As hiking surges in pandemic, so do injuries
Outdoor activities have become a
popular pastime during the corona virus pandemic as adventure seekers and couch surfers alike take to hiking trails for a bit of a reprieve.
But while hiking might be a safe, socially distanced activity, the challenges of weather, nature and physical strain have led to a rash of injuries and some deaths on the trails. InSeptember, three hikers died insix days in the WhiteMountains inNewHampshire. Ahiker inMountRainier National Park inWashingtonwho encountered awhiteout was revived after his heart stopped for 45 minutes. And a woman who went missing for two days on MountWhitney in California died from her injuries after being rescued in November.
“Every year there’s at least one local who dies inmountains,” said Megan Jennings of Jackson, Wyoming, who lost a friend in an avalanche this spring in the nearby Grand Tetons. “Death is something that happens frequently.”
People who hike often are aware of the associated risks. Jennings, 24, grew up in the shadowof the Grand Tetons, where visitors increased 88% in October compared with last October, the highest level for the month that the park has had. This summer, Jennings and Julia Olson, 23, set offff before dawn on a clear Tuesday morning to run the Teton Crest Trail, the first time they had run the trails.
Within the fifirst few miles, they encountered a bear and a mountain lion, escaping unscathed without needing to call for search and rescue. Jennings, who works in conservation, knew that they were as prepared as they could be. And lucky.
The increase in parkgoers — upward of 90% over the previous year in some parks — has added pressure to staffffmembers and authorities, who are already under fifinancial and staffiffing constraints because of the pandemic.
“Peopleneed tobe careful, especiallynow, as resources for search and rescue can be thin,” said LisaHerron, a spokeswoman for
the U.S. Forest Service at Lake Tahoe Basin in California.
The agency has not yet compiled data on injuries and deaths for the year, but several park rangers and rescue agency representatives say anecdotally the incidents have increased with the surge in visitors.
The trails, backcountry and camping sites around Lake Tahoe have a variety of weather conditions, including avalanches,
snowstorms and, during wildfifire season, smoke and poor air quality.
Despite wild fifi res across most of the West Coast that kept the Tahoe RimTrail inaccessible at the end of summer, the trail has had more campers, hikers, and bike and horse riders than in previous years. Morgan Steel, executive director of the Tahoe Rim Trail Association, said visitation was not slowing down as fast as usual.
“We usually see a signifificant change from fall to winter aroundhere; with several feet of snow, you have more experienced people on the trailsout there,” she said. “Thoughwe’ve had a pretty signifificant drop in use, there’s been a big trend in use upward overall.” El Dorado County, California, one of the
fifififififive counties surrounding Lake Tahoe, has backcountry and wilderness — including Desolation Wilderness, which is accessible only on foot or horseback — and has had an increase in calls this year for aid related to illness, injury and being lost, according to the sheriffff’s offiffice.
Sgt. Eric Palm berg of the El Dora do County
Sheriff ff’ sO ff if fices aid many of the calls involved people “way out of their experience level and possibly taking more risks due to the pandemic and being cooped up at home.”
At Zion National Park, there has been a 5% increase in visitors since it reopened in May comparedwith last year and a 30% rise in October compared with October 2019. Extreme heat hasmade rock climbing diffiffi
cult, butbike rentals haveboomed. More bikers andhikers havebeencalling forhelpwith minor injuries and ailments— ankle sprains, heat exhaustion and cuts and scrapes from crashes — than in previous years.