Comment by almog | Hacker News Reader

Comment by almog | Hacker News Reader

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I love how sometimes worlds collide and thruhiking related stories make it to HN. It is however sad for it to be in this context.

If anyone reading this consider getting into long distance hiking, I'd encourage you to do so. While it is always best to avoid getting into dangerous situations rather than finding your way out of there, getting yourself either:

1. A subscription based satellite messenger (Garmin Mini is only 100g/3.5oz and is backed by Iridium. Globalstar is the other big network).

2. Personal Locator Beacon (COSPAS-SARSAT backed device) that has no subscription fee and is backed by better availability guarantees (Resqlink is only 4.6 oz) but has no messaging capabilities other than an "SOS signal".

If the above story didn't do enough to convince you that such device could have been helpful, please do yourself or your loved ones a favor and read what had became of Otter when he got trapped on the Continental Divide Trail — "Snowbound", Outside Online:

https://www.outsideonline.com/2336896/snowbound

If you travel to places where you might want people searching for you from the air to notice you amid many square miles of search area, a signal mirror is remarkably effective. https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/gear/use-signal...

The key thing about a signalling mirror is that it can be useful _if someone is searching for you_ (and provided that you have clear sky above you).

PLB or satellite messengers will not only let the first responders know where you are (both by transmitting your location via satellite distress signal as well as using 121.5 MHz 'homing signal' in the case of PLBs to help first responders find your exact location), but also trigger the SAR operation rather than waiting for someone to notice you've been gone for too long.

A signal mirror is useful for directing searchers to you, but is useless for telling them you have a problem. I actually have both a beacon and an inReach--I got the beacon when I started doing hikes that weren't part of a group, but were still on fairly popular trails. This year I've been deliberately avoiding the crowds so I added an inReach.

With the beacon they'll know exactly who and where you are (but nothing about the nature of the problem) and it also transmits a homing signal for aircraft. With the inReach if you just trip the SOS they only get who and where, but you also have text messaging so that you can communicate how urgent the situation is and what it will take to get you out. (Safe but unable to extract won't get anything like the response that femoral artery severed, tourniquet applied gets.)

I travel abroad a lot. I always wear my roadid bracelet. It is stylish enough that folks think it is for looks, but cheap enough that it won’t get stolen off my body (like a wallet might).

Maybe I asking for too much but why didn't his makeshift snowshoes work? Being of sound body and mind with only 10 miles between you and civilization should rarely be a death sentence.

I'm not sure how well his makeshift snowshoes performed, but the journal of his account during the time he waited for someone to find him portray him as more resourceful than most hikers I've met.

As to his distance from civilization, I'm assuming you refer to Lagunitas Campground to hwy 285. That is around 20 miles as the crow flies, more like 30 miles on trail from what I see on CalTopo, but with thick fresh layer of snow covering the trail, he'd have had to find his own way (assuming he knew hwy 285 was there). Navigation in a snow covered land that is high in elevation yet hilly but flat enough to hide what's coming ahead can make 30 miles be very very challenging even without the mental challenge of coping with being wet and cold every day. He was also hoping, at least at the beginning, that they'll find him, and that must have been a consideration for staying in the same place rather than risking losing the trail.

Yup, I have aborted a hike because of an inch of snow. I didn't recall exactly where the trail was, only that it was basically cut into a slope. Looking down at it I couldn't figure out where it would be safe to walk and where I would be risking sliding down the hill. It really changes things.

Obviously, I could have scraped aside the snow every couple of feet and figured it out but I knew there was a lot more such terrain ahead, it would have been very slow.

Just read this "Snowbound" at Outside Online. What a story!

note: it's Garmin inReach Mini, if someone is interested.

Right, that's the exact model you should look for, InReach is the term they use to describe their whole sat-messaging line.

By the way, they also have an API you can hook into. I once was toying with the idea of implementing a compact language to help me with resupplying between towns: Lets say that my flashlight breaks or my mattress gets a hole that I cannot fix, I could have a list of all my items (it's rather short - for example here is my '19 HRP thruhike gear list: https://lighterpack.com/r/rbjo9d). For every item I can maintain let's say an amazon product page (with some price bound probably), as well as the list of towns I'll be visiting.

A single text message that says "ORDER 1 flashlight to Bridgeport" could trigger an order to the General Delivery address which I already have in my Amazon account.

This could even work as a service that possibly pays itself using just Amazon's referral fees.

I never got to actually testing their API since you have to manually apply to their business plan which cost significantly more than the regular plan. But it could really be useful and save you a lot of time and money while thruhiking, when you really need to get a replacement item while out there between towns with no signal and your next town only has a general store.

And yes, Otter's story is so crazy, sad and depressing. Being there so long and slowly realizing that there is no way out feels so difficult to process. I can easily see how it could have been adapted to a film.

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