The hiker will be charged for the rescue costs, according to the publication, . Another hiker who in May failed to bring a map or other navigation device, and later 鈥渁dmitted to rescuers that he was unprepared for the hike and failed to do proper research. They, too, will likely face similar charges.

Just one day after the mass rescue on Mount Washington, another hiker was saved on the peak, according to in New Hampshire. The individual called for help at 7:00 P.M. from just below the summit, telling rescuers that 鈥渉is phone and headlamp were dying and that he was unprepared for the low visibility, single-digit windchills, and snow he encountered above treeline.鈥�

The New Hampshire fines stem from a piece of legislation called , which states that 鈥渁ny person determined by the department to have acted negligently in requiring a search and rescue response by the department shall be liable to the department for the reasonable cost of the department’s expenses for such search and rescue response.鈥�

There are ways to avoid these penalties, however. New Hampshire is one of several states that sells annual , which hikers can purchase for $25 per person and $35 per family. According to the NHFG, 鈥減eople who obtain the cards are not liable to repay rescue costs if they need to be rescued,鈥� but 鈥渁n individual may still be liable for response expenses if the actions that created the need for the emergency response meet criteria set forth by legislation.鈥� Rescued parties deemed negligent are also exempt from charges if they possess a hunting or fishing license or an off-highway recreational vehicle, snowmobile, or vessel registration.

“Please don鈥檛 become a statistic and do your research before venturing out,鈥� Vilaine said. “Hike Mount Washington like it is any one of the other 48 peaks,鈥� wrote Vilaine, referring to New Hampshire鈥檚 48 peaks over 4,000 feet. 鈥淒o not assume services or a ride down. The summit is halfway.”

The post A Snowstorm Blew Over Mount Washington. More than 20 Hikers Were Trapped. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

It was past midnight when I woke up to movement. Matt was awake. I could barely make out his shape sitting in the tangle of the sleeping bag.

鈥淢att,鈥� I whispered. 鈥淢att, what鈥檚 wrong?鈥�

He groaned between gritted teeth, something about the sickness coming back.

My heart sank. Maybe he just has to puke one more time. Maybe he needs some electrolytes. Maybe he鈥檒l be fine in the morning.

But as he crawled in and out of the tent, laid down, sat up, grimaced, burped a sickly sweet stench into claustrophobic tent space, the situation solidified. He was very sick, and we were out in the national forest, very far from town.

Four weeks earlier, as Matt and I dragged our cycling gear through the Greyhound terminal in El Paso, Texas, my mind looped through everything that could go wrong in the upcoming 2,700 miles. We were about to start the Great Divide, a biking route that follows the Continental Divide from the U.S.-Mexico border, across five states, and up into Canada.

Despite the endless uncertainties of a long-distance bike trip, one thing I wasn鈥檛 concerned about was the remoteness. The Divide shares many of its miles with ATVs, dirt bikes, and campers. Towns dot the map and road crossings are frequent.

Once we began riding, my other fears seemed largely unfounded. We had some bike repairs in New Mexico, ran the gauntlet of snarling dogs on the outskirts of towns, and Matt had to perform minor surgery on his broken seatpost. Nothing that wasn鈥檛 easily fixed and nothing too far from a road crossing.

Early Signs of Distress

What didn鈥檛 resolve was my exhaustion and discomfort biking 12 hours a day鈥攁nd how this effort ended up impacting Matt鈥檚 body. By the time we鈥檇 cycled 1,300 miles to Wyoming鈥檚 Great Basin, I weighed the same as when we started, while Matt looked absolutely skeletal.

His weight loss came into focus as we parked our bikes at a diner in Atlantic City, Wyoming. His shoulder blades cut lines under his shirt, his face pulled taut over sharp cheekbones.

I gaped. 鈥淵ou look really skinny. How much weight have you lost?鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 fine,鈥� he said, grabbing his Ziplock travel wallet. 鈥淚 just need to eat more in town.鈥�

I inhaled my double cheeseburger in five bites, but Matt pushed his plate away.

The 100 miles from Atlantic City to Pinedale, Wyoming was the first time Matt rode behind me. At one point, he fell so far back I thought I鈥檇 taken a wrong turn. In town, he faceplanted onto the motel bed and slept for the rest of the day.

That night, he was so violently ill there was no way we were riding out the next day. He spent all night on the bathroom floor, and in the morning looked even more gaunt. I could see every rib, the hollows above his collarbone, all fat leeched from his body.

We took a full day off to let him recover, but he got up the next morning and started packing his bike bags.

鈥淎re you sure you鈥檙e good to leave?鈥� I asked, studiously ignoring my own exploded stuff sacks.

鈥淲e need to keep going,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e taken almost two days off.鈥�

I鈥檓 tempted to say the spiral started in this Pinedale motel room, but realistically, it had been going downhill for a while. Matt had been getting sicker for hundreds of miles, and my confidence from my perceived underperformance had eroded to the point where I鈥檇 stopped trusting my instincts. It was a frog in boiling water scenario, happening slowly enough that we didn鈥檛 notice our poor positioning. If I鈥檇 been in a better headspace or felt better on the route, I might have demanded we stay another day or see a doctor. Instead, we rode out of town.

We biked side by side past fields of cows with the Wind River Range rising in the distance. We rode through an RV campground and onto the rutted Union Pass Road, which straddles the Continental Divide. Matt kept up, and I felt cautiously optimistic. We pulled over 50 miles later at Mosquito Lake, deep in Bridger-Teton National Forest. We hadn鈥檛 seen anyone in hours and were surprised by the tidy tow-behind parked on the other side of the lake. We waved hello and unloaded our bags.

I read a book while Matt chatted with the tow-behind’s owner near the water. I told myself to calm down, that his illness was a short-but-violent stomach bug. Sometime after dark, I fell asleep.

A Sharp Pain in the Middle of the Night

That night, I awoke to the sounds of Matt groaning and thrashing in his sleeping bag. The hours dragged and he continued to deteriorate to the point of delirium. Any hope that he would feel聽well enough to bike out faded.

My brain spiraled. I wish we hadn鈥檛 left Pinedale. I wish we were in a motel. I wish I weren’t in charge. I wish I didn鈥檛 have to figure out what to do. I wish we weren鈥檛 here.

Valid wishes, but not helpful. Think about how to get out of here, I told myself.

I snapped the map open, scanning for the next major road crossing. We had no cell service, but had passed a Forest Service cabin the day before (empty), and I saw a paved road ahead (far away). Pinedale was 50 miles behind us, the last populated campground at least 30. We were pretty stuck.

My mind didn鈥檛 go to calling search and rescue. Matt was sick, not injured, so I fixated on my thru-hiker instincts of hitchhiking. We just had to get to a road.

I laid out the options: I could bike back to the campground, or wait on the deserted road in hopes of a ride. We could wait out the sickness at Mosquito Lake, or see if the family could give us a ride in their truck.

If Matt had wrecked his bike, broken his collarbone, or been whacked by a car, the decision would be easy. Call for help, get to a hospital. Our situation felt muddier. He was so sick he couldn鈥檛 sit up, but still I doubted my instincts. Was I being dramatic? Could I just roll him back down Union Pass Road?

I vibrated with stress for three hours until dawn broke gray over the lake and I crawled out of the tent, peering through the trees. I stumbled through the wet grass into the adjacent campsite, a disheveled ghoul in Crocs and saggy base layers. The camper looked up, mouth agape.

I鈥檇 envisioned retaining some dignity, but any semblance of composure vanished and what came out of my mouth was a garbled, pleading explanation between hiccuping sobs.

The man, whose name was Mike, looked startled and confused. Then he shook his head.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 get you out of here鈥� my family is in the camper, the truck is entirely full.鈥�

I sank onto a log and put my face in my hands.

鈥淗ang on one second.鈥� Mike went to his truck and returned with an orange plastic brick. It was the same Garmin inReach Matt and I had decided to leave home the month before. Populated route, lots of road crossings, bulky device, small bike bags. Hindsight is 20/20.

鈥淟et me message my mom,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he might be able to call the Forest Service to get you a ride.鈥�

I thanked him profusely and hurried back to our tent.

Calling for Rescue in the Middle of Nowhere

Matt nodded at my update, eyes glassy. It was around 6 A.M. I sat down to grind my teeth and wait.

Mike came to our campsite a half hour later. They鈥檇 connected with Pinedale, but the Forest Service couldn鈥檛 help.

I felt myself crumble.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to clear out the truck,鈥� Mike said, 鈥淚 think we can fit you in there.鈥�

He came back after a few minutes. Pinedale had contacted Teton County Search and Rescue; they were sending a crew from Jackson Hole.

During all those hours, calling search and rescue hadn鈥檛 occurred to me. With that clarity came a flash of regret and shame: Even if I鈥檇 wanted to call, we didn鈥檛 have our own satellite messenger.

The rest of the morning was a waiting game that tested my shattered nerves to the breaking point.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think they鈥檙e coming,鈥� Matt said weakly at one point. I feigned confidence, but this wasn鈥檛 Uber Eats; I couldn鈥檛 track their progress.

Finally, around 11 A.M., a faint hum came through the trees, growing louder as I jogged to meet Teton County鈥檚 tricked-out, emergency-emblazoned Polaris.

Any doubt that search and rescue was the right call vanished. The rescuers, named Ed and Andrew, listened as I explained the situation. They gave Matt a field evaluation and filed a report with Mike as I helped load our bikes onto the rescue vehicle鈥檚 rack.

Twenty minutes later, we began the multi-hour extraction to Jackson Hole. I stared at the trees we鈥檇 biked past the day before as Matt now lay pale and clammy across the back seat. It鈥檚 over, I thought. We鈥檙e getting out.

At the hospital, Matt was given IVs, a vague diagnosis of “something wrong with your stomach,鈥� and a $7,000 bill. He鈥檇 spend the next four weeks continuing to deteriorate at home before getting additional bloodwork and tests that showed three severe gastrointestinal infections: Giardia, campylobacter, and a viral infection. Along with this impressive triple threat, his body was deep in ketosis, burning any remaining fat stores and resulting in the sickening 鈥渒eto burps鈥� I鈥檇 smelled in the tent by the lake.

Any complex situation like this鈥攅specially with traumatic elements鈥攚ill have lingering effects. Our choice to leave and our lack of inReach made me question my complacency in the backcountry. Our relationship and communication also struggled. He was convinced I鈥檇 pressured him to leave Pinedale. I remembered him being impatient, saying we had to keep riding.

All I know is that Matt was severely ill and we needed an extraction. We are forever grateful to Mike and his family, along with Ed, Andrew, and everyone at Teton County Search and Rescue, for their skills, time, and kindness.

You go into the backcountry any number of times鈥�as I have before鈥攏othing happens. Then one day, you head out for a night that will end up completely falling apart. Some events are the ones that test you. We got lucky this time.

The post What It鈥檚 Like to Call Search and Rescue on Your Partner appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

When two Washington State hikers set out on October 19 for their day trip in the high-elevation Snoqualmie region, the weather was cold but otherwise pleasant. But soon after they began hiking, a cold-weather system passed over the region, dumping unexpected snow and prompting a rescue situation.

According to a report from the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office, rescuers responded to an SOS call shortly before 11 A.M. from the two lost hikers, whose names were not released. The two had become stuck in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area, roughly 90 miles east of Seattle.

鈥淥ver text-to-911, the pair reported they were lost, wet, and cold, with no shelter but a blue plastic tarp. They were unable to make their way off the snowy mountainside where they were perched,鈥� authorities wrote on Facebook.聽Because of the snowy conditions and rugged terrain, the agency also requested volunteers Kittitas County Search and Rescue, Seattle Mountain Rescue, and King County Search and Rescue.

The two hikers had lost their way in unexpected snow near Peggy鈥檚 Pond Trail, an 11-mile round-trip hike in the Snoqualmie region with 2,300 feet of elevation gain. With a high point of 5,600 feet, the difficult trail briefly joins the Pacific Crest Trail, according to the .

鈥淭he coordinated rescue team geared up and hiked five miles through challenging conditions to find the hikers, wet and cold but uninjured. They helped the pair off the slope and out of the wilderness,鈥� said the sheriff鈥檚 department.

Peggy鈥檚 Pond is located in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area in the Central Cascades Region of Washington state. Spanning approximately 394,000 acres with 47 trailheads and 615 miles of trail, it is a popular area for聽hikers, climbers, and other outdoor rec groups throughout the year, writes the U.S. Forest Service on its聽.

Recreating in alpine, high-elevation wilderness areas comes with risk鈥攅specially in late October, when temperatures can quickly plummet鈥攁nd rescue stories like these serve as a reminder that snowy conditions and extreme weather can roll in at any moment. Weather systems can move into an area without warning, sometimes in just a few minutes. Unexpected rain, thunderstorms, high winds, or snow can quickly turn an otherwise unassuming hike into a full-blown rescue scenario.

Heading into cooler months and temperature drops, officials are reminding adventurers to come prepared for anything.

鈥淎s we move deeper into fall, remember that mountain conditions can change fast. If you鈥檙e heading out, always carry the 10 Essentials and plan for how you鈥檒l stay warm and dry if your trip takes longer than expected,鈥� said Kittitas County Sheriff.

Those 10 essentials include:

• Navigation tools, like a map, compass, or GPS.
• Sun protection, such as sunglasses, sunscreen, and a hat.
• Insulation for a variety of weather conditions, which can include a jacket, hat, gloves, rain shell, and thermal underwear.
• Lumination for shorter days and less light. Make sure to bring a flashlight, lantern, or headlamp.
• First aid supplies that include any required medications.
• Fire starters like matches, lighters, and other fire starters.
• A repair kit for a variety of fixes, including duct tape, a knife, a screwdriver, and scissors.
• Nutrition and food.
• Hydration, such as hydration salts, as well as plenty of water and water treatment supplies
• Emergency shelter, like a tent, space blanket, tarp, or bivy.

The post A Rescue in Washington State Is a Reminder that Blizzards Can Pop Up When You Least Expect It appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

When I located Carl Cocchiarella on a hillside at 10,500 feet, after hiking for hours toward a blue dot on my phone, he was eating lunch in the shade of a large spruce, blended with the terrain like the savvy hunter he is. His $2,000 compound bow rested in the dirt. He chomped into a flour tortilla slathered in peanut butter while reclined next to his hunting partner, Teig Olson.

I would give you a rough idea of where we were, except Carl insisted I refer to the location only as 鈥渢he high country of Colorado.鈥� He explained why: 鈥淗unters are territorial, and they have guns.鈥� So did he: a Glock strapped to his hip, in case a large predator tried to move in on his kill. The prospect of him killing something, however, constituted a mighty if, considering this was Carl鈥檚 40th year as an archery hunter and he had never harvested an animal with an arrow.

It was early September 2024, the second day of Colorado鈥檚 bow season. Carl, a 65-year-old house painter from Vail, held elk and deer tags good for both sexes but so far had not seen any animals. The sun鈥檚 heat felt like it does in July. Carl had dark, greasy smudges on his cheeks to avoid detection by his targets, and was dressed in a camouflage long-sleeve hoodie and beige pants. He would have been nearly impossible to spot if not for his 75-liter azure backpack, which could only be camouflaged in an ocean.

Carl started hunting, with a rifle, in 1983, drawn by the idea of filling his freezer with meat. He harvested a large buck his first day out, downvalley from Vail. Then he got a bow and never went back to bullets. He still owns a very nice rifle and knows it would improve his chances. But harvesting on its own is no longer worth the concessions in style and pride鈥攁nd hasn鈥檛 been for decades.

Teig, a local electrician 24 years younger than Carl, has no problem making such concessions, even if his heart, like Carl鈥檚, belongs to his bow. Resting in the shade, Teig was camouflaged from his ballcap鈥攁 brown flat-brim that read 鈥淓lk Hunter鈥濃�攖o his boots, all 6 feet and 3 inches of him. He spoke only in whispers.

Sometimes Carl and Teig hunt with other people, but mostly they go with each other. Their relationship skews toward mentor-mentee鈥擟arl the self-deprecating sage, Teig the highly skilled understudy鈥攐wing to Carl鈥檚 experience in the mountains more than their respective hunting records. Quietly through the years, Carl had built an impressive list of conquests: he skied the Messner Couloir on Denali, riding out three nights in an ice cave at 17,000 feet; climbed the east ridge of Mount Logan, North America鈥檚 second tallest point, during a blizzard; made a first descent in Patagonia; summited three peaks in a season in Peru鈥檚 Cordillera Blanca; and kayaked the Grand Canyon.

He also survived a full avalanche burial on Vail Pass before transceivers were widely used; a thunderous slab in British Columbia that nearly washed him over a cliff鈥攕aved by a sapling that he grabbed at the last second; and a crevasse fall on Mont Blanc that left him dangling above death.

鈥淐arl gets a lot of good days because he鈥檚 not afraid of the bad days,鈥� says Scott Toepfer, a retired avalanche forecaster and one of his closest friends, summing up Carl鈥檚 approach to adventure.

Teig, meanwhile, grew up in the Vail Valley and started hunting as a grommet, following his dad through the forest with a rubber-band gun. He killed his first elk with a rifle when he was 12. As soon as he tried bow hunting, he says, 鈥淚 caught the fever.鈥� He found its intimacy鈥攎ost shots are taken within 40 yards鈥斺�渁ddicting. You only get one chance.鈥�

Over 16 seasons as an archery hunter heading into 2024, Teig had harvested four elk, including a 600-pound bull that fed his family for two years. That success rate was about two and a half times the 2023 average, which hovers around ten percent in Colorado and serves as one of the discipline鈥檚 chief deterrents. Teig鈥檚 father never got into bow hunting. 鈥淗e鈥檇 say, 鈥楴o, I鈥檓 not a vegetarian,鈥欌�� Teig recalls.

I had backcountry skied with Carl for years and often heard stories about his hunts, tinged with hints of hilarity. I also knew he avoided attention; allowing a reporter into his fold went against his ideology. He agreed to let me chronicle his season reluctantly.

More than simply accompanying him through the forest, I was here to see how Carl, a proud outdoorsman, self-made and successful, had lasted four decades in a sport built on results. How did he maintain his passion in the face of so much failure? And what life lessons might be buried within his futility?

Just downhill from their lunch spot, Carl and Teig made a plan in hushed tones that would take them back to camp by sunset. 鈥淚鈥檓 gonna go slow,鈥� Carl said. 鈥淚 might sit down.鈥� 鈥淭hat鈥檚 fine, Carl,鈥� Teig replied. Carl smiled. They fist bumped and tiptoed in opposite directions.

The post He鈥檚 Hunted for Elk for 40 Years but Hasn鈥檛 Killed a Single One. And That鈥檚 OK. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

It isn’t every day that the most famous story of human survival gets an update.

But the century-old tale of the Shackleton Expedition鈥攜ou know, one in which marooned sailors survived off of seal steaks for 589 days鈥攈as now received two major addenda in just three years.

The first came in 2022, when scientists aboard a research vessel located Shackleton’s ship,聽Endurance, at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, nearly 107 years after it was crushed by ice off the coast of Antarctica.

The second occurred on Monday, October 6, when some of the researchers from the 2022 journey in the publication Polar Record.

Using underwater images of Endurance’s crushed hull鈥攚hich has been preserved by the frigid water鈥攁s well as analysis of historic documents, the team concluded that Endurance wasn’t sturdy enough to survive the sea ice it encountered during the fateful journey. And Shackleton knew that his ship was too weak to survive the ice, they say.

“Endurance was not designed for compressive conditions in the Antarctic pack ice, but for easier conditions at the ice edge in the Arctic,” the study reads. “It is also evident from archive research that Shackleton was well aware of the weaknesses of聽贰苍诲耻谤补苍肠别听even before his expedition set sail for Antarctica.”

The finding pokes a proverbial hole in the long-held belief that Endurance was among the strongest craft of its day, but was undermined by a weak section of its hull near the rudder.

Does this update change the sheer impossibility of the Shackleton ordeal? Will it shift the way the story resonates with readers for generations to come? I have my doubts.

But the update may tweak the mainstream understanding of the man at the heart of the ordeal鈥攁nd the fateful decision he made to enter the pack ice off the coast of Antarctica.

Why We Love Shackleton

I’m a Shackleton fan, and over the years, have read several books and watched multiple documentaries on the expedition. No, I’m not immersed enough in the material to argue ship design and maritime decorum of the early twentieth century. But I do know why the Shackleton story grabs ahold of people all this time later.

People love this story because it includes elements of heroism, adventure, exploration, and leadership. Read one of the many books chronicling it, and you, too, will place yourself in the shoes of Ernest Shackleton, and wonder how the hell you’d navigate the twists and turns.

It’s the type of tale that persuades adults to cosplay as Victorian-era explorers and attempt to navigate a small boat in rough seas.

For those unfamiliar with Shackleton, a quick primer. In 1914, British explorer Ernest Shackleton led an expedition to complete the first land crossing of Antarctica. He and his crew set sail from England aboard 贰苍诲耻谤补苍肠别,听a Norwegian ship that was built to withstand the perils of Arctic sea travel鈥攏amely, the massive blocks of floating ice (more on that later).

Off the coast of Antarctica,聽Endurance became trapped by drifting pack ice鈥攇iant icebergs that form in the fall and winter. The ship remained stuck there for nearly eight months, until the fateful day when the pressure from the ice crushed it like a beer can in a hydraulic vice.

The crew spent the next five months living on the ice, eating seals and the sled dogs they had brought for the trip. But in the spring, the ice melted, forcing the crew to jump into their lifeboats and sail to a tiny island.

On the island, the crew found more seals to eat, but no way to call for help. So Shackleton and two others sailed one of the lifeboats, the James Caird,聽across 800 miles of ocean to South Georgia Island, where they then hiked across the frozen and mountainous interior to reach a whaling station. They launched a rescue mission, and 25 months after leaving England, everyone was rescued.

There are a ton of various twists and turns that I yada yada’d, of course, but you get the drift.

The Flaws of Endurance

The author of the Polar Record study is Jukka Tuhkrui, a Finnish ice researcher and naval architect who was part of the 2022 trip to discover the wreck of聽贰苍诲耻谤补苍肠别.听His report is long and thorough, and I recommend that any Shackleton completist read it from start to finish.

For those looking for the condensed version, here are the highlights. While plenty of Shackleton books have portrayed聽Endurance as one of the world’s strongest Arctic聽ships at the time, it simply was not.

The deck beams and frames were weaker than those of other Arctic ships made during that era, the study concludes. There were no diagonal support beams to strengthen the hull in key areas. The compartment that housed the engine was longer than that of other ships鈥攁nother design flaw that made it susceptible to squeezing.

These defects became apparent when the massive floes of sea ice trapped the ship and began pushing on it from all directions. Some vessels of that era were built to withstand this type of grinding pressure. But Endurance simply was not, researchers say.

“Not only does this challenge the romantic narrative that it was the strongest polar ship of its time, but it also belies the simplistic idea that the rudder was the ship鈥檚 Achilles鈥� heel,” .

Tuhkuri’s research includes letters from crew who described the ship’s sad demise.聽Endurance wasn’t crushed all at once, but instead ground down into a twist of wood and metal over the course of several weeks, like a rabbit in the clutches of a boa constrictor. Crew aboard the ship noticed that the engine room鈥攁 long and narrow chamber鈥攚as the weakest, and was where multiple beams buckled under the pressure of the ice.

Finally, Tuhkuri includes letters from Shackleton, sent before the crush, in which he kinda sorta acknowledges that Endurance may not be up to snuff.

“This ship is not as strong as the Nimrod constructionally this I have seen from her way of behaving when in a gale pressing against the dock wall here though there is nothing to be scared of as I think she will go through ice all right only I would exchange her for the old Nimrod any day now except for comfort,” Shackleton wrote his wife, Emily, referencing a ship from one of his previous voyages.

Does This Change the Importance of Shackleton?

Since the report was published, Shackleton fanatics like myself have had to ask ourselves a seminal question: does this new research change our fascination with the story?

After a day of pondering, I have personally concluded: no, not really. My favorite elements of the Shackleton story involve the camaraderie of the sailors, the perilous journey of the聽James Caird,聽and, yeah, all of the seal hunting. Shackleton is like a聽Family Guy episode, only for survival. The piling on of hurdles, unforeseen challenges, and calamities is almost ridiculous. Yet, despite the ice, the waves, the wind, and the lack of food, these guys made it out alive.

Why Endurance sank鈥攁 weak rudder or poor hull鈥攊s somewhat superfluous to the elements of the tale that I love the most.

But I can see how the discovery may shift people’s opinions of Ernest Shackleton and his decision to sail Endurance into ice floes during the early stages of the voyage. The enduring narrative of Shackleton is that he believed himself to be behind the wheel of an impenetrable machine, but the forces of Mother Nature were simply too strong for the best of what mankind could muster.

His tale has become a proverb for any outdoor fanatic who, despite all of the proper planning and preparation, is undone by forces more powerful than him or herself. Well, maybe Shackleton is a little closer to the rest of us than history led us to believe.

“We can speculate about financial pressures or time constraints, but the truth is we may never know why Shackleton made the choices that he made,” Tuhkuri concluded. “At least now we have more concrete findings to flesh out the stories.”

What we do know: Shackleton took a calculated risk that we can now better understand. Was he reckless? Up for debate.

Those of us who have driven a Subaru up the ATV road, left the tent’s rain fly at home, or walked along the trail not marked on the map can relate. Shackleton may have made a mistake in the outdoors, and the amazing story of his getting back on track entertained millions of people for a century afterward.

I don’t expect that to change.

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In September, mountain biker Tommy Gwinn and two others set off on their annual multiday biking trip in the Idaho wilderness. Unexpectedly, they rescued missing hiker Heather Wayment鈥攄isoriented, malnourished, and injured鈥�17 miles from her last known location.

滨诲补丑辞鈥檚 Sawtooth Valley is as remote as it gets. It’s 15 miles from the nearest paved road鈥�and 10 miles, and several thousand vertical feet of climbing in any direction鈥�to get to the nearest dirt road. It鈥檚 not a place where you鈥檇 want to have a problem.

But that鈥檚 what happened during our annual mountain biking trip. After a full day of riding in the backcountry with my brother, Vinny Gwinn, and our friend Shelton Robinson, we encountered a woman on the trail who was attempting to walk but appeared severely disoriented. It was about 2:30 P.M. She was in her underwear, without shoes, and had both her shirt and shorts tied around her feet to protect them. There were visible scratches and cuts all over her legs and body. Her feet were raw and bleeding. Something didn鈥檛 look right.

In September, the mountain range can get cold, with temperatures sometimes dipping into the low 20s at night. It鈥檚 not a place you want to get lost, especially without the proper gear.

Hot Dogs, Cool Ranch Doritos, and Boys in the Backcountry

For 13 years, our group of friends from the Pacific Northwest and beyond has been descending upon the Sawtooth Valley in mid-September for a multi-day mountain biking trip. In the early years, it began as a way for a group of accountants to unwind after the September 15 tax deadline, but it has since evolved into a sacred 鈥渃an鈥檛 miss鈥� event for many of us.

Like most of our backcountry adventures begin, ours started with eight guys in tents, eating hot dogs and Cool Ranch Doritos, diving into the icy waters of Alturas Lake to take a bath. Today, most of us have graduated to camp trailer and hot showers鈥攂ut the stoke has never died.

This year, on our second day, we left camp around 11:00 A.M. to begin our ride, where we topped out at around 9,000 feet. Our intention was to return to camp in time to cut wood, hang out, and cook dinner before the sun set鈥攂ut the trail had other plans.

A Lifetime of Skills For an Hours-Long Rescue

Shortly after lunch, Shelton, leading the pack, encountered the woman who would eventually聽be identified as Heather Wayment, a hiker reported missing by her family on September 17. As Vinny and I arrived, it was clear that our afternoon just got a lot longer.

With minimal service at camp, we had no idea that Heather was the subject of an intense multi-agency search and rescue effort led by the Blaine County Sheriff鈥檚 Office. Astonishingly, we found her more than 17 miles from her last known location, north of Ketchum, Idaho, away from her vehicle.

We began chatting with her, asking her name and what she was doing so far in the backcountry. We offered what food and water we had, as well as extra clothing. It quickly became apparent that she was extremely malnourished, dehydrated, and had already spent two nights in the woods in near-freezing temperatures.

After a lifetime of growing up in the backcountry, mountain biking, snowmobiling, and riding dirtbikes, we鈥檝e seen our fair share of problems. We know how to handle this one as well.

Executing a Backcountry Rescue

We used our GPS app to determine our exact location and calculate the distance to the nearest road, which was up and over the mountain. Based on this information, we decided that we didn鈥檛 have the resources to evacuate her before dark. We assessed the situation, her injuries and physical limitations, and determined that Heather wouldn鈥檛 be able to evacuate on her own, either.

About 20 minutes after encountering Heather, I texted my wife, Kenzi, via satellite. The area is so remote that even on the mountain peaks, there is no service for more than 20 miles. I informed her that we had a search and rescue situation and to contact the Blaine County Sheriff鈥檚 office immediately. We conversed back and forth via satellite text throughout the rescue operation, offering our GPS coordinates, information about Heather’s identity and condition, information on the terrain, and possible heli landing zones. Kenzi maintained phone contact with the Sheriff鈥檚 office and Search and Rescue for nearly two hours, relaying all information we could offer to the teams.

We received word from Kenzi that a helicopter was inbound and would be landing in roughly 30 minutes. Around this time, three other dirt bikers stopped to offer additional support, including food and water.

We were informed that the helicopter had landed and were given its GPS coordinate, which was about a half-mile down the trail in an open field. At that point, we were able to lift Heather onto the back of one of the dirt bikes, and the driver transported her slowly to the landing zone.

Blaine County Sheriff Morgan Ballis wrote in a shared to X that Heather was transported by Life Flight 76 with unknown injuries to St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise. Other details about Heather’s rescue, why she was in the wilderness alone, or how she is doing now have not been released to the public, and I鈥檇 like to respect her privacy.

How Slowing Down and Coming Prepared Can Save a Life

I haven鈥檛 connected with Heather since the rescue, but I would love to grab a cup of coffee with her someday. I鈥檓 grateful that she is okay and hope others can use this experience to make good decisions when recreating in the backcountry. She鈥檚 not the first and will not be the last person to get lost in remote terrain. Being prepared by letting someone know where you鈥檙e headed goes a long way towards ensuring a positive and safe experience.

The lesson? My group may have become lax over the years with carrying first aid, extra clothing, and planning for the worst. Although we have the essentials, situations like this make you think twice about where you are and how much risk you鈥檙e willing to take. It鈥檚 fun to go fast and ride gnarly terrain in a controlled environment where medical attention is readily available, but it鈥檚 a good idea to tone it back a notch when in remote terrain.

With a wife and two little girls at home now, that acceptable risk has gotten lower over the years.

As told to Madison Dapcevich. This interview was edited for length and clarity.

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Barely a week after two hunters were found dead in Colorado鈥檚 Rio Grande National Forest, a third hunter has also died in the same wilderness area, just ten miles away.

Todd Shoulders, a 54-year-old man from Tennessee, was found dead by first responders on the evening of September 26, Connie Ricci of the Conejos County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) told 国产吃瓜黑料. Dispatchers had received a distress call from two members of Shoulders鈥� hunting party at 11:23 p.m. The callers reported that they had begun CPR on their companion, but by the time the search and rescue team arrived in the remote area of the South San Juan Wilderness where his party was located, he was deceased.

According to a press release shared with 国产吃瓜黑料, 鈥渄ue to the hazardous nighttime conditions, it was not safe to conduct a recovery mission with the Flight for Life helicopter鈥� that same evening. Rescuers returned to the site at first light the following morning to recover Shoulders鈥� body.

Shoulders鈥� death comes just eight days after the discovery of the bodies of Ian Stasko and Andrew Porter, two 25-year-old elk hunters who were reported missing on September 11. Stasko and Porter鈥檚 disappearance prompted an extensive search and rescue operation, involving as many as 54 teams of volunteer and professional rescuers. The two men were eventually discovered two miles from the Rio De Los Pinos Trail Head on September 18. A subsequent coroner鈥檚 report revealed that they had been killed by lightning while sheltering from heavy storms beneath a tree.

Coroner Richard Martin told 国产吃瓜黑料 that a direct strike did not kill the two men, but that the lightning hit the tree and traveled into the ground. He added that the death would have been instant.

Shoulders鈥� cause of death, however, is unclear. Ricci stated that at this time, the CCSO is unaware of the coroner’s report results, but noted that, although coincidental, this third death is not indicative of any abnormal environmental hazards in the region.

鈥淪heriff Crowther just reminds everyone entering the wilderness to please be cautious and well-prepared for the challenges of the backcountry,鈥� she added. 鈥淭here is no threat to the hunting public or those observing the fall colors.鈥�

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A lightning strike in Colorado killed two hunters, plus Polish ski mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel skied from the summit of Mount Everest without the use of supplemental oxygen. 国产吃瓜黑料 has you covered in this edition of our weekly news roundup.

Signs Referencing Climate Change, Slavery, and Other 鈥業mproper鈥� Topics Removed from National Park Sites

In recent weeks, the National Park Service has removed signs聽referencing climate change, slavery, the internment of Japanese Americans, and the massacre of Native Americans from multiple parks and historic sites around the country.

To combat the removals, a collective of librarians, historians, and data experts has organized a project called (SOS). The group is attempting to 鈥渂uild a community archive of the signs, exhibits, and texts that could soon disappear from our national parks.鈥� It encourages park visitors to photos of interpretive signs from any area administered by the NPS. The SOS team is also maintaining a public map of the signage uploaded thus far, which includes over 10,000 photos as of September 20.

SOS is attempting to archive as many signs as possible before they are removed, and hopes park visitors will contribute.

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Coroner: Missing Elk Hunters Found Deceased in Colorado Killed by Lightning

Two elk hunters who had been missing in the Colorado backcountry for a week were killed by lightning, the local coroner told 国产吃瓜黑料.

Conejos County Coroner Richard Martin confirmed to 国产吃瓜黑料 that the 25-year-olds died after being struck by lightning while hunting in the Rio Grande National Forest, a vast backcountry area encompassing more than 1.8 million acres. Rescuers found the two men beneath a large tree, officials said.

Ian Stasko of Utah and Andrew Porter of North Carolina disappeared on September 11 after they 鈥渇ailed to check in with loved ones at a predetermined time鈥� when bad weather swept through the area.

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Mount Everest Ski Videos Have Come a Long Way Since 鈥楾he Man Who Skied Down Everest鈥�

Polish ski mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel skied from the summit of Mount Everest all the way to Base Camp without the use of supplemental oxygen.

On September 25, Red Bull of Bargiel descending the peak on his skis. For anyone unfamiliar with Andrzej Bargiel, he skis steep, sheer, and utterly deadly slopes like you or I might descend a catwalk. He鈥檚 the only person to have ever climbed and then skied down K2.

Read More

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