Girl Scouts save boys hiking Pike's Peak

August 29, 2014 6:34 AM

'You don't have food, you don't have water, you don't have a tent, what are you doing here?"
posted by phunniemee (12 comments total)

My sister was in Rangers and Pathfinders (the Canadian equivalent of Girl Scouts). They were very, very serious about wilderness survival.
posted by Nevin at 6:43 AM on August 29, 2014

The three teens from Troop 931 for a prestigious life saving award.

This website for journalism.
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:44 AM on August 29, 2014 [9 favorites]

That's awesome. I was in Girl Scouts for a few years in elementary school, but our troop disbanded before middle school. I wish I had been able to stick with it. Those young women have good heads on their shoulders.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:45 AM on August 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

These guys were lucky. However, I am always irritated about stories of people needing rescue because they didn't prepare for their hikes properly. Sometimes bad things happen no matter what, but sometimes, you are just a dumbass.
posted by emjaybee at 6:49 AM on August 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

Meanwhile, my cousin's troop hands out badges for drinking a glass of water.
posted by michaelh at 6:50 AM on August 29, 2014

Due to concerns about bullying (I was a very flamboyant child), my parents gently discouraged me from joining Cub Scouts (in retrospect, they were right, considering where I grew up), but both of my Scouting parents saw to it that I was aware of basic wilderness skills, and for that I'm very grateful. Of course, being the awkward queer kid on the high school camping trip doesn't really guarantee that anyone else will listen to you when you suggest that the group shouldn't pitch their tent in the middle of a hollow in the ground, or that setting up the rain fly is pretty much a necessity in the Pacific Northwest, but my smug self-satisfaction made it worthwhile, even years later.
posted by wakannai at 6:51 AM on August 29, 2014 [5 favorites]

I don't want to take away from these girls' skills at all (good for them that they can light fires and build shelters), but this story seems a bit overblown. I had never heard of Pikes Peak, so I googled it. The visitor site says there is a railway up to the summit, and a road. Do people really need to take tents and fire-making equipment on a day hike?
posted by tinkletown at 6:52 AM on August 29, 2014

"One of them had altitude sickness so he was feeling light-headed and barfing all the time and the other was suffering from hypothermia because the water in his pack had opened up and got him soaking wet the last two miles," said Clark. "We were worried about them because we were thinking, 'you don't have food, you don't have water, you don't have a tent, what are you doing here?"

Do people really need to take tents and fire-making equipment on a day hike?

Apparently? Who knew.
posted by Lardmitten at 6:56 AM on August 29, 2014

Do people really need to take tents and fire-making equipment on a day hike?

There are interstates running along a good part of the Appalachian Trail but that doesn't mean you get the same experience driving past it as hiking it.

The girls were carrying sleeping bags, so I think it would be a safe guess to say they were planning an overnight trip.

Pike's Peak is a fairly legitimate piece of American geography. There are consumer/tourist ways of seeing it, but if you're actually going on a forrealsies hike and camping there you should be prepared.
posted by phunniemee at 6:57 AM on August 29, 2014 [5 favorites]

America's 10 most dangerous hikes: Barr Trail Pikes Peak CO

Maybe they were on a different trail, but just because there's a railway somewhere doesn't mean they were anywhere near it.
posted by j03 at 6:58 AM on August 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

The visitor site says there is a railway up to the summit, and a road.

There's more than two ways up a mountain.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:59 AM on August 29, 2014

There's more than two ways up a mountain.

Ooh, I'm going to use that for my regular morning meditation.
posted by Segundus at 7:02 AM on August 29, 2014 [1 favorite]