daveg
Trail Wise!
Michigan
Posts: 565 
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Post by daveg on Jun 8, 2017 19:26:36 GMT -8
The 16 dumbest things people have done in US national parks
Some are sad/tragic.
Some have been mentioned before on this forum -- like the hotel guests in Yellowstone who complained about the bears not being trained to appear for tourists.
But a couple of new ones to me:
-- Tourists thought bear spray (pepper spray) worked like bug repellent and sprayed the hot chemicals all over their bodies.
-- Tourists tried and failed to light fossilized wood on fire.
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BigLoad
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Pancakes!
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Post by BigLoad on Jun 8, 2017 21:04:20 GMT -8
The biggest danger the average person faces outdoors is himself. Nearly everything else is avoidable.
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foxalo
Trail Wise!
Life is infinitely stranger than anything the mind could invent.---Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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Post by foxalo on Jun 9, 2017 5:26:54 GMT -8
My favorite is still the people that put the bison calf in their vehicle because they thought it looked cold. It was sad for the calf, because it had to be euthanized, but I just have to shake my head at people like that.
And let's not forget the ones who think the hot springs in Yellowstone are just like hot tubs, not realizing the temperature and acidity of the springs will kill them instantly once they get in.
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Post by Campfires&Concierges on Jun 9, 2017 6:03:23 GMT -8
A woman decided to light up in a massive 3,500-year-old Cyprus tree known as "the Senator." The tree caught fire and burned to the ground, and the woman received five years of probation.
I remember this, my aunt lived in the area and was devastated about it!
The fossilized wood one, I don't get - you don't go around trying to light regular wood on fire, so why would you even try this? In a survival situation maybe.
On a somewhat related note, if you are on Instagram, check out the account Trail Trash of CO - they repost photos of people doing dumb things in Colorado and then shame them publicly, I love it. (The people themselves have posted the images and tagged themselves breaking the law) Most of the posts are at Hanging Lake of people ignoring all the rules.
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Post by hikingtiger on Jun 9, 2017 10:55:27 GMT -8
A woman decided to light up in a massive 3,500-year-old Cyprus tree known as "the Senator." The tree caught fire and burned to the ground, and the woman received five years of probation.I remember this, my aunt lived in the area and was devastated about it! From Wiki: "On February 28, 2012, The Florida Division of Forestry said they arrested Sara Barnes, age 26, in relation to the fire of The Senator. Barnes said she was a drug abuser who regularly went to the tree site when the park was closed to consume illegal drugs. On the night of January 16, 2012, Barnes lit a fire with debris so that she could see the drugs she was going to use, but the fire got out of control. Officials said that they found images of the fire being started on Barnes' laptop and on her cellphone. When an arrest warrant was served at her home she was also charged with possession of methamphetamine. In 2014, Barnes was sentenced to 30 months in prison, with the sentence suspended if she could successfully complete five years of probation. However, in October 2015, Barnes was arrested again on other charges, violating her probation. Jailed in December 2015, she went to trial in March 2016. On March 31, 2016, Barnes was found guilty, her probation was rescinded and she was ordered jailed for 30 months, with approximately 10 months credit for time previously served." {emphasis mine} |
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Jun 9, 2017 11:40:23 GMT -8
That's a good example of how the ten essentials can not only keep you alive, but keep you out of jail as well.
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Post by hikerjer on Jun 9, 2017 12:52:54 GMT -8
Actually, IMHO, one of the dumbest things you can do in a national park is actually go to one in July and August. The places are goldang zoos and to be avoided at peak season.
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Post by starwalker on Jun 9, 2017 13:05:02 GMT -8
Not stupid, but wierd. When my son was the front desk manager at Zion, he had some folks check out after 30 minutes because "it was too quiet."
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Post by Campfires&Concierges on Jun 9, 2017 13:42:55 GMT -8
Not stupid, but wierd. When my son was the front desk manager at Zion, he had some folks check out after 30 minutes because "it was too quiet." LOL, I can somewhat relate - as a city-dweller, too much quiet freaks me out a little bit! I wonder where they went, though...Vegas? |
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texasbb
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Hates chicken
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Post by texasbb on Jun 9, 2017 15:19:29 GMT -8
I will never understand an aversion to quiet.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Jun 9, 2017 19:24:00 GMT -8
I know a place nearby that would terrify most. It's dead silent except for the sound of the ground hornets. They create a hum that is very disturbing. Once I camped near a shallow river with so many horseflies that the hum was deafening. I set up in hurry at dusk, and I left in a hurry before dawn. Somehow I only got a handful of bites. I'd almost rather get bitten by a horse. ETA: I have been bitten by a horse, and it's pretty high on my list of experiences to never repeat. |
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rebeccad
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Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on Jun 9, 2017 19:29:45 GMT -8
It's dead silent except for the sound of the ground hornets. They create a hum that is very disturbing. Stumbled into something like this at the Panamint Dunes last year. They weren't bothering us (maybe not hornets. Some kind of ground-dwelling bee) but it still gave me the creeps, as I've spent much of my life getting over the trauma of stepping into a nest of yellow-jackets when I was 10. And one time were were driving down from Klamath Falls to Lava Beds at dusk. We had to stop by the tule lake to clean the bugs off the windshield, and when we stepped out into the gathering darkness, with a t-storm building in the near distance, we heard a hum like that of high-tension lines. It was the bugs. Fortunately they were mayflies or some such, not mosquitoes, because if you were ever caught by enough mosquitoes to make a noise like that, I think you would die. |
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mk
Trail Wise!
North Texas
Posts: 1,217
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Post by mk on Jun 9, 2017 19:46:00 GMT -8
they get so loud you can't hear your car running., They were like that here a couple of summers ago. I had to stay inside at night once they started up because the noise actually hurt my ears. And they look very strange. Their noise makes me think of hot nights, front porches, and cold drinks. I must have seen a movie like that ... My Chicago relatives always had difficulty getting used to the quiet of northern Wisconsin. The "peepers," in particular, were a problem for them. When I'm in the city, however, I'm never bothered by the traffic noises or sirens. |
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Post by Campfires&Concierges on Jun 10, 2017 12:10:16 GMT -8
The eeriest thing I've ever heard was cicadas. Walking into to Cohutta one year, their noise was ethereal. It traveled up and down the river sounding like something from another planet. In Louisville, Kentucky, they get so loud you can't hear your car running. I love that sound in the summer - takes me back to being a kid, sleeping with the windows open. They are gross-looking, and the sound they make when dying is gross, but I love the sound of cicadas (and katydids) in the summer! |
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Post by autumnmist on Jun 10, 2017 13:24:54 GMT -8
I like to watch the fireflies, darting quickly about and flashing. To me, it's a quintessential representation of the peace of summer - just sitting and watching little tiny insects performing their spontaneously choreographed aerial ballets.
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