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Hiker Rescues and Fatalities

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    • Only in the café would a thread on hiker fatalities devolve into "where to find roadside brisket?"

      Love it.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard

    • odd man out wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      Yep, it was 110 on Sunday when I drove thru west Texas.

      Trip report: If you're out driving and you see a Buc-ee's -- stop. Even if you don't need gas, don't need to use the restroom, and aren't hungry or thirsty. Stop and go inside. You'll have a new favorite gas station when you leave.
      They are not generally on roads I traveled. But checking the map I see I drove by the Buc-ees in KY on I75 back in May. I blew it.
      The Buc-ee's I hit in Tennessee along I-65 had billboards for 50+ miles leading up to the actual exit. The one on I-75 isn't as well promoted and can be missed if you're zoning out. Or thinking of Kentucky straight bourbon. Mmmmmm...bourbon.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard

    • For folks who have hit Buc-ee's around the SE, how do you find the fuel prices? Most Buc-ee's are along major freeways, which are often some cents higher than driving off the main road by a few miles. Ours is in Denton Texas. When I head to LBJ National Grasslands (an hour away) to hike, I check the price at Buc-ees using Gas Buddy. I check our local Neighborhood Wally(on a state road, but in a very populated area and about a mile off I35) and then check the Decatur Texas Wally (NOT on a main road, on a US highway). The Decatur Wally is usually cheaper, but often only by a cent compared to Buc-ee's. Which is then maybe 3 to 5 cents cheaper than my local Wally. Occasionally, that Decatur Wally is like 5 cents cheaper than anyone so I'll go the 5 mile round trip after my hike to get to it. A friend road trips a lot and says fuel at Buc'ee's along main roads, isn't any cheaper than most other places. And his son in law is a manager at our Buc-ees.
      Just wondering if you find Buc-ees fuel cheaper than other places.

      We now rejoin "Hiker Rescues and Fatalities" already in progress.....
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork

    • Just pointing out that out in our Texas Hill country, there are some "interesting" things.
      Recently, there is the nations SMALLEST Buc-ee's.

      Here's a link the our Marfa Prada en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prada_Marfa

      Marfa has the famous Marfa lights....could be aliens, or reflections....and there are notes about them going back to before the area was settled. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marfa_lights

      And our smallest Buc-ees. kxan.com/news/texas/worlds-sma…ars-in-west-texas-desert/
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork

    • Astro wrote:

      Nothing like it in Japan.
      But plenty of 7-Eleven. :)
      Same as Taiwan. You couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a 7-Eleven. Not that I saw a lot of dead cats there...

      After being under 100% escort during my first visit to China, I was thrilled to walk out of my hotel in Taipei and grab a few Cokes from the closest 7-Eleven. The clerk didn't speak English and I didn't speak Mandarin or Cantonese. He pointed to a bag (extra cost) and I shook my head. Then he pointed to the total and I paid. Cha-ching - Winning!
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard

    • Wintergreen wrote:

      In Wisconsin, it's Kwik Trip. An icon in our area.
      The Cincy area has United Dairy Farmers (UDF) but we're getting our first Wawa in a few months. And Sheetz is slowly creeping closer - there's a branch opening just up I-75 towards Dayton.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard

    • StalkingTortoise wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      Nothing like it in Japan.
      But plenty of 7-Eleven. :)
      Same as Taiwan. You couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a 7-Eleven. Not that I saw a lot of dead cats there...
      After being under 100% escort during my first visit to China, I was thrilled to walk out of my hotel in Taipei and grab a few Cokes from the closest 7-Eleven. The clerk didn't speak English and I didn't speak Mandarin or Cantonese. He pointed to a bag (extra cost) and I shook my head. Then he pointed to the total and I paid. Cha-ching - Winning!
      When I was working in China they had a Sam's Club. They accepted my USA card. That was back when I still drank Diet Coke and I would buy it by the case, along with other American things I missed. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • Astro wrote:

      Found them cheaper than other interstate gas stations.

      They are starting to pop up all over the southeast.
      Thanks. But what I'm seeing using Gasbuddy, is that yes they are cheaper than the other stations on the interstate, going a few miles into a close town might be more savings.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork

    • I've been in Sheetz up in the PA area. But it's been some 25 years ago. They were nice but nothing like these Buc-ee's are doing.

      We hit a Wawa last year when in Virginia. It was nice, but again, about 1/10th what these Buc-ee's are. My wife and I got sandwiches at the Wawa and they were decent. My mom was with us and she was not impressed. I didn't point out to her when she complained of the "bread is a rock", that she got an EAST coast style "Hoggie", which is NOT a soft crusted bread like she is used to here in TX. Then she had them toast it.....that pretty much made it a crouton.

      It's going to be interesting to see how far Buc-ee's expands into other areas.

      On another note, if any of you have been aware of the Texas Fairfield State park issues....the guy who started and runs Buc-ee's, is the head of the Texas Parks and Wildlife. It's a mess about the park and reading the back-story, to me, it's another example of government management issues. Now there are efforts to reclaim the park by eminent domain. The power company that owned the park, let the state use it for like $1 a year, for 50 years! They power company reached out to the state about 5 times with "You need to make us an offer...ANY offer" ...."we've not heard from you...." ..... "you said you couldn't purchase all of it, but we asked you to turn in ANY bid for all of it and another bid for the part you THINK you can afford.....we've NOT heard from you.....". "Hey, TPW.....We decided you had 6 months and have yet to even present a bid......we have an offer on the table for the park from a developer.....".
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork

    • No comparison between Buc-ee's and Sheetz / Wawa. The latter two focus on blanketing an area with multiple locations and providing made-to-order food from an extensive menu. And pretty good food from a gas station / convenience store.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard

    • Here is a local story. Woman missing for a week. Found stuck in the mud. I suspect there is more to this story.

      I have hiked through this park on the Bay Circuit Trail. It is fairly popular. I would suspect that someone stuck and making noise would be found in less than a week.

      yahoo.com/news/missing-stought…nd-trapped-235148809.html

      That said, I went on a cross country hike in my home town last week through swampland. I did it because I heard there was a stand of Atlantic White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) in that bush, which is an rare habitat around me. What I found had been degraded by some power lines, so I am not sure it was worth the slog. I got 'stuck in the mud' a few times on this tick-infested trek, and had to keep my head. I was thinking 'Nobody will ever find me out here.' Come to think of it, maybe this woman was stuck for a week?
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”

      John Greenleaf Whittier

    • LIhikers wrote:

      Uh oh. That picture looks like she was medivaced out on a Bell 206 series helicopter. That can't be a good thing. I'll have to watch the video.
      Impressed you know the model just from that picture!
      Great thing about this site and backpacking overall, it draws people from a wide range of expertise.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • Dixie has been having medical issues lately. Hiking with a CPAP cannot be fun.

      I know how she must feel. Lately I've been looking in the mirror and thinking I am not far away from transitioning from a hiker to a 'glamper.'
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”

      John Greenleaf Whittier

    • LIhikers wrote:

      After watching Dixie's video I've decided to dig out my Inreach Mini, that I bought a couple years ago, and sign up for the service. I'll have read the instructions it came with and see how to do it.
      It's sort of straight forward. I had an older Inreach and bought the Mini. I had to "Switch service" but it worked fine. Give family peace of mind. Suggest you see how to set up the three "Stock" messages. Pair to your smart phone. There are some decent "how to" videos on YouTube. I have Tracking turned off as there are threads on forums about the Mini eating up it's battery fast. There's also a "Faster Charge" that isn't well documented. Have the Mini on, plug it into your charger, be it at home to 110V or a battery in the field. Then shut down the Mini. It will still charge, but faster.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork

    • LIhikers wrote:

      After watching Dixie's video I've decided to dig out my Inreach Mini, that I bought a couple years ago, and sign up for the service. I'll have read the instructions it came with and see how to do it.
      I find the menu for the Mini to be a bit unintuitive. But since I don't want it to do much except sent preset messages and SOS, I don't worry much about. The other problem is I just use it once per year so I have to keep relearning everything. I think I had a couple of messages fail to go through because I kept it turned off to save battery. I would turn it on, send message, turn off. I think it needs to be on a few minutes before sending.

    • odd man out wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      After watching Dixie's video I've decided to dig out my Inreach Mini, that I bought a couple years ago, and sign up for the service. I'll have read the instructions it came with and see how to do it.
      I find the menu for the Mini to be a bit unintuitive. But since I don't want it to do much except sent preset messages and SOS, I don't worry much about. The other problem is I just use it once per year so I have to keep relearning everything. I think I had a couple of messages fail to go through because I kept it turned off to save battery. I would turn it on, send message, turn off. I think it needs to be on a few minutes before sending.
      I carry mine even on day (9 mile) hikes, with it on. I have cell signal about half the time on that hike, but why not just power it up? I can go on 4 to 8 hikes and it's only down 50%. That way I'm sort of remembering at least the basics.
      Garmin also, to me, is confusion on just what tool to use. I plug the Mini into our home PC and then open the Check for Updates stuff and let it work. BUT, there is also a "Sync" thing you can put on your PC. What it does is put your contacts into the Mini.

      When I'm out in the field, I get up, water a tree, get food and turn the Mini on. I can then send the stock "Starting from here, Everything is fine, no need to reply" message (Wife knows she MAY reply, just doesn't have to....saves on those messages). The Mini remains on the rest of the day. When I reach camp in the evening, I first make sure the hammock will hang at the spot and if so, I set the Mini on the camp fire ring and send the "Stopping here, everything is fine, no need to reply" message. Then I go about setting up the rest of camp and getting water, and cooking and cleaning up....Leaving the Mini on. I'll check it once or twice to see if there is any response. Shortly before turning in, I check if I want to charge it and power it down. So, the morning message is sent and the unit is left on all day anyway. In the evening the message is sent but the unit isn't powered down for maybe an hour.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork