You can observe the deep misunderstanding of wild spaces in New Westerners by their overuse, misunderstanding, and misuse of Search-And-Rescue (SAR) teams in the West.
The tallest mountain in this northeastern state is "only" 6,288 feet, but has weather that must be respected. (However, is it? you can guess the answer!) Occasionally, rescues do make the news. One thing that stands out from a cursory review of such rescues is that the hiker often has more than one GPS, yet still did some silly things such as crossing streams - instead of Following the Stream Downhill.
Second that! Volunteer SAR worked when it was infrequent rescues of people who were generally more trained and prepared, but in this new world of social media apps, posts of locations, and easy access without putting any real skin in the game of developing skills, ethics, and safety practices, the paradigm needs to shift to paying for the real cost of treating the West and other areas as one big resort with accompanying safety nets. Amen to the $50k amount ... I second that.
The tallest mountain in this northeastern state is "only" 6,288 feet, but has weather that must be respected. (However, is it? you can guess the answer!) Occasionally, rescues do make the news. One thing that stands out from a cursory review of such rescues is that the hiker often has more than one GPS, yet still did some silly things such as crossing streams - instead of Following the Stream Downhill.
Second that! Volunteer SAR worked when it was infrequent rescues of people who were generally more trained and prepared, but in this new world of social media apps, posts of locations, and easy access without putting any real skin in the game of developing skills, ethics, and safety practices, the paradigm needs to shift to paying for the real cost of treating the West and other areas as one big resort with accompanying safety nets. Amen to the $50k amount ... I second that.