The 20 Most Dangerous Hikes

[Nick]

Outside put together a list of their 20 Most Dangerous Hikes that has been going around the web the last few days. Anyone looked at this?

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoo...-backpacking/The-10-Most-Dangerous-Hikes.html

This is my favorite laugh from it. I'll give that the Maze isn't easy to get to. But 'almost impossible to navigate'? And arm-pinning boulders falling out of the sky?! Hahaha!

The Maze, Utah
The most remote section of Canyonlands National Park receives about 2,000 visitors per year, and not because it isn’t worth visiting. The red rock labyrinth known as the Maze is difficult to reach, almost impossible to navigate, and full of dead-end gullies. It always presents the danger of rockfalls (think James Franco in 127 Hours) or deadly flash floods.

The sheer danger of the place—which rangers emphasize to any visitors, insisting on detailed itineraries and good communication—has kept fatalities in the area to zero, though there was a double suicide in the summer of 2013. Deaths and accidents in the rest of Canyonlands, however, are a regular occurrence and show just how deadly the Maze would be—if anyone could get there.

 

[slc_dan]

that list is silly.

I'm headed to Macchu Picchu in a few weeks, and the write up they gave Huanya Picchu is ridiculous. My Mother did the hike 2 years ago!

 

[Vegan.Hiker]

I've only hiked on 2 of those trails. The Mount Washington one is legit because of the volatile and unpredictable weather but the Devils Path?! Sure, it's one of the most difficult trails in the US but the sections of it that I've hiked never seemed too dangerous. If anything, you have a higher chance of a minor bodily injury but not death.

 

[John Goering]

Someone had way too much time on their hands. Longs Peak? You have to be kidding. And where does one draw the line between a hike, a scramble, or a climb? Bottom line is there is no way to even make such a list-unless perhaps Daley and Wong are in CO smoking that funny stuff.

 

[Bob]

What do expect from armchair outdoor people ...........

 

[balzaccom]

The fact that stupid people can die almost anywhere does not make a hike dangerous, The Mist Trail? It's closed in winter because it's icy. Yeah, that's dangerous--but it's also closed when it's dangerous.

More people get mugged walking in Central Park. I'm surprised that's no on the list.

 

[Vegan.Hiker]

Whenever I hike or backpack alone and my wife expresses any worry I always remind her that the most dangerous part of a hike is the drive to the trailhead. I don't have the data to back it up but I bet if it was collected it would be found to be true.

 

[Aldaron]

I don't have the data to back it up but I bet if it was collected it would be found to be true.

http://www.edarnell.com/2010.html

Now just find car wreck stats for 2010

 

[Ben]

Vegan.Hiker, i tell my mom the same thing

 

[Ben]

this was my favorite, men's health's 10 trails every man must hike. my cousin posted it on facebook some time ago.

http://www.menshealth.com/best-life/best-trails-america

i'll save you the trouble of clicking through each of them. they are
grand canyon, rocky mountain np, baxter state park in maine, napali coast state park in hawaii, white mountains, mt rainier, acadia np in maine, shenandoah np, zion's narrows, and pine creek gorge in pennsylvania


i couldn't help noticing only five of the must hike list being west of the mississippi, and that's including hawaii. two destinations in maine, but no thing in alaska or california. sound like a list collector living on the east coast that hasn't been around much.

 

[Artemus]

C'mon you guys. Men's Health? Outside? You guys are the real hikers and backcountry travelers. Those magazine writers are pushing the overused and abused plums they can get at least some of their advertising looking, product buying clientele to walk on. They should be looking to you all for mildly spicy route design. Dangerous? Harumph. Luckily they aren't looking here too hard and then magazine-publishing our routes to jam them up.

 

[Joey]

To most of us that list is terrible. But its business. The title grabs viewers. More people will read that article and enjoy it than there will be people who know its garbage.

When I was a kid growing up on the east coast, it was reading stuff like this that sparked my interest in many of the places I now explore. It opened up my eyes. Take Backpacker Magazine for an example. I remember checking the mail waiting on the magazine to show up. I loved reading that thing. Now a days I laugh when I read any of their stories. I find them terrible. But I can't really fault them. They aren't selling this stuff to people on these forums. They are selling it to people who take one trip a year.

 

[John Goering]

To most of us that list is terrible. But its business. The title grabs viewers. More people will read that article and enjoy it than there will be people who know its garbage.

When I was a kid growing up on the east coast, it was reading stuff like this that sparked my interest in many of the places I now explore. It opened up my eyes. Take Backpacker Magazine for an example. I remember checking the mail waiting on the magazine to show up. I loved reading that thing. Now a days I laugh when I read any of their stories. I find them terrible. But I can't really fault them. They aren't selling this stuff to people on these forums. They are selling it to people who take one trip a year.

And you forgot people with LOTS of money. No use wasting pages on people like myself and I suspect a lot of others here.






I subscribed to Backpacker for about 4 years in it's very early existence in the 70's and discontinued for the same reasons so guess it's all relative.

 

[andyjaggy]

My guess is hikes close to home are way more dangerous than anything exotic. Exotic stuff people plan for, hiking in your backyard you tend to be very casual about, which is a recipe for disaster.

 

[TannerT]

I wasn't going to comment because everyone has said it well...but some of the descriptions are pretty accurate (i.e. Huayna Picchu people do die every year and it is because the trail is very exposed in some places. It is also the best view of the city Machu Picchu, even though the best view of the area is from Mount Machu Picchu.) The part that stung me was their inability to check facts. This might be trite but it irks me when it happens. The Caminito del Rey they translate as the 'Little King's Path'.....AARRGG it is the 'King's Little Path'!
Once again, this list is to get eyes so that advertisers will pay. Lists like this excite me because every now and then I find a trail or area that I can't help but plan and do. I'm done mumbling now....

 

[Laura]

My guess is hikes close to home are way more dangerous than anything exotic. Exotic stuff people plan for, hiking in your backyard you tend to be very casual about, which is a recipe for disaster.

That's exactly what Aron Ralston did in 2003.

 

[Joey]

My guess is hikes close to home are way more dangerous than anything exotic. Exotic stuff people plan for, hiking in your backyard you tend to be very casual about, which is a recipe for disaster.

Great point. Most backcountry accidents are usually when people are being careless, doing something normal to them. We are far more focused and careful when doing something we know is dangerous.

 

[Nick]

My guess is hikes close to home are way more dangerous than anything exotic. Exotic stuff people plan for, hiking in your backyard you tend to be very casual about, which is a recipe for disaster.

That's exactly what Aron Ralston did in 2003.

I dunno about that, it was nowhere near his back yard (didn't he live in Denver?) and it was hardly a hike anyone would consider casual. Something like 15 miles with technical gear and a huge bike shuttle in the middle of nowhere. I think he was just an idiot, not casually hiking in his back yard.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

In dunno about that, it was nowhere near his back yard (didn't he live in Denver?)

I'm pretty sure he was living on the Front Range.

 

[Laura]

I dunno about that, it was nowhere near his back yard (didn't he live in Denver?) and it was hardly a hike anyone would consider casual. Something like 15 miles with technical gear and a huge bike shuttle in the middle of nowhere. I think he was just an idiot, not casually hiking in his back yard.

I was just watching the Dateline interview he gave back in 2003. Not exactly in his backyard (he lived in Aspen) but his words were that this was just a vacation while he prepared for climbing Denali. In the book he had planned a 100 mile, 24 hour mountain bike ride for the next day and Blue John was just a quick jaunt before he was to attend a party at Goblin Valley. He entered the canyon around 2:00 p.m. and had planned to be back at his car by evening-he definitely didn't think there was anything about that outing to be concerned about.