Scree - September 28, 2010
"It is very crazy here. This morning we were passed in traffic by a guy riding a camel."
That is what we need in Nashville - more camels, I am sure that would ease the commute and I think it would be classified as an alternative means of transportation.
Another person died on Longs Peak over the weekend. The death is fourth on Longs Peak and eighth on a Colorado Fourteener this year. Mountaineering is a serious game. And though Class 3 climbing is just scrambling, "just scrambling" is often times more dangerous than the most difficult rock climbs. Hopefully, this year is an anomaly and not a trend.
Dangerous Year on Longs Peak (Daily Camera)
From the National Parks Morning Report 09/28/10:
Crater Lake National Park (OR)
Dog Survives Car’s Plunge Into Crater Lake
Visitors Shauna McHugh and Tobias Swanson were enjoying the view from an overlook near North Junction on the evening of September 11th when their vehicle, a 2003 Volkswagen Passat, rolled into the caldera. Further investigation revealed that the Passat rolled backwards in an arc across the parking area for approximately 100 feet, through a narrow opening between the rock wall and a clump of trees, and finally over the edge of the caldera, plunging more than 1,100 feet until it came to rest in 10 to 30 feet of water on the edge of Crater Lake. The initial investigation indicated that McHugh had failed to set the parking brake when she got out of the car. McHugh’s dog, “Haley,” a Dingo-Akita mix, was in the vehicle at the time of the accident and was ejected through the sunroof of the falling vehicle, but suffered only minor injuries. It took the dog approximately 15 minutes to make its way back up approximately 600 feet of talus slope to the parking lot. The Passat and associated debris within the caldera were later removed by a helicopter from Swanson Group Aviation. Two loads were hauled out, and the pilot was also able to employ a grappling hook to extract some of the larger items scattered along the caldera wall, such as a seat, bumper, and muffler. [Submitted by Marsha McCabe]
Way to go Haley (the dog)!
A woman in western Montana fended off a bear which attacked one of her dogs by kicking the bruin and screaming. She then, ran to the house and as the bear tried to follow her she bopped it on the head with a zucchini. Okay it was a large zucchini; but the woman was pretty heroic risking her own safety to save her dog.
Wildlife authorities were trying to capture the bear; but were not having any luck. He probably already left the area, he would be too embarrassed to tell any of his bear friends about his foiled escapades.
For those who do not know, texting is dangerous while driving. A Health Day article explains:
Texting alone caused more than 16,000 deaths in car accidents from 2001 to 2007, the researchers estimated. But auto deaths involving cell phones and texting while driving rose 28 percent in just three years, from 4,572 in 2005 to 5,870 in 2008.
Texting is even more dangerous the mountaineering. Be careful out there!
