Campers:

I was talking to Yosemite SAR today and we were thinking about coming up with a resource list of outdoor forums to use when trying to get information on missing hikers or conditions.

What are some good semi high traffic Forums for the area between, say, Tahoe and the southern Sierra? I've got this forum, of course; the other Whitney forum and High Sierra Topix.

What else?

The idea might be for SAR people to post question on whether anyone's seen an overdue hiker; whether they were in the same area at the same time; or if they were there and had photos so we could get an idea of conditions.

Maybe also any blogs. I'm aware of postholer -- is that just for PCT hikers? Any others??

Anyway, appreciate any suggestions. Maybe give the name of the forum, the link, and a couple of lines about their main interest & geographic area.

Thanks!

George

Hi George,

We have a nice forum over at www.yosemitenews.info

I have been encouraging the administrator to set up a Forum strictly for bulletins such as severe weather, road closures, avalanche warnings....and missing people

B

How about Bob Burd's SierraScrambles mailing list?
sierrascrambles
Bob Burd's Trip Reports

There's lots of crazy hikers that are always out doing pretty intense hikes in out of the way places on this list.

Outstanding idea, George!
Vermillion Valley Resort has a discussion Board:

http://edisonlake.com/site/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,52/

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The PCT email forum generates a lot of traffic, and is seen by a lot of people who have connections all along the trail. the Pacific Crest Trail Association says of it:
"The E-mail Forum is a rapid e-mail discussion among people who are interested in the PCT. All you need to participate is an e-mail account. Simply register and you'll start receiving interesting "posts" from members of the forum in your mailbox.

Each day, discussions on the list cover a wide range of topics from planning, bears, and giardia, to stoves, shoes, snow conditions, and much more. Don't see the information you need? Post your question."

http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
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Both high volume areas, though more climber oriented.

http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB2/
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/forum.php

Here is a slight extension of the idea: packers along the route. These guys often know more about the trail, and about people on the trail, than anyone else. You probably have a list of packers, and all have phone #'s, and many have emails.

The California Forum over on Summitpost.org gets tons of traffic.

http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=14&sid=0c821c2fb3b953fc49494080f636086b

Thanks all -- I'm compiling from here & HighSierra Topix and will put together a resource list for SARs.

Thanks!


g.