Freedom!

A Swiss man is fighting for the right to hike nude.

A Swiss rambler, 47, struck a blow for freedom yesterday when he went to court to uphold his right to roam the Alps in his birthday suit.

A court in the canton of Appenzell — famous for its cheese and stunning vistas — found itself in the glare of the world’s media as it heard the rambler’s appeal against a fine for baring all on the peaks.

The man, unnamed to protect his privacy, had refused to pay a SwFr100 (£60) fine after he was caught walking in nothing more than his boots. His case is seen as a landmark for nudist rights across Europe.

In this country they wuld probably charge you as a sex offender.

They Got Me

A new record on the Appalachian Trail.

I trekked the trail with no major problems and as soon as I got to the end I turned around and hiked right back. The truth is I hiked the Appalachian Trail from east to west. It took me nearly three ... minutes.

Sad To Hear

Several hikers have died.
One in the Grand Canyon

The 18-year-old was among a group of eight hikers that ran out of water while hiking the Shinumo Wash route.

Though few details are available pending investigation and notification of next of kin, the National Park Service states that rafters on the Colorado River were flagged down on Thursday by the group from the cliffs above the river, telling them that they were out of water and needed help.

One in the Sierra

20-year-old Cherie Hamilton disappeared Tuesday afternoon, after leaving a trail during a day hike near Wishon Lake.
More info

One on the Pacific Crest Trail.

An 80-year-old Puyallup man was found dead on the Pacific Crest trail in Skamania County Thursday.

Hikers found the body of Albert Mader at about 10:50 a.m. and notified sheriff’s deputies, according to a news release from the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office.

My condolences to their friends and family.

Sad To Hear

A hiker dies in Kings Canyon- Sequoia National Park.

I'm sorry to report there was yet another national park death this week. This one was a bit closer to home, at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Kevin Trevor Rodriguez, 19, died of head injuries Monday after he fell 50-plus feet near Tokopah Falls, a popular day hike near the Lodgepole Visitor Center.

Rodriguez -- who was reported to be from the Malibu-Agoura area -- and a friend were scrambling on the rocks above the trail when the accident occurred, according to the National Park Service. Instead of climbing down the same way they came up, they tried to descend via an apparently easier route, albeit one with slippery rocks, and Rodriguez took a tumbling fall, landing in a pool below

.

My condolences to his friends and family.

Sad To Hear

A hiker dies in Utah.

A California woman died after falling at least 1,000 feet while hiking in Zion National Park Sunday.

Nancy Maltez, 55, of Glendora, apparently stumbled on the north side of Angels Landing, a high peak above Zion Canyon, said park spokesman Ron Terry.

My condolences to her friends and family.

Sad To Hear

A hiker dies on Longs Peak in Colorado.

The hiker who died yesterday in Rocky
Mountain National Park has been identified as Maynard Brandsma, 61, of
Durango.
Brandsma died from an apparent heart attack near the summit of Longs
Peak on Monday morning. The Boulder
County coroner will conduct an autopsy today to determine an official cause
of death.
Brandsma was hiking with a family member when he fell ill in the
Homestretch area of 14,259-foot Longs Peak.

My condolences to his friends and family.

Sad News

Several Hikers have died since I last had access to a computer.

In Washington

A
Mukilteo man reported missing on Tuesday was found dead on Cedar Creek
Trail, west of Mazama.
Cory A. Hubbard, 48, drove across the Cascades
Mountains for a day hike Saturday. When he did not return home or report to work
on Monday, his family called the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office, said Sheriff
Frank Rogers.

In The Grand Canyon.

Grand
Canyon, Ariz. – A body, presumptively identified as 69 year old Robert (Bob)
A. Williams, was found today by park search and rescue personnel in the Hermit
Basin area of Grand Canyon National Park.
On May 26, park rangers received a
report that Mr. Williams was overdue from his Memorial Day weekend plans which
had included hiking in Grand Canyon National Park. On May 27, after finding Mr.
Williams’ vehicle on the South Rim, park rangers began searching a broad
area—from Hermit Basin to the South Kaibab area—that could easily be accessed on
foot or via shuttle from the point where Mr. Williams’ vehicle was found. On May
29, park rangers were able to narrow their search to the Hermit Basin area based
on information received after issuing a public request for assistance to anyone
who had hiked in the park’s back country during the Memorial Day weekend.

Also in Washington.

Medical
examiners have identified the hiker who fatally fell from Rattlesnake Ledge
near North Bend on Saturday.
Officials say Ruben Maldonado, 28, of Snohomish
County, fell more than 100 feet from the popular hiking area above Rattlesnake
Lake about 12:15 p.m. Rattlesnake Ledge is in Iron Horse State Park, in the
Cascade foothills southeast of Seattle.

In California.

As
many as 30 horrified onlookers saw a male hiker plunge hundreds of feet to
his death Saturday as he was climbing Yosemite's world-famous Half Dome, park
rangers said.

In Arizona.

The chief pilot for the New Mexico State Police and a lost hiker died when a rescue helicopter crashed in stormy weather high on a mountain near Santa Fe late Tuesday, authorities announced today. A second officer was seriously injured

My condolences to their friends and families.

I can not figure out the html to fix the way this post looks. Sorry.

Sad To Hear

A hiker falls to his death near Niagara Falls, New York.

A man hiking in the Niagara gorge fell to his death Sunday evening near Devil's Hole in Niagara Falls. State Park Police say 33-year-old Michael Cooper of Niagara Falls was heard screaming for help just before 6:00 p.m. roughly a quarter of the way down into the gorge where he had landed on some rocks. Other hikers led first responders to Cooper who was still conscious at the time. He was taken up and out of the gorge on a backboard with multiple injuries, rushed to a nearby hospital where he died in the emergency room.

My condolences to his friends and family.

Sad To Hear

A hiker dies in California.

A hiker died Sunday after he was found unconscious earlier that day on Skyline Trail in Palm Springs, a fire official said Thursday.
The man, whose name was not immediately available, was 28 years old and from Orange County.

He had been hiking since 6 a.m. and rescuers arrived at 1:30 p.m. to find him 100 feet up on the trail.

He was unconscious, unresponsive and had a core body heat of 108 degrees, officials said.

Rescuers transported him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Sunday's death was the second incident in just over a week in which a hiker on that same trail apparently misjudged the Coachella Valley heat.

My condolences to his friends and family.

Sad To Hear

A hiker dies on the Florida Trail.

COLLIER COUNTY — He was a beloved son devoted to his twin sister, an Advanced Placement scholar who was planning to enter the University of Florida, and a determined Boy Scout striving to attain the rank of Eagle Scout.

Today, his parents and twin sister Elisabeth struggled to deal with the tragedy of Michael Sclawy-Adelman's unexpected death this weekend. The 17-year-old Nova High School senior died Saturday during a sweltering, 20-mile hike on The Florida Trail in Big Cypress National Preserve in Collier County.

"He was a sweetheart. He was everyone's dream kid," said his mother Judith, of Weston, choking back tears. "He was the kind of kid everyone would love to have."

The cause of his death is pending toxicology reports, according to the Collier County Medical Examiner's Office. The teen's family requested no autopsy be conducted.

The Collier County Sheriff's Office said his death may have been the result of a medical condition but his family today declined to discuss any possible cause.

It could be heat related.

My condolences to his friends and family.

Sad To Hear

A hiker dies in Arizona.

The 52-year-old woman, whose name has not been released by the Surprise Police Department, was reported missing by family at about 11 p.m. when she didn't return from a hike. Officers searched a nearby mountain near 157th Avenue and Dynamite Road that the woman was known to frequent. They found her body about 40 minutes later.

It is believed to be accidental.

My condolences to her friends and family.
The hiker has been identified as Sharon Berman of Surprise. Police believe it was an accidental fall.

Go Hawkeye!

Hawkeye is doing a fund raiser for the Telluride Adaptive Sports Program.

TELLURIDE – Longtime Telluride Adaptive Sports Program volunteer Hawkeye Johnson will hike the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada to raise money for the program.

Johnson will hike the 2,900-mile trail in two sections, starting in Campo, Calif. (on the Mexico border) and hiking the first 1,700 miles to the California/Oregon border.

In 2010, he will hike the remaining 950 miles from Oregon through Washington to Canada.

Johnson was named a Triple Crown hiker after his October 2007 completion of the 3,000-mile Continental Divide, a trip during which he raised $17,000 for TASP to help support program costs and purchase a high definition video camera for movement analysis training and promotional purposes. This year’s hike of the Pacific Crest Trail will give Johnson, who has been involved with TASP for eight years as an instructor, staff trainer and representative for the program, his second Triple Crown. His support for the disabled community through TASP is “truly an inspiration,” said Courtney Stuecheli, TASP’s executive director. “We are so fortunate to have Hawkeye as an involved volunteer. He gives to the program on so many different levels. We can’t thank him enough for his commitment to TASP.”

To support Johnson on his trek (and benefit Telluride Adaptive Sports Program), visit his website at www.gohawkeye.com to pledge a donation amount per mile or make a flat donation.

I hiked with Hawkeye and a few other people in Maine of 01. He is a good guy even if he did 20 years in Connecticut's penal institutions.

Sad To Hear

A young lady from Baltimore was killed in a hiking accident in Ohio.

A Muskingum College student fell from a cliff yesterday while hiking at Salt Fork State Park and died early this morning, park officials said.

A witness called 911 at 2:26 p.m. to report that a woman fell from a cliff at Hosak's Cave, said George Ayers, assistant park manager.

A spokeswoman for Muskingum College identified the woman as Amy Adams, a junior biology major from Baltimore, Md. Adams was flown to Akron General Hospital and park officials were notified that she died at 1:15 a.m. today, Ayers said.

My condolences to her friends and family.

North Country Trail

The New York Times has an article on the North Country Trail.

At 4,600 miles in length, the North Country National Scenic Trail bisects a large part of the continent, slicing through seven states — from glacier-scoured landscapes in Adirondack Park to prairies on the Great Plains — and snaking a distance twice as long as the Appalachian Trail.

“If you want to see a huge cross-section of the U.S.A., the North Country is it,” said Mr. Skurka, a 27-year-old who has hiked the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails, as well as a transcontinental trek he completed in 2005 that included the entire North Country Trail.

On course to someday become one of the longest footpaths on the planet, the North Country Trail is among eight original National Scenic Trails designated by Congress, including the Continental Divide Trail, the Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin, the Appalachian and Pacific Crest, and the Natchez Trace, among other routes. (Two new trails, the Arizona National Scenic Trail and the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, received the designation this year.)

North Country Trail Association. National Park Service page.

Swiss Ban Naked Hiking!

It appears that one section od Switzerland has banned naked hiking,

Anyone found wandering the Alps wearing nothing but a sturdy pair of hiking boots will now be fined.

Appenzell is considered one of the most conservative regions of Switzerland; it gave women the vote only in 1990.

It is just childish. It is not like the people even see the hikers.

Interestingly, however, no-one actually seems to have seen a naked hiker.

"No, I've never seen one," said a local farmer. "Thank goodness, because if I had they would certainly have got a piece of my mind."

On hike naked day on the Appalachian Trail, cops sit at road crossing in the hopes of seeing naked hikers. They are just perverts. But if you are seen naked by children, you will probably be charged with a sex crime by an overly zealous prosecutor. So be careful if you want to hike nude.

Sad To Hear

A hiker dies in South Carolina.

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- An Upstate man fell to his death Saturday while hiking near the Foothills Trail in Mountain Rest.John Erich Gistinger, 20, of Fountain Inn, Laurens County, died after falling more than 90 feet near Oconee County State Park, according to Oconee County Coroner Karl E. Addis.

My condolences to his friends and family.

Bodies Everywhere?

Hikers have found bodies or the remains of bodies in Nevada, Kentucky, and Georgia.
Nevada

RENO - Police say a body found in the hills on the northwest side of Reno is that of a 61-year-old Reno woman who had been missing for a month.

Gail Duncan's husband reported her missing on March 23 after she
failed to return from her regular morning walk.

Kentucky

An investigation is underway in two southern Kentucky counties after a hiker stumbled across a body.

The remains were found in eastern Grayson County, not far from the Hardin county line .
a

Georgia

Douglas Lee Layton first saw a tooth.

He didn’t think much of it, maybe someone above at Rock City threw it down for luck.

But as he walked down the hill, he started seeing other pieces of bone.

When he saw what looked like a ragged pair of blue jeans, he knew — this was a human body.

That’s how the 52-year-old hiker from Graysville, Tenn., found the remains of an unidentified body that police say may have decomposed for nine to 15 months.

My condolences to their friends and family. I have never found a body in all my years of hiking and hope I never do.

Sad To Hear

A hiker died in Arizona.

A man in his 40s was found dead on a mountain at Thunderbird Park near 59th Avenue and Pinnacle Peak Wednesday evening.

A hiker found the man around 5 p.m. on one of the trails, about a half of a mile into the trail. The man was not breathing and didn't have a heartbeat, said Capt. Shelly Jamison with the Phoenix Fire Department.

My condolences too is friends and family.

Sad To Hear

A hiker falls t her death in Utah.

Mount Olympus » A 49-year-old woman died and two 14-year-old boys were injured after falling Saturday during a hiking trip on Mount Olympus, police said.

Karin Vandenberg, of Olympus Cove, died after sliding at least a thousand feet down the mountain.

Her friend, Christine Holding, was stuck about two miles up the mountain for much of the day with a dog, said Salt Lake County Sheriff's spokesman Don Hutson, and was rescued by helicopter about 5 p.m.

My condolences to her friends and family.

Sad To Hear

A hiker dies in New Hampshire.

PLYMOUTH — Police still have not released the name of a man who died in the woods at Pearson’s Corner last week.

Officer Robert Ugliaroli of the Plymouth police department said Wednesday the medical examiner’s office is still looking into the cause of death and next of kin have not yet been notified. But some new details had come to light since the April 9 incident.

“The man was a hiker who either fell or had a medical issue,” Ugliaroli said. “There was some speculation that he might be a missing man from Waterbury, but that’s not the case.”

My condolences to his friends and family.