Body of missing park ranger found

msnbc.com ^ | Updated: 9:27 p.m. ET Aug. 6, 2005 | AP staff

[Porterville]

That is so sad. I hate the waste of it all.

[Army Air Corps]

Authorities have announced that they have a "person of interest"...

[MinuteGal]

I don't understand why they don't have a "buddy system" for these dangerous "routine" patrols.

Leni

[Army Air Corps]

You make a very valid point. I have known rangers in state and national parks and none of them went on patrol with a partner. Even on military bases in the US, MPs will patrol the perimeter in pairs.

[DB]

Yep.

[NRA2BFree]

That is so sad. I hate the waste of it all.

Yes, it is very sad. Prayers go out to his loved ones.

[NRA2BFree]

LOL! Yep, he is the usual suspect. :o)

[martin_fierro]

Rest in peace.

[Army Air Corps]

Also, I want to know if rangers carry an emergency transmitter that sends a signal on a frequency like 121.50.

[NRA2BFree]

I don't understand why they don't have a "buddy system" for these dangerous "routine" patrols.

When they first said he was missing last week, I thought it was kinda funny that he would go out on a patrol like that by himself. It's too bad he did. Had there been a second ranger with him, perhaps he might not have died.

[Black Tooth]

Had there been a second ranger with him, perhaps he might not have died.

He'd probably be alive. Hiking off into the wilds by yourself, is asking for it.

[kms61]

That's very true, but the other side of the coin is that staffs are relatively small for such huge parks (Denali, for example, is the size of the state of Masachusetts). And backcountry rangers are an even smaller subset of that number. Going in pairs cuts their coverage of remote areas in half. And a backcountry ranger is a different breed of cat than the guy who gives campfire talks. As the article mentions obliquely, most of them are also ski patrollers, fishing guides, etc at other seasons. They pretty much make their home in the wilderness. So it's a risk, but a calculated one.

There are, however, ways to make it safer. Emergency transponders, regular radio check ins, etc, for example. I assume there will be a review of procedures after this tragedy.

[Ichneumon]

It’s peaks top 13,000 feet

"It is" peaks?

Time to flog another editor.

AP's standards have gone *way* downhill in the past couple of years, they've been making these kinds of gradeschool errors for a long time now.

[Cold Heart]

$$

[Jeff Gordon]

I don't understand why they don't have a "buddy system" for these dangerous "routine" patrols.

It is cheaper to pay death benefits than to pay another employee.

[Deetes]

"It is" peaks?

I got this from www.bettercamper.com.

Mount Chiquita is one of the most easily accesible mountains in the Mummy Range, in Rocky Mountain National Park. From trailhead to the summit, it doesn't take much more than an hour for the average, in shape, hiker. This mountain is climbed 99% of the time from the Chapin Pass trailhead. It is probably the easiest 13er to climb in the entire state, and it often climbed, along with Mt. Chapin (12,454 feet), and Ypsilon Mountain , as the second summit in this popular trio.

Maybe just maybe the writer thought we knew more than we do. Did ;-) Then again probably not ....

[ConsentofGoverned]

He'd probably be alive. Hiking off into the wilds by yourself, is asking for it.

well the USA is in real trouble when hiking by oneself is perceived as so dangerous..much like swimming, spearfishing, scuba, flying, driving , walking, sleeping, eating (choke alert), my goodness I guess I will just crawl back into my bed and worry about all the bad things waiting for people who live their lives without Modern Fear
PS watch out for cheeseburgers and a good cigar with an alcoholic beverage talk about danger..LOL spearfishing alone was great fun for me in my teenage years and camping and hiking alone is still a great gift from the Big Designer of us all..be afraid or be alive.

[NHResident]

That kind of thinking is what keeps Rescue teams occupied(and in danger) and why mountains and wilderness areas claim lives every year.

Going into a wildnerness area is no 'walk in the park' and can take the life of even those with plenty of experience and knowledge. Cocky, seekers of cheap thrills are a danger to themselves and others. Unfortunately, there are way too many of them out there.

[ConsentofGoverned]

"That kind of thinking is what keeps Rescue teams occupied(and in danger) and why mountains and wilderness areas claim lives every year. "

That type of thinking is what makes life for so many one of constant fear..Men and women much more poorly equipped than a modern hiker traveled the world alone. No amount of planing or safety net thinking can remove all the risks of the wild or else it would be called the "tamed."

Perhaps the rescue of those who have bad luck is the problem..why risk many lives and thousands of dollars?

I do not ask the state to protect me in my home or in the wild..so just don't ..if you do it was YOUR choice and I wish NO TAX dollars went to these rescues in the wild..
People who have a calling for helping their fellow man used to do it out of community and fellowship..knowing full well that harm may also come to them..When we let the government do it ..we we get professional rescue teams who do great job but with that benefit we also get YOUR TYPE the we must protect people from themselves which leads to endless regulations and expense by those claiming to be doing good but in the end just make the world a much less interesting place than it is..If people were seeking saftey they would avoid wild places and many have been so brain washed by MSM and the likes of you that they can no longer overcome their fear of the natural world..a good example is watching ocean beach behavior..I am one of the few who will even swim 20 yards off shore when in my youth many fit adults were swimming 100 yrds off shore..