Simple day hike turns tragic.

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Apr 20, 2001
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Why it's important to check your weather forecast and carry even the basic "what if" gear, on any outdoors hike.

"3 dead after going missing overnight in Reynolds County"

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/20575582/3-dead-after-going-missing-overnight-in-reynolds-county

REYNOLDS COUNTY, MO (KFVS) - An Illinois man and his two young sons have died after going missing overnight on a hiking trail in Reynolds County, Missouri.
According to Reynolds County Sheriff Tom Volner, the man and his boys were hiking on the Ozark Trail near Black, Missouri.
Volner says the hikers left camp Saturday around 11 a.m. When they left, it was around 60 degrees. And they were wearing light clothing.
However, Volner says the weather changed that afternoon with cooler weather, heavy rains and flash flooding occurring.
Around 2 p.m., a passerby in the Sutton's Bluff area last saw the man and his boys.
Then around 6-7 p.m., the camping lodge contacted the sheriff's office concerned about man and boys' safety. The sheriff arrived at the lodge and talked to the man's wife. She said it wasn't uncommon for her husband to hunker down during a storm to let it pass.
A search ensued from that time until midnight. Volner says areas of the trail were impassable due to water. The search resumed at 7 a.m. Sunday, and the father and his sons were found on the trail several hours later.
The sheriff says the man was pronounced dead at the scene. His sons were taken to an Ellington hospital and administered CPR before being pronounced deceased.
Volner says the temperatures got into the 20s overnight.
 
The local stream I frequently canoe was at 3 1/2' a couple of days ago. Friday night it hit 5', yesterday 6' amd right now it is over 9' on the guage. Doesn't sound like much but the flow went from 600 CFM to 5,380 CFM. Shame the hikers didn't check the weather forecast and stick closer or prepare better. With just a little bit of preparation they would have been miserable but alive.
 
That's SAD

LIke you said--Check the weather report BEFORE you leave

Carry enough items to at least start a fire
 
That is tragic. Ugh.

I don't *ever* want that for myself or my kids (or anyone else for that matter).
 
Bummer. I worry about stuff like that all the time. I take scouts out on overnighters etc. Canoe camping, and winter camp outs in the snow in the mountains. I always overpack the rig, and bring extra gear.

One snow campout, after spending months telling the parents what the boys needed for snow camping, and even making a strict list (if they did not have the gear they would not be able to go).

One boy came with no pack boots. His parents sent him with light hiking boots. The valley had 89 inches of snow that year, and we were up on the mountain. Luckily he fit into the extra pack boots I brought (just in case) with the extra warm socks.

I don't ever want to be the scout leader (or dad) who gets some one killed.
 
That is truly tragic. Mother Nature is unforgiving and ever changing. Be prepared. It sounds so simple but can be so important. An extra layer of clothing, a space blanket and a poncho or pup tent could have saved their lives. Man that is sad.
 
This illustrates what I try to explain to my kids. Nature doesn't care whether you're hungry, cold, scared, alive, or dead. It is what is. Trying to stop nature is like trying to stop the ocean waves. A ferro rod and striker may have kept at least one of them alive. Then again, maybe not. Horrible, horrible tragedy. Even worse because it could have been prevented.
 
I live in Missouri and this was on our local news tonight. According to the report it said that a passerby in a car asked them if they wanted a ride because he noticed the man and his children were wet. The father denied the ride back to the lodge and instead told the driver they would "tough it out." It's speculated that the father was disoriented from hypothermia and that hours later the father and kids actually walked pass the lodge and kept walking for another 30 minutes. The news also said that once discovered that volunteer rescuers took turns trying CPR for 4 hours. It's really a tragedy.
 
I live in Missouri and this was on our local news tonight. According to the report it said that a passerby in a car asked them if they wanted a ride because he noticed the man and his children were wet. The father denied the ride back to the lodge and instead told the driver they would "tough it out." It's speculated that the father was disoriented from hypothermia and that hours later the father and kids actually walked pass the lodge and kept walking for another 30 minutes. The news also said that once discovered that volunteer rescuers took turns trying CPR for 4 hours. It's really a tragedy.

Terrible news... very sad for the family...
 
Wow, that's terrible. As is usual when you hear about these stories, it was likely a series of bad choices that led to this. Likely some simple gear to keep them from getting soaked by the cold rain could have made all the difference. Very sad.
 
I was guiding a school trip in the Snowdonian Welsh Mountains
And the weather was bad
So I cancelled the hike over the Wesh hills and turned it into a road walk

The pressure I got from the teachers of the group not to cancel the hill walk was very difficult to say no to
 
I read often about the danger of animals or humans, people forgott that the main danger on a hiking is the weather, followed by falls.

Sad news, poor man and his sons.
 
The temps here in Mo dropped 25 degrees in about 2 hours Saturday. I am not far from there. That is sad.
 
Sad as this is, I can't understand WHY, during WINTER, you would not carry any extra gear/clothes or check the weather. This man could have so easily prevented what happened :(
 
The news also said that once discovered that volunteer rescuers took turns trying CPR for 4 hours.

CPR for 4 hours? Uh....ok.


Sad as this is, I can't understand WHY, during WINTER, you would not carry any extra gear/clothes or check the weather. This man could have so easily prevented what happened :(

Yup. It's sad, but also an example of foolishness that had real consequences.
 
As for the CPR for 4 hours, I don't know why they performed it for so long. I'm just relaying what our local news reported. It's terrible all the way around. The kids were 8 and 10 years old, the dad was 36. This morning the news said their 4 month old lab survived and was by the families side when they were discovered.
 
This is why I carry a small handheld weather radio in my bushbag.
 
On the CPR thing, as a former EMT, there are two factors in play.

1. Nobody is dead, until they are warm and dead, if cold is involved, there's a chance.
2. NOBODY wants to give up on a kid......................
 
On the CPR thing, as a former EMT, there are two factors in play.

1. Nobody is dead, until they are warm and dead, if cold is involved, there's a chance.

Sure, but while it was supposedly somewhat cold out, it wasn't like these folks were preserved in ice. Artificial circulatory assistance or not, you're not thinking clearly if you expect someone to suddenly come back to life after 4 hours of CPR (not to mention how long they had been that way before they were discovered).


2. NOBODY wants to give up on a kid......................

Of course not. I'm sure it was a highly emotional situation to respond to.

It's obviously a tangent of this conversation. It just struck me as a bit odd. That's all.
 
CPR for 4 hours? Uh....ok.

When performing CPR, you keep the circulatory system going. You blow in air to provide oxygen and pump the heart manually, so it'll transport the oxygenated blood around. CPR means, that the brain gets the oxygen it needs, thus preventing irreversible brain damage, which is the whole point of CPR.

Never EVER stop CPR untill a doctor has declared the patient dead.
 
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