Corvus Corvax said:JD said:even the most thick-skulled eventually get the message.
I wouldn't count on that, bro.
I really don't count on it, but can only hope some do eventually get
it.
Having been a professional mountain bike guide in the Moab area, I
learned that even adults need to be told to drink up in the desert if
they are not doing so. I've actually had to check water levels in
camelbaks to make sure certain clients were drinking enough. This
should, without say, be common practice if you bring a kid out anywhere
in the wilderness.
The fact that some people here have met this person who chose to bring
their family to Moab to bike in Summer does not change the mistakes
they made. Like Chris said, "coulda, shoulda, woulda" and we could go
on for days about those factors, but it doesn't change what happened.
However, the coulda shoulda wouldas can change the outcome of future
events. If the harsh reality of what happened is what it takes to
prevent others from going trough an ordeal like this, then so be it.
No matter how much people say, "drop it", or whatever, it will be
brought up from time to time to remind those who need reminding and
will prevent other incidents like this from occuring.
People may like to sit back and call people like Lee Bridgers and me
curmudgeons and the like, however our messages about the desert are
clear. Why do we harp on etiquette and safety? Because we care about
people, not about being politically correct and sugarcoating everything
so the "censors" and pc thugs of this World can cry "foul". I actually
find it sad that some people have called Lee's notions about desert
safety (in reviews of his book) over the top and bordering on paranoid.
If Lee and I didn't care, Lee would never have included any info about
desert etiquette and safety in his book or website and I would never
have repeatedly harped about not taking a bike vacation in Moab during
the Summer and the reasons why.
JD
