SAR in our national parks–who needs it?

[Paul Wagner]

Which parks get SAR calls the most often? Want to guess? We guessed three of the top five…but not the other two:

So which parks have called on SAR teams the most over the past two years?

Once you’re done guessing, here is a link: https://www.backpackthesierra.com/post/ … rous-parks

Or a link to a more in-depth look on Outforia: https://outforia.com/search-and-rescue-hotspots/

[jscott]

I’d assume that highly visited parks would have more sar. So I’d guess Yosemite. But: I’ve only witnessed one or two SAR'[s there, and the trails are clear…so maybe not.But again, it’s tempting to off trail there, due to lack of brush etc. So Yes, yosemite.

Canyonlands, because there are often no trails

Grand Canyon , heat and highly visited

I’m terrible at this sort of thing. Well, Olympic Np. Joshua Tree.

I bet I get none right…

[Bonzo]

I would guess Grand Canyon as well; I know of too many people that get in trouble underestimating that place. And yeah, the big/popular ones in the west would be on my list of likely suspects. Eastern parks… probably not so much.

[Bonzo]

I would guess Grand Canyon as well; I know of too many people that get in trouble underestimating that place. And yeah, the big/popular ones in the west would be on my list of likely suspects. Eastern parks… probably not so much.

Edit: that was surprising…

[BlackHatGuy]

I guess I wouldn’t think Grand Canyon because there’s so many people there and I would assume (never been, know nothing about it) lots of rangers.

I’d think something in Alaska. Something in Washington. Something in California. Something in Texas?

I keep saying something because I don’t know the national parks, or even where they are, and I’m too lazy at the moment to look them up.

Edit: Shows you how much I know….

[Marcus]

Possible spoiler alert. The top ones are highly visited but I see a trend that they are easy places to underestimate for the  unprepared. Benign day conditions turn cold after dark quickly. The tougher parks are actually relatively low on the list. I will hypothesize that the average outdoor competency of people in tough parks is higher and thus less SAR even though the tougher conditions are technically more dangerous on an absolute scale

[DWR D]

Grand Canyon for sure… there are zero easy hikes down into the Grand Canyon… and most underestimate the heat and need for water… and, unfortunately, the heat is worst when most people take vacations. And… it’s easy to hike down, but very hard to get out…

[Bonzo]

Grand Canyon for sure… there are zero easy hikes down into the Grand Canyon… and most underestimate the heat and need for water… and, unfortunately, the heat is worst when most people take vacations. And… it’s easy to hike down, but very hard to get out…

That’s what happened to my brother in law. Several years ago he wanted me to go with him and his buddy on a rim-to-rim; he’s not in great shape, and his buddy was not in any real hiking shape at all, so I figured that it would be a (minimum) four-day thing and that we could pick our way down and up, and just set a nice, doable pace. Nope: they planned for two days and wouldn’t be shaken from that assertion…so I flatly refused to be a part of it.  End-result: both of them laying in the back of a park ranger’s Cherokee on the North Rim at 6:45 AM of the third morning, filling up the floorboards with vomit and regret. Took them 23 hours to climb out, without any real breaks, pushing far past any point of rational continuance, and for no reason other than having underestimated the terrain. Not an uncommon story.

[jscott]

“something in Texas”…

I’m curious about why you chose Texas. do they have search and rescue in Texas?

[Kevin Babione]

I would definitely have the Grand Canyon high on my list – primarily because the start of every trail from either rim is all downhill.  When we were there in mid-April one year (south rim) we started our hike in winter coats, hats and gloves.  Two hours later, when we hit our turn-around point, we were in short sleeves with coats tied around our waists and hats & gloves in our packs.  It took us four hours to return to the rim and our kids were used to hiking.  There were clearly people who don’t hike regularly who kept going further down when we turned around.  I kept thinking that they’d be hiking out in the dark and probably weren’t prepared to do so.

The Grand Canyon is just so beautiful and the hike down is relatively easy that I can see how people go way further than their conditioning should allow, forgetting that it’s all uphill back to the rim.

[BlackHatGuy]

“I’m curious about why you chose Texas. do they have search and rescue in Texas?”

I have no idea, I don’t know much about Texas other than I don’t want to live there (or anywhere in the South). I just assumed that people would underestimate the heat and need for water in the summer (as DWR D talks about in the post about the Grand Canyon), and the critters you have to watch out for (rattlesnakes and such).

In hindsight it was a silly guess, I guess :-), because it doesn’t seem like it would be a touristy destination, so much fewer people out there getting into trouble.

[jscott]

Not silly at all! I was trying to get in a dig at Texas’ expense. I should have written, ‘does Texas have SAR for Dems?’ I’m sure they’d rescue Ted Cruz if he got lost in Cancun.

I kid! Anyway, yes, there’s a lot of bull in Texas. And rattlesnakes. And that’s just the Statehouse!

I recently visited a friend in Austin–my first time in Texas. I’m used to having an ocean in the west and mountains in the east. In Austin, I jsut couldn’t figure out compass directions without a compass. so I’d get lost easily. And the sun was brutal, even in November.

[Bonzo]

Just came back from Texas this morning; my impression is that it is a beautiful state with tons of outdoor recreation possibilities…and tons of opportunity for people to get lost and get in trouble.  The areas I saw were very diverse, geographically and topographically, and to anyone unfamiliar with them, they would pose challenges.  The weather can also be a problem, here; it’s easy to get caught in a bad situation unless you know how to read it.

On an anecdotal note: the state parks I saw had some of the nicest and most helpful park rangers I’ve ever encountered.  Still, I don’t think I would want to live here…but New Mexico sure is appealing.

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