what's with the rash of bad judgement at natural attractions?

[crashbb]

Not to do with stupidity at natural attractions, but stupidity in articles (or perhaps police spokespeople...

The department said it was working with the Japanese consulate general to notify the victim's family. Her name was being withheld pending the notification, and police did not say which country she was from.

Gee...they are working with the Japanese consulate...let's guess what country she was from.

 

[laurie31]

"Yes, the recent accident at Vernal is tragic. But why it happened isn't tragic," writes Santa Rosa Press-Democrat columnist Bob Padecky. "Tragic is hiking somewhere and an errant, falling boulder finds your head. What is so troubling about these deaths at Vernal is that it didn't have to happen. Nature is a thrill ride but there are rules. Hike with a buddy. Carry water. Don't drink or drug up. Don't climb over a railing to inch up on a raging torrent."

The Vernal Fall incident isn't the only recent high-profile example of tourists getting into trouble in national parks or other outdoor settings.

Earlier this month, two visitors from California's Bay Area drowned in Hawaii - one after being sucked into a blowhole on Maui, the other after falling from oceanside cliffs on the Big Island. And July 18, a 30-year-old Missouri woman was rescued by a tour boat from the churning waters of Niagara Falls' Whirlpool State Park after she slipped on a rock and fell in.

"I just wanted to touch the beauty," she told ABC News.

http://travel.usatoday.com/destinat...ional-park-deaths-random-or-reckless/178043/1

Seriously? She "just wanted to touch" it? The danger never occurred to her?

There are several books about deaths in the National Parks. We actually have one. It's actually interesting reading. Plus the "wow, how could anyone be THAT stupid" factor.

 

[dzorn]

Common sense is not to common now a days.

Denise in MI

 

[Mandychelle79]

Darwin Award Winners.

 

[Mkrop]

How scary!

We were just in Yosemite last Sat...the falls are usually dried up this time of year but they said they heavy snow has kept them flowing.

My family and I are not experienced hikers or even campers, so I am very cautious when we are at these type of places.

We drove up PCH on this trip as well, and there were a few dropoffs there that were pretty chilling. We stopped at one location to take a picture and DS8 quickly started climbing up some rocks to see, DH quickly pulled him down. The dropoff was pretty big on the other side and you never know how secure that rock or land is in that area. We had a long talk with the kids after that.

Last year we were at the Grand Canyon, on the West Side, and there are no guardrails, and the few that were there, people were climbing over. People were doing crazy stuff to get that perfect shot. The tour guide we had from Pink Jeep Tours also told us that there are several deaths in the Grand Canyon each year. And where we were was an Indian reservation and they were not required to report the deaths, like other National Parks have to. He said they all hear about them since they are there daily but the numbers are muhc lower reported than what actually occurs.

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

ALrighty, so anyone who feels the need to "touch the falls" you have two fairly safe choices. Go to the Niagara State Park (American side, we got the best of that deal!) and do the trolley tour, get off at the Three Sisters Island stop, go out to the last island, there is a place where there are HUGE rocks that you can look thru and see the rapids roaring past, yet in front of the rocks is a little pool of water, like a huge puddle, that you can step in or put your hand in or whatever.

Next, do the Cave of the Winds tour and go up to Hurricane Deck, you'll be drenched by the "Bridal Veil" of Niagara Falls.

Done, you're not dead = Awesome.

 

[3boymthr]

We went to Acadia National Park last month. This walkway is the walkway to the bottom of Thunderhole:

They have always closed it during storms because the rock is slippery. But you can rock climb your way down to it outside of the rails. It is now permanently closed because last year when it was closed some fidiot decided to take his daughter to the end and outside of the rail during a storm. The waves swept in and swept them out to sea and they died. Everyone must suffer because of one person's stupidity. Even better, while we were sitting on the rocks at the top watching the waves we watched 5 more people climb their way down to the end of the walkway outside the rails. I'm betting if these braniacs keep it up they will permanently close the attraction.

 

[maxiesmom]

People just seem to think nothing bad will ever happen to them. Some other idiot may slip and fall into the falls, but I won't! Somebody else may get attacked by a bear, but not me!

Lately we have had some pretty bad storms in Michigan. And people still go out into the lake, ignoring the red flag warning, even though the waves are big and there is a rip current. Just a couple of days ago they interviewed a rescue worker who had to keep going from one water rescue to another. He said he would just pull one person out, and have to go rescue someone else.

People just plain don't think. That is the only thing that makes sense.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I do think some if it is stupidity,

and I've even heard that some of it comes from "helicopter parenting" - that we don't let our kids take small risks, so they never learn to evaluate large ones.

But I think most of it is this:

...the "rules don't apply to me" mentality that's so prevalent today.

People equate those safety railings and warnings not to cross with "no cell phone" signs, hospital visiting hours, and moving all the way to the end of a row in Disney attractions. ...

 

[Maridw]

In Panama City Beach, there is a flag system for the gulf waters. Green flag is Low Hazard (calm condition, exercise caution); Yellow flag is Medium Hazard (moderate surf and/or strong currents); Red flag is High surf and/or strong currents); Two Red flags is Water Closed to Public; Blue flag is Dangerous Marine Life.

It is unbeliveable the number of people that will go into the water when there are two red flags flying. Not only are they risking their lives, but the lives of the people that end up having to go into the water to rescue them when something happens.

Love the name Tourons. Will have to start using that when I see people that are obviously tourists who have been out in the sun too long etc.

 

[Geoff_M]

Hey, DIS'ers... show us your Tourons!!! Here's my Yellowstone collection from our recent visit:

"Bison are so cute and fluffy!!!"

"Boiled, schmoiled!!! I want a closer photo!"

 

[Plannin'Shannon]

Darwin Award Winners.

Bingo.

 

[Mom-to-2-Princesses]

Lately we have had some pretty bad storms in Michigan. And people still go out into the lake, ignoring the red flag warning, even though the waves are big and there is a rip current. Just a couple of days ago they interviewed a rescue worker who had to keep going from one water rescue to another. He said he would just pull one person out, and have to go rescue someone else.

People just plain don't think. That is the only thing that makes sense.

I'm in SW Michigan and yes, we have had the same problem with the rip currents. Bu the biggest stupidity here are the pier jumpers. Huge sign telling them not to jump...but they do...and we always have at least one death a year. But last year we had a near death and the paper was there taking pictures of the waves, etc. A teen came up and asked "what happened" and the reporter said "a near death from jumping off the pier. The rip currents are awful today" So the teen walked away and jumped off the pier! Guess what? He had to be rescued and his rescue picture was on the front page of the paper. Almost too dumb of a story to be true.

 

[laurie31]

Hey, DIS'ers... show us your Tourons!!! Here's my Yellowstone collection from our recent visit:

"Bison are so cute and fluffy!!!"

"Boiled, schmoiled!!! I want a closer photo!"

The first one literally made me gasp. What a MAROON! (quoting Bugs Bunny seemed appropriate for something so looney!) A mother with young?! Holy CRAP!!

The second one is similar to what we saw, only the woman was actually CLIMBING on the terrace.

I am one who carries a camera in my purse every day, because I take photos of EVERYTHING, but I didn't think to take a pic that time. Her foot actually sank totally beneath the surface at one point. DH yelled at her that she was destroying the feature. I was honestly wondering how I would get her melted shoes off her feet so her burns could be treated and hoping she would be able to drag herself back to the railing because I was NOT going out there to get her. Burns are my number one thing I hope never to experience. There's just not enough morphine on the planet for that kind of pain. Luckily for her, she just destroyed thousands of years of mineral deposits and wasn't plunged into a pool of boiling water.

I did take a pic of the sign!

*goes to search for it*

 

[beaucoup]

I was thinking about this last night especially since I've been to these places myself.

It's nature's way of weeding out the stupid.

Sad, but true.

 

[Geoff_M]

Her foot actually sank totally beneath the surface at one point. DH yelled at her that she was destroying the feature. I was honestly wondering how I would get her melted shoes off her feet so her burns could be treated and hoping she would be able to drag herself back to the railing because I was NOT going out there to get her. Burns are my number one thing I hope never to experience. There's just not enough morphine on the planet for that kind of pain. Luckily for her, she just destroyed thousands of years of mineral deposits and wasn't plunged into a pool of boiling water.

Wow, I agree, what a complete idiot.

However, I think you will be interested to learn that the timeline of what she destroyed criminally was probably a lot shorter than you think. I bought this copy of Yellowstone Science that had an interesting story on the development of the Mammoth travertine. It turns out that it can grow a foot a year! What keeps the calcium carbonate deposits from overtaking the whole area is that the spring flows move around a lot and when the water source moves away the travertine soon starts to deteriorate after it dries out. They say that people that return to Yellowstone never see the same "Mammoth Hot Springs" terraces twice!

 

[lustergirl]

A young women died today at Niagra Falls after she climbed over the railing to sit on a boulder (for God knows what reason).

This after 3 young adults died after climbing into a fast moving stream in Yosimite this summer to get a better picture.

http://news.yahoo.com/woman-swept-over-niagara-falls-presumed-drowned-113607048.html

So sad.

They sent my crew to Niagara Falls to investigate that one Eliza and I came home with a big frown and disbelief on my face after that one.

 

[skater]

While I've made some of the same comments that I've read here about people (been to Yellowstone/seen the foolishness), I can't help but think about some of the "stupid" things I did as a teen that could have gotten me hurt. I would guess that most of us have done something (especially while driving) that we can be thankful didn't produce a tragic result. If we all got what we deserved, it probably wouldn't be a pretty picture. If that's how natural selection worked, there might not be too many of us left .

At the same time, it does seem like people go on vacation and lose their common sense. Its even more awful when it involves their children. One thing we observed at Y'stone was a family running with their kids toward a moose. I just turned my kids around so they wouldn't see anything. Luckily nobody got hurt that time.

 

[lauran cameron]

While I admire her curiosity and courage to try such a thing, the railings are clearly there for a reason.

 

[laurie31]

Wow, I agree, what a complete idiot.

However, I think you will be interested to learn that the timeline of what she destroyed criminally was probably a lot shorter than you think. I bought this copy of Yellowstone Science that had an interesting story on the development of the Mammoth travertine. It turns out that it can grow a foot a year! What keeps the calcium carbonate deposits from overtaking the whole area is that the spring flows move around a lot and when the water source moves away the travertine soon starts to deteriorate after it dries out. They say that people that return to Yellowstone never see the same "Mammoth Hot Springs" terraces twice!

Wow, that was an interesting read! I was thinking of deposits like stalactites in caves. Cool to think that in Mammoth it occurrs a billion times faster!

All 4 of us are very anxious to return to Yellowstone - we LOVED it. Now I'm excited to see how different Mammoth will look when we see it again.