Lesson to be learned

We are all in favor of encouraging people to get out into the mountains and explore. We've spent the last fifteen of this website and blog doing exactly that.

But for goodness' sake, use a little common sense! If you think things are getting hairy, they almost certainly are. And your mom isn't around to pull you out of the fire or get you back to safety. There is a wonderful expression in sailing: "The time to put in a reef (to reduce sail and make the boat safer) is the first time you consider it." The lesson being that if you decide to wait, things might well get nasty enough to make it impossible. And then you're in big trouble.

This story is an example people ignoring that advice. They ran into steep snow and ice, didn't have the gear for it, kept going, and ended up needed a rescue from a team that had better things to do.

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/icy-sierra-california-rescue-19800178.php

We have consistently and continually told stories about ourselves and our willingness to turn around when we didn't like the conditions or the situation. And we've been hiking for seventy years. Please do the same. It is always easier to climb up something than it is to climb down it. Don't climb anything until you know how you are getting down.

As the saying goes, there are old sailors and bold sailors, but no old, bold sailors. Don't be that guy.