Posted on 02/02/2006 1:10:58 PM PST by kiriath_jearim
Students in Tutus Saved From Mountain Road
By Associated Press
February 1, 2006, 4:53 PM EST
PASADENA, Calif. -- Two dozen Caltech students wearing Superman capes, tutus and other odd attire as part of a hazing stunt were rescued after getting stranded on the Mount Wilson Toll Road.
Organizers of the California Institute of Technology initiation ritual said they didn't realize the road had been covered last year by a landslide.
"You've got to remember that common sense is not factored into the intelligence quotient," said Deputy Greg Gabriel, who leads the Altadena Search and Rescue team.
The annual Mount Wilson Night, when freshmen are initiated into the Page House dormitory at Caltech, started off as planned Monday night, Caltech sophomore Nick Goeden said Tuesday.
The group had a large dinner before dressing the freshmen in costumes and parading them throughout Pasadena. The young men and women were then taken to the Mount Wilson Observatory for the planned 10-mile descent down the road.
A quarter-mile from the bottom, the group got stranded in Eaton Canyon where the landslide blocked their path. Rescuers were called in at about 3 a.m.
The students didn't have flashlights, warm clothes or other important supplies, Gabriel said. But the deputy said they were equipped with "distinctive headgear -- hats with antennas and horns, that kind of stuff."
"Going up those trails in the middle of the night without any safety equipment and no lighting is pretty stupid," Gabriel said. "We've had washouts. If they took a wrong trail or fell off that trail, it's hundreds of feet down."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Well, it's not rocket surgery.
The Admissions Committee has some splainin' to do.
It is extremely satisfying to see this universal law in writing.
Having argued in Global Warming and Second Hand Smoke threads extensively, I have personally experienced this law thousands of times.
bump
"So, you'd like to be an engineer at ACME Corp, eh? Why don't you tell me about a difficult problem you had to solve. What did you do?"
"Well, I was up on this mountain, wearing a tutu and ... uuhhhh ... Can I start over? One time my computer crashed when I had this really tight deadline and ..."
Does this thread need pics? It's one of those gray-area threads....
Ah, youth!
Poor Wilson....whoever he is, he no doubt knows the meaning of 'brokeback.'
Sad as it is, they're the future.
I'm thanking God for two things:
1. That all the freshmen made it back safely.
2. That it was some dormies for a change, instead of a fraternity chapter.
Their parents' tuition monies are well spent...........elsewhere.........
Better run like hell.
A couple of pics of the landslide:
http://www.altadenatrails.org/wilson_toll.html
Bawwwwww-aw. Never better said!
My Lloyd House daughter assures me of the following: "Only Page House takes their freshman up to the mountains and leaves them there, ... but they're all fine houses."
Went from Eaton Canyon up to the top of Wilson past Henerger Flats, then down the Mt.Wilson highway to Mt. Lowel (sp?)and down to Mt. Echo with the old inclined railroad. 31 miles total and I couldn't walk for two days......
Wow, that was a HUGE hike, we made many trips over Henniger Flats to Idlehour, then down into the falls area. You might enjoy this page which describes this area in detail. Check out the map and pictures.
http://www.dankat.com/advents/loweat.htm
Did you know there is a hidden tunnel through the right ridge adjacent to the first falls? How about the
old abandoned cabins way up the canyon? Also, did you know that there are still parcels of private land just below the summit of Mt. Wilson?
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