They were equipped to the extent of wearing poly-rubber wetsuits - scuba-diving skins - to insulate themselves for a hike in the chilly water of the creek canyon in southern Utah. They may have been better prepared than many who set out to explore backcountry in the West.īefore taking on Kolob canyon, according to the survivors, they had camped together numerous times and practiced simple canyoneering techniques, hiking in streams and climbing rocks with the aid of ropes. They could have been just about anyone: three men and five teen-age boys - Explorer Scouts - from a Mormon church youth program in South Salt Lake, Utah. The Kolob canyon case could move society toward mandatory rescue insurance or competency testing for hiking permits it could result in denied access to alluring yet treacherous public lands.Ībout the only aspects of the case not in dispute are the basic facts of what happened down in the maelstrom. But the wider question they raise extends beyond the canyon walls that trapped the hikers, to touch anyone who wants to try a wilderness. Now they are asking a federal court to determine blame. They have seen their wrongful death and damage claims for $24.5 million rejected by the federal government. Survivors and the two women widowed by the expedition through Kolob canyon, Utah, have inventoried the hell they went through, their loss of life and property, down to the three pairs of designer jeans that the raging water swept away. Their hike will end as a case number in some climate-controlled courtroom, with lawyers arguing technicalities and trying to cross-examine the dead. They set out on a bold hike that was meant to build character.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |