Gps locators: I never owned one, since my old carcass isn't worth the saving, but I think F&G was confused since these guys were not in any avalanche zones...
If F&G hadn't taken the signal seriously, which I almost bet they didn't these 2 guys might never have been rescued.
Don't count on getting rescued and still being alive. Cell phones mostly don't work in these mountains either...
I never counted on ever getting rescued alive.....
The best way to never have that happen is to have what ever food and shelter you need with you and don't ever abandon that.
Over years of living here and hiking here, many people who don't make it have everything they could want, but panic and drop their packs to speed up getting out...
Then they don't get out anyway.... Not very smart.
As a RMC care taker i once encountered several men a SWAT team on training from Va..
These big men were all talk and no action. They had every bit of gear the state of Va. could buy and still panicked...
The one part of their gear I didn't like was everything was black
Trying to find all black gear in a all black pack made their work in real cold difficult.
They showed up in Feb over presidents week in the mid 80's when I was a sub caretaker for Gray Knob.
It was around +55 and raining... I had to suffer a lot of BS about my long hair
and listen to how rough and tuff these SWAT guys were..
Next thing it started to cool off to around + 10, nothing for that area in dead winter..
But of course by then even though these guys were staying in doors they had managed to get wet.. bad move in my mountains in winter.
And so how they all whined when they discovered the care takers stove is not for warming anything when the care takers is gone..
I went on a rampage and put the stove OUT
Care takers in summer work real hard to gather spruce dead and down only, for any winter wood at all, and it is a big deal and a matter of pride to never light a fire in a RMC camp stove, except in a real emergency....
Well the next day saw that and that stove still didn't get lit...
it went to a mild - 10 below and these SWAT guys just freaked out, and abandoned their gear to run down the hill.
They insisted I bring all that stuff down too, and get it shipped to Va.... Yeah right.....
I got that stuff down alright but none of ever went to Va again.... There was more than I needed, so I kept of it what i wanted and gave the rest away.... My son still has a all black sleeping bag..
Just don't let this happen to you........
This SWAT group was the very worst of the very worst in my experience that lived to tell of it. Some others didn't.
The next to worst was Boy Scouts.. Same place same time different year.... A tale for another day....
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