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Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
#30982 04/18/13 06:02 PM
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wagga Offline OP
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This is an interesting missing hiker story.

"We did everything we could to try to talk him out of it," said his mother, Tammy Self. "He was leaving, no matter what."

The teen was well-prepared with gear he bought just before leaving, but had little experience of life in the wild beyond family camping trips, his parents said.

"He is not a survivalist," said his father, Victor Self, a manager at a box plant in Oklahoma City. "He is a very urban child."


"His parents last heard from him March 15, when he called from the parking lot of a motel in northern Nevada where he was spending the night in the cab of his pickup. The next day, Dustin called his girlfriend in Austin, Texas, to say he was lost after his GPS had sent him onto a road along the east side of Steens Mountain in the high desert of southeastern Oregon."





Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
wagga #30987 04/18/13 09:05 PM
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I talked to the Sheriff today on one small aspect of the search and offered help. Unfortunately, it's unlikely my suggestion would help. It's a huge area, some still under snow and the person was last seen over a month ago. One of the things we agreed on was it's too bad SAR agencies often can't move fast enough to save some of these young people who are trying to find themselves. A year or two of maturity could make a huge difference in arriving at a safer perspective where they don't risk themselves or others.


None of the views expressed here in any way represent those of the unidentified agency that I work for or, often, reality. It's just me, fired up by coffee and powerful prose.
Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
wagga #30989 04/18/13 10:24 PM
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Quote:
"Dustin called his girlfriend in Austin, Texas, to say he was lost after his GPS had sent him onto a road along the east side of Steens Mountain in the high desert of southeastern Oregon."


'lost after his GPS had sent him onto a road...'

How many times I want to scream when I read this statement rescue after rescue, tragedy after tragedy.

My uncle has lived in the same town for 30 years, and now he gets 'lost' because his GPS sends him down those very same 'roads'. I almost kicked out the dashboard on our last 'adventure'.

just venting

I have no solutions to offer at the risk of sounding like an insensitive jerk (that I can sometimes Bee)

PS If you don't want to get into a bad mood or have your meal disturbed: Don't read the "Most Read" story headlines or the "Editors Picks" list, either.


The body betrays and the weather conspires, hopefully, not on the same day.
Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
Bee #30993 04/19/13 07:50 AM
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None of the views expressed here in any way represent those of the unidentified agency that I work for or, often, reality. It's just me, fired up by coffee and powerful prose.
Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
wagga #30996 04/19/13 01:33 PM
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Originally Posted By: wagga

The teen was well-prepared with gear he bought just before leaving,


Now there's a contradiction in terms.


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Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
saltydog #30997 04/19/13 01:36 PM
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"Inspired to live of the land by "Into the Wild". There's another one


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Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
George #30998 04/19/13 02:26 PM
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George, I love that cartoon!

Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
bobpickering #31000 04/19/13 03:39 PM
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A few years ago, I was on a search for some guys who were overdue following a severe fall rain and snowstorm. They were eventually spotted at the top of a waterfall. They had a GPS with them and, getting to a trail intersection, saw that the GPS said it was only about 3 miles back to their car at a straight line distance vs. about 10+ by the trail. The straight line took them down a drainage that ended at the top of the waterfall. Oooops The rain/snow hit part way down and high water prevented them from going back (also, they'd lost one pack in the river). Fortunately, they stopped there and waited for rescue.

The route down the river was pretty gnarly and got worse as they went. I asked them if they considered turning around. Nope -- because the GPS kept showing them getting closer to their car!

The other fun thing was they had tracking on so I downloaded their GPS track. You could see a bunch of points at the junction and could imagine them standing there discussing the route. I wanted to shout "NO! Don't go that way. Go the trail!"

The other thing was they were heroes in the press for "surviving." Once they were actually stuck, they did do a good job of surviving and eventually building a signal fire. But it was total testosterone poisoning and dumbness that got them stuck in the first place.



None of the views expressed here in any way represent those of the unidentified agency that I work for or, often, reality. It's just me, fired up by coffee and powerful prose.
Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
George #31001 04/19/13 03:47 PM
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Originally Posted By: George

The other thing was they were heroes in the press for "surviving."


Yeah, real heroes *gag*. That (dead) guy from Into the Wild has been elevated to some sort of cult figure to a cross-section of losers who dream of, or actually attempt to emulate him.


The body betrays and the weather conspires, hopefully, not on the same day.
Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
wagga #31002 04/19/13 06:00 PM
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I never feel bad when someone dies looking for themselves. Better to take the step and die while living. We are all on our own journey.

Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
RoguePhotonic #31003 04/19/13 08:24 PM
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I don't know, RP....

This guy was only a kid. He died due to mistakes most of us would not make. That's the part that hurts.

Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
RoguePhotonic #31004 04/19/13 08:46 PM
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I have no problem with a guy like Eric Ryback (about the same age as the others mentioned) who goes into the Sierra with the best possible preparation & experience and he has plans to actually walk out, but risks otherwise. (rather than subscribing to some sort of mystic let-the-fates-sort-it-out BS and if that doesn't work out, the beleagered SARs will have to go fetch them).In other places in the world, folks can be left to their fates -- die -- but in the States, it does not work that way.


The body betrays and the weather conspires, hopefully, not on the same day.
Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
RoguePhotonic #31005 04/20/13 03:45 AM
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Originally Posted By: RoguePhotonic
I never feel bad when someone dies looking for themselves. Better to take the step and die while living. We are all on our own journey.


Really? Never?

I kinda feel bad when someone dies having been inspired by a movie as superficial, misguided, and misleading as "Into the Wild". Sean Penn did a great disservice by glorifying dumb luck and rookie errors. The kid should have read the book. He might have been more inspired to actually be prepared

Most people I know who go looking for themselves put some real effort, thought and preparation into it . They do it intentionally and attentively, not on a hollywood-inspired impulse.


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Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
saltydog #31012 04/20/13 11:36 AM
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I read the book and saw the movie, but this seems more like sixties and seventies escapism than a desire to survive in the wild. McCandless was older, a lot more prepared, and he wasn't into drugs. Both of them simply refused to listen to common sense.

Who can fault a kid for wanting to experience freedom and exploration for a brief time in his youth. How many millions have tried something like that or wished they did. It's just sad that he chose a really bad path to find himself by getting lost and getting high. That path is well worn with lots of dead end signs along the way.

"A clean-cut bodybuilder in high school, he had lately grown his hair long and wore a bandanna around his head."

"...to see if he could live in the wild, and to investigate some churches that practice a South American religion that uses a hallucinogenic tea as a sacrament."



Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
George #31015 04/20/13 04:49 PM
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Originally Posted By: George

Thanks, George. I peed my pants laughing at your cartoon.

Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
wagga #31016 04/20/13 07:06 PM
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We all make choices in life and some of them lead to our deaths. The whole idea here is a bit too deep in a philosophical nature to go into any real detailed opinion on the matter but I still maintain that SAR choose to do their job. To think that we should dictate our lives around the idea that other people have hopelessly attached their selves to our destinies is crazy to me.

Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
RoguePhotonic #31017 04/20/13 07:28 PM
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Originally Posted By: RoguePhotonic
I still maintain that SAR choose to do their job.


Oh, so like, if all the SAR teams went on strike-quit their jobs-balked, then the problem of suicide missions not working out would be solved? Folks could exercise free choice and die at will? In some cases, this might be a good idea (I can think of a few useless consenting adult aged individuals who should bee sent on a looooong one way hike)


Originally Posted By: RoguePhotonic
To think that we should dictate our lives around the idea that other people have hopelessly attached their selves to our destinies is crazy to me.

Huh? Doggonit! What a great idea it would be if those first responders*doctors*SAR could just selectively decide who they reach out to, and who they could just walk away and let to expire. You are really onto something here; I could get on board with this one(drunk drivers injured in car accidents would immediately be deemed "suicidal let to expire" designees --yeah!)


The body betrays and the weather conspires, hopefully, not on the same day.
Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
Bee #31022 04/21/13 05:32 PM
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Originally Posted By: Bee
You are really onto something here; I could get on board with this one(drunk drivers injured in car accidents would immediately be deemed "suicidal let to expire" designees --yeah!)


And David Icke fans.
And David Icke.


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Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
wagga #31023 04/21/13 07:00 PM
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The communication barrier has always been my greatest enemy. I don't pretend to understand all your points but with mentioning driving I would more accurately compare it to the idea that we should not drive because if we get in an accident then rescuers might get hurt trying to sort it out.

This whole exchange is too wasteful.

Re: Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon
RoguePhotonic #31026 04/22/13 08:49 AM
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Originally Posted By: RoguePhotonic
The communication barrier has always been my greatest enemy. I don't pretend to understand all your points but with mentioning driving I would more accurately compare it to the idea that we should not drive because if we get in an accident then rescuers might get hurt trying to sort it out.

This whole exchange is too wasteful.


Not really: there are lessons here. Consider that it is not like being obligated not to drive, but not to drive like an idiot. Reasonable, prudent risk going into the backcountry is one thing, but going in prepared only with brand new gear, a bad movie and the wisdom of David Icke is like entering the Baja 1000 with a learner's permit and inspiration of Grand Theft Auto.


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