Dutch tourist found after 18 days trapped in Spanish ravine
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I know the landscape around there well, she was lucky to have a river nearby. Its very rocky underfoot, no real tree cover, lots of bushes, usually very scratchy ones and the insect life both airborne and surface dwelling can drive you to distraction.
Biker
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Glad it had a happy ending, but it makes me wonder how she go into the situation in the first place.
Granted I don't know the circumstances for how she got there etc, but it does make me wonder if most of these people who get into situations like this aren't just pathetic examples of humanity. My ex mother-in-law was like that, she'd have starved to death on an island even it it had marmalade sandwich bearing trees and cold lemonade streams.
Anyway, like I said, I'm glad she survived and lived to tell of her ordeal.
Granted I don't know the circumstances for how she got there etc, but it does make me wonder if most of these people who get into situations like this aren't just pathetic examples of humanity. My ex mother-in-law was like that, she'd have starved to death on an island even it it had marmalade sandwich bearing trees and cold lemonade streams.
Anyway, like I said, I'm glad she survived and lived to tell of her ordeal.
It seams a long time before any of the rescue services were alerted. Did she leave word with any one about her route or expected time of return. A lucky happy ending.
Biker, I think pathetic examples of humanity is a little harsh. As an outdoorsman I understand where you are coming from, in an ideal world everyone would be highly skilled and correctly equipped before heading out into the outdoors. However in the spirit of adventure many often aren't, at the end of May I was involved in the rescue of two young
Frenchmen who were caught out on Ben Nevis in the unusually cold weather we had at that time. Despite the best efforts of MRT's involved one of them died of Hypothermia. Its a shocking waste of a life and somewhere in France is a family that has lost a son but its not for us to say whether they should or shouldn't have been there. The human spirit is such that exploration and adventure is in our genes. Even with all our knowledge its just a fact of life that some will survive and others not.
Biker
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Point taken, apologies for the harsh comment.
I owuldn't especially call myself an outdoorsman, but then again maybe I have spent more time outdoors than the average city dweller, but some basic common sense ought to prevail when going off on a walkabout. Sadly most people liken a hike in the hills to a walk in the park. I can only assume that since she wasn't native to the region, and those French boys you mentioned on Ben Nevis obvioulsy weren't, that the terrain wasn't what they expected from the brochures.
Sorry you had to meet first hand a sad ending withthe French lad. Again apologies for the harsh comment. Typed in frustration and not enough thought given to the bigger picture.
I owuldn't especially call myself an outdoorsman, but then again maybe I have spent more time outdoors than the average city dweller, but some basic common sense ought to prevail when going off on a walkabout. Sadly most people liken a hike in the hills to a walk in the park. I can only assume that since she wasn't native to the region, and those French boys you mentioned on Ben Nevis obvioulsy weren't, that the terrain wasn't what they expected from the brochures.
Sorry you had to meet first hand a sad ending withthe French lad. Again apologies for the harsh comment. Typed in frustration and not enough thought given to the bigger picture.
BOD
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
More on this story here in the Telegraph...
And the Google maps URL for the area...
It became dark more quickly than she'd expected, she lost the path, she kept walking hoping to come across a village.
And the Google maps URL for the area...
It became dark more quickly than she'd expected, she lost the path, she kept walking hoping to come across a village.
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That reminds of a walk I did - with others - in the Lakes.
Towards the end of an 8 mile or so walk we came down via Cats Bells to Keswick. I had previously seen Julia Bradbury doing one of her TV walks on Cats Bells and presenting it as a short, gentle stroll, so I wasn't expecting any problems. I found it really difficult. And I wasn't the one. I guess a combination of being tired and psychologically unprepared, caused the unexpected difficulties.
I was half expecting to hear that some of the families with young kids going up there in sandals had accidents on the way down. Fortunately nothing happened (at least on that day).
A harsh comment? Well, yes Biker, even though I know why you said it!
My memory though, recalls 2 old wifies who seem to have got their uphill and downhill confused in their perceived vastness of the Lairig Ghru and I had to walk them back down to the Linn of Dee. They were lovely though and, apart from the inconvenience, their company was no hardship!; A young lass without a scooby where she was, wandering in what used to be known as The Whitbread Wilderness in the pouring rain; A family which had strolled off in the wrong direction after getting off the gondolas on Aonach Mhor, found me in a remote glen and were walked to Pol Dhu on their way to Ft William and left without a thanks.; and finally, a knuckle-dragger carrying a screaming 2 year old with a bright red, sunburned head on his shoulder on the Ben Nevis tourist route who became aggressive when challenged by two hairy *ed Scottish hill-men.
We phoned MRS and dropped down into Coire Leis on our way to the Dearg Arete:
But it would be bigoted of someone like me to deny anyone the right to wander the hills, and tolerance of the inexperienced is a necessary mind-set.
Unfortunately, our adventurous nature often leads people into areas of danger where no right minded person (or one with a rich childhood of falling out of trees and into rivers) would venture without a credible means of escape- like dry river courses. And "gullying" has become an industry with often tragic consequences.
Glad the woman escaped relatively unharmed, but I can't believe she survived for 18 days without a bite to eat. If she wouldn't eat the ants, she couldn't have been hungry enough, although I'd draw the line at rosemary or thyme in that part of the world, as they explode like a bar of soap in the mouth!
Cheers.
My memory though, recalls 2 old wifies who seem to have got their uphill and downhill confused in their perceived vastness of the Lairig Ghru and I had to walk them back down to the Linn of Dee. They were lovely though and, apart from the inconvenience, their company was no hardship!; A young lass without a scooby where she was, wandering in what used to be known as The Whitbread Wilderness in the pouring rain; A family which had strolled off in the wrong direction after getting off the gondolas on Aonach Mhor, found me in a remote glen and were walked to Pol Dhu on their way to Ft William and left without a thanks.; and finally, a knuckle-dragger carrying a screaming 2 year old with a bright red, sunburned head on his shoulder on the Ben Nevis tourist route who became aggressive when challenged by two hairy *ed Scottish hill-men.
We phoned MRS and dropped down into Coire Leis on our way to the Dearg Arete:But it would be bigoted of someone like me to deny anyone the right to wander the hills, and tolerance of the inexperienced is a necessary mind-set.
Unfortunately, our adventurous nature often leads people into areas of danger where no right minded person (or one with a rich childhood of falling out of trees and into rivers) would venture without a credible means of escape- like dry river courses. And "gullying" has become an industry with often tragic consequences.
Glad the woman escaped relatively unharmed, but I can't believe she survived for 18 days without a bite to eat. If she wouldn't eat the ants, she couldn't have been hungry enough, although I'd draw the line at rosemary or thyme in that part of the world, as they explode like a bar of soap in the mouth!
Cheers.
