LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky may just be applying some pressure to quell the epidemic of rescues and deaths at Eaton Canyon’s second waterfall.
Yaroslovsky’s’s website has a well-done article on the problems of hikers going on the often-deadly hike to second waterfall and the multi-agency attempt to stop it, and turns up this interesting nugget:
One of the questions our Altadenablog commentors frequently ask is: why don’t they put up warning signs? Turns out most of the involved agencies (county sheriff, fire, parks, and supervisors, and Pasadena Fire Department) agree — but not the U.S. Forest Service. According to the article, the Forest Service declines to put warning signs on their land — because “attorneys representing injured hikers might argue that, if agency officials knew there was a risk of injury, then they had an obligation to make the area safer.”
Also this money quote:
By the second or third rescue of the day,” [Altadena Mountain Rescue Team captain Richard] De Leon says, he gets frustrated with the risk takers. “I start thinking, ‘Will you people just stop!’ ”
http://zev.lacounty.gov/news/fatal-attraction-at-the-falls
UPDATE: Eric Pierce sent this photo of a sign he found at the Amicalola Falls in North Georgia — so some places do have them!
Do you think a sign would help? What other measures would you take? Let us know in the comments.
Elliot Gold said…
My thought has ALWAYS been, that when the volunteer rescuers reach the idiots who ignore warnings, the rescuers should take out a credit card machine, and say “this rescue will cost you $250….[or $2,500] which credit card do you want to use?”
These folks who go up unprepared, without their 10 essentials, need to pay for their ignorance.
My take.
Elliot Gold
Saturday, May 04, 2013 at 09:46 AM
Hugo said…
I agree 100%
Saturday, May 04, 2013 at 10:06 AM
Ann Erdman said…
I have no doubt that some have sued the U.S. Forest Service because there were no signs!
Saturday, May 04, 2013 at 11:25 AM
Jane Aron Szabo said…
I think the above article and comment from the forest service pretty much is evidence that they know there is a risk of injury….
Saturday, May 04, 2013 at 11:33 AM
Laura Monteros said…
I think they should just hire an amusement park ride designer (we have one here in Altadena), have him/her redesign the trail and upper waterfall so it is safe, reconfigure the landscape, put in safety rails and harnesses, and have one of those signs you have to stand under to see if you are tall enough. (BTW, I was 16 before I was tall enough to ride the Autopias and by then it wasn’t any fun.)
Seriously, signs might help those hikers who have read misinformation on Yelp or hiking sites, but for others–well, you can’t fix stupid.
Saturday, May 04, 2013 at 04:41 PM
whatsthepoint said…
Wanna sign up there? Put one up! Why wait for something that’s not gonna happen or will take years to get? Hike on up, put one up. If the Forest Service doesn’t want it there, they’ll take it down.
It can say- the US Forest Service doesn’t want you to know this, but it’s dangerous up there. People have died.”
Done.
Sunday, May 05, 2013 at 09:02 PM
Elliot Gold said…
WhatsThePoint:
Just don’t fall down and hurt yourself while putting up a sign.
We’re spending way too much now to rescue folks now.
Not sure if you saw the article in the Star News on May 4-5 P. 8, but it cost us $160,000 to “rescue” two high hikers, who were high [loaded] on drugs when they went up into Cleveland National Forest… then got “lost” and had to be rescued…. cost one-hundred-thousand smakeroos to rescue them.
Here’s the link to the story in the LA Times (http://www.nwitimes.com/news/national/drug-find-means-hikers-may-be-charged-for-search/article_beca9e67-c173-5f20-9241-5ae924eede97.html)
Elliot Gold
Sunday, May 05, 2013 at 09:32 PM