Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Rocky mountains

Most locals know this, and the tourists who are crowding trails in Colorado this time of year probably won't read this, but it's worth a reminder: Never, ever throw rocks from a trail when you're hiking, and if you are in a particularly rocky area, watch hikers above and below you. If you do dislodge a rock, shout a warning. We were reminded of this issue after a recent accident at Zapata Falls near Great Sand Dunes, in which a hiker was killed by a rock that was dislodged above her. I recently saw hikers kick rocks off the side of a steep trail and watched a group of teen-agers at Rocky Mountain National Park stage a rock-throwing contest off a canyon wall.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You see this on the summit of Pikes Peak a lot. The train seems to do its part to warn people of the hazards of rock throwing, but not so for the auto crowd.

One of these years someone may well be killed in the couloirs as a result.