why all the "Do Do Occurs" threads ?

Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Often, bad things happen to ignorant people. Sometimes people die. Just because it happens in the woods doesn't mean it's a Teachable Moment here, especially if it was the result of a medical condition or willfully ignoring posted warnings and crossing fences.

I suppose I may be just adding to the noise, but I've wanted to post something like this for a while. Now I have. Carry on.

Because dogs and cell phones got boring.

Yup, I was thinking the same thing, Chip. Sorta like ambulance chasing after a bit. ...and even if it is a teachable moment, I'm not sure that it's anything more than an opportunity for people to show how smart we are.

People are pretty much the same everywhere, take similar risks, and have similar outcomes which brings up similar issues.

We, however, have started acting like the (two-bit excuse for) local TV news... They search the entire country/world for suitably spectacular/emotional incidents/accidents to report while ignoring real news. We appear to be reporting outdoor incidents/accidents which have little relevance to hiking in the NE.

Doug

If it bleeds, it leads

Not enough hikers hiking recklessly of late to satisfy the scolds and worrywarts.

Now we are going after the tourists! CHARGE!

dug said:

Because dogs and cell phones got boring.

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Because there's no postholing in summer...

I'm getting tired of all this as well. Especially the ones that have nothing to do with North East hiking.

J.Dub said:

Because there's no postholing in summer...

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Well if the dogs would get off their cell-phones & pay more attention to staying on the monorail, they wouldn't postpole. Don't let dogs chat or text & hike.

It's something to do on another rainy day?
It beats housecleaning?

Also... I always secretly hope that someone who might be inclined to take this kind of risk on the spur of the moment will read it, and perhaps think twice before they venture forth into oblivion.

Is it...

...virtual rubber-necking jamming up the web?

People have fallen off from near the top or top of many places, Some along the South Taconic area, (Bear Rock) & some in places set up more like a tourist destination - Bushkill which is very nice BTW.

I've seen few to no good waterfall pictures from the top of falls. My favorites are from below or near the bottom, of from a distance like you see for Yosemite, Yellowstone or Niagara. My best Zugsputze water shots were from a distance or underneath.

If the best shots are indeed from below or just above the bottom of the falls, besides the obvious, danger beyond this railing, tell the people that photos from the tops of waterfalls are not as dramatic as those taken from the top.

The best photos from artists were taken from below. (or a helicopter)

Is some of the reality based outdoor adventure TV getting people out with cameras doing dumb stuff. (I hate even suggesting that, TV is not responible, they warn you not to do this stuff & people need to realize these guys are not weekend warriors but professionals many with climbing backgrounds or years of training. besides, I'll carry a little bit of gear so I don't have to eat slugs, or walk barefoot, & my trailhead doesn't start being dropped into a river by helicopter )

So is it simply time for another doodoo thread to shake things up?

It's a quirk of human nature, but people just seem to like delivering bad news. Whether it's here (another death on Everest or another bear mauling), or at the workplace ("hey, guess who just got laid off"), or the "bubble-headed bleach-blondes", to use Don Henley's phrase, on network/cable news who can barely contain their glee when they solemnly announce, "...and the body count will no doubt go higher..."

Whatever the reason, I have no idea, but as long as it's not happening to person A or his loves ones, then person A takes a strange delight in passing along bad news.

Whatever gets you through the night 'salright, 'salright

.....

Whatever gets you through your life 'salright, 'salright


Don't like the thread subject? 'salright, jes don't click on the dern thin fer cryin out loud.

Tom Rankin said:

I'm getting tired of all this as well. Especially the ones that have nothing to do with North East hiking.

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Ditto

If people stopped posting comments on threads like that they wouldn't have any life.

Ignore the life out of them.

How about, why so many dodos?

Is it better highways, high tech devices & more free time allowing easier access & maybe a false sense of security? More info available on-line so people can see places to go?

If I have a cell & GPS can I call for a rescue from a situation that is daunting & life threatening.

Expeienced people make things looks so easy, their just walking there, why can't I do that?

I'll probably get ripped for this, however, I've got to go here....

Many of the recent events have been people falling off wet rocks near the tops of waterfalls. In another thread put together by one our VFTT'ers, Channel 5 had a recent piece on Waterfalls of New England. I also love the idea of story having people go explore pretty places in a newscast of 30 minutes when 10 minutes are for sports & weather & the rest being pretty depressing.

I watched the Videos, they were well done & very nice, I need to get to VT.

I noticed that in most of the them, someone is walking near the top or along side of at least one waterfall in each clip. I did not have the sound on, I hope there was some warming that you need to be really careful when waking above a waterfall & that our VFTT'er & others were experienced in walking on wet rocks & it's harder than it looked. Or that some falls & cascades allow easy walking on & don't have a high injury risk if you slip & fall & some do. Falling down Race Brook, either the lower falls or upper falls likely ends badly unless your head doesn't hit any rocks.

Without the sound, it looked like a very nice human interest/travel segment. Any discussion on whatr to wear on your feet. 'can I wear flip flops like I do when I get my feet wet at the pool or beach' boat shoes? (my rockports are awful when wet)

The crowd most likely to wear flip flogs likely shouldn't. (Likely a sub-group of the population who might wear jeans & sneakers up Washington as the 1st family hike - maybe Franconia Ridge once featured in Walking Magazine BTW, since no one dies there & it has nice weather unlike Washington - sarcasm) Those of us here probably have some type of water shoe or teva type sandal. We also have a fair amount of experince on wet rocks to be able to know the limitations of crocs or flip flops & proabbly could get away with it.

"A man's got to know his limitations" In the outdoors, you need to know your gear's limitations too.

I like knowing what people are doing, how they are doing, and learning from it. It's a method, and VFTT gives an outlet to people for opinions. If this site were called "Accident of the Day" I wouldn't give it any attention, but the "do do occurs" threads are a small part of the whole. No one is required to read anything here. It's all optional.

Neil said:

Whatever gets you through the night 'salright, 'salright

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Ah you had ta go an post this...now I'll have this stuck in my head all day goin round n round...but at least I won't be thinking about clicking on any other noisy posts.

erugs said:

I like knowing what people are doing, how they are doing, and learning from it.

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Me too and this is a great site for that. I just don't see the point of posting another thread about how another hiker or tourist died of a heart attack or jumped the fence and fell. It does strike me as Tabloid Forumism.

What I find interesting is the quantity and variety of the replies to these threads. For example, the aggressive goat that gored a tourist to death in the Olympics has only two replies, whereas the three tourists who stepped over the rope and fell to their deaths in Yosemite has received 84 replies. Or, the polar bear attack in Svalbard has 11 replies, whereas the black bear attack in New Jersey has 23 replies.