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The thread about the gentleman who died on Camelback recently got me thinking about death. (I know, I'm kinda morbid).

Regarding the hiker who died ... we all know it could have been us. Who among us hasn't walked along the edge of a cliff or trudged through the desert in the blazing sun, or done something where even a minor mishap could mean we are dead? What do you think about at such times?

What are your thoughts about dying in a wild place? Do you have the attitude that if it happened, it was fate and there was nothing you could have done? Is dying out on the trail "better" than being crunched by a drunk driver?

Does it matter if your body was consumed by animals?

Would your thoughts be any different if we were talking about your spouse dying instead of you?

What do you think about people who commit suicide in National Parks? There was an article on MSNBC about this not long ago. Apparently, it happens a lot.

Ok, I guess that's enough of this topic ... back to nude hiking now ...

azbackpackr wrote: Even now I quite often meet people who think you have to be getting "old" by the time you are 45 or 50, and they just give up. Even with all the newer health knowledge, and lots of media coverage of 90-year-olds going skydiving and 90-year-olds hiking the Appalachian Trail, etc. etc. I constantly meet people who have gotten "old" already, who are not yet even 60. You know the type. Perhaps even your parents fit into this category.

You're so right, Elizabeth. This IS my parent. I think that's part of why I work so hard at being fit now. I've been heavy my whole life, a family trait I was fortunate enough to be blessed with. When not one but several members of your family have gastric bypass surgery, you know you're in for an uphill battle. But that's what I love about hiking: it not only provides me with stimulating exercise, it also gives me an ongoing reason to stay fit. There's always another mountain or canyon I need to explore - and there's always someone on the trail who has overcome even more than I have to be do what they love. It's the best combination of cure and support network I can think of!

What do you mean when you say fatalistic? Hopless? Death is inevitable, regardless of the how or when.

I've thought that if I get diagnosed with some terminal illness, I would like to take a hike out to the wildnerness and die out there, hoping that by the time any remains would be found, they would only be bones. I've also thought about having my ashes scattered, but you would have to rely on someone to do that, and what's it matter anyway.

Ani Ma'amim. In Judaism, death is not a tragedy, even when it occurs early in life or through unfortunate circumstances. Death is a natural process. Our deaths, like our lives, have meaning and are all part of G-d's plan. In addition, we have a firm belief in an afterlife, a world to come, where those who have lived a worthy life will be rewarded. We celebrate life and suicide is an "unmentionable".

I will live to my last day as I live every day. I live today as if it were the last day of my life and I study each day as if I would live forever. That is how I was taught when I was young and that is how I will be.

azbackpackr wrote:I constantly meet people who have gotten "old" already, who are not yet even 60. You know the type. Perhaps even your parents fit into this category.

Heck, my peers fit in that category.

big_load wrote:

azbackpackr wrote:I constantly meet people who have gotten "old" already, who are not yet even 60. You know the type. Perhaps even your parents fit into this category.

Heck, my peers fit in that category.

Well put; even a lot of people in their thirties fit into that category!

Whenever anyone tells me that I "have" to do something (and I'm grumpy), I tell them that the only thing that any of us has to do is die; everything else is optional, but death comes for us all.
Having said that, I don't really want to die anytime soon. I've got a pretty good life, a wonderful wife, a fun job, a nice house, etc. As Jimmy Buffet said, "I've seen too much not to stay in touch with this world made of love and luck."
But fear it? No, not really. I don't want to die anytime soon, but I do recognize that all things must pass, including me eventually. If I am wary and lucky, I can postpone that date for some time, but even the carefullest and healthiest of us dies in the long run.
I'd rather kick off out in the wild country, or barring that be buried out there, in some remote location known to a few, where prying eyes and feet were unlikely to trod.

Better to die by misadventure in the wilderness than in a hospital bed. At least your obit will be read and remembered by alot more people, even if they don't remember your name. Your purpose in life might just be to serve as an example as what not to do.

Stiller wrote:Better to die by misadventure in the wilderness than in a hospital bed. At least your obit will be read and remembered by alot more people, even if they don't remember your name. Your purpose in life might just be to serve as an example as what not to do.

Maybe, maybe not. I'm a family person, a grandmother. One aspect of my life is hiking, wilderness exploration, being outdoors as much as possible, etc. Another aspect is wife, mother, grandmother. How would my family feel if I met with some mishap out there? It probably wouldn't matter to me--after all, I'd be dead! But it might cause them concern. They might NOT look at it as "she died doing what she loved" but instead they might be sad and wish I had lived longer. (They are all outdoors people, too, so that part is not an issue.) So that is why I say, if I have a choice (which is unlikely), I'd die at home in bed, with the family close by.

if I have a choice (which is unlikely), I'd die at home in bed, with the family close by.

I dont think I can remember anyone in my family who died in bed ( at home, as opposed to in a hospital). Its seems to be either in a hospital or dropped dead of a major coronary at work or at home.

SuperstitionGuy wrote:I almost killed myself in a rolling fall upstream high up in Fish Creek Canyon.

Wow, crazy story!! I was hiking with a friend in Fish Creek trying to climb up to the top of Horse Mesa (like an idiot). We were skirting a really skinny ledge and he had a ton of equip in his pack, including a really big metal detector. Well he slipped or something and the pack shifted sending him toppling over towards the canyon that was about 300' below. He landed on a huge bush at the edge of the ledge and it broke his fall thankfully. Had he fallen to the canyon floor it woulda been over. Very scary to witness. I turn around and he's lying on the bush grabbing onto a branch for dear life. Scared the crap outta me.

Another time I was coming down this really tiny ledge that dropped 500' on one side and about 120' on the other. I climbed down from one ledge to another when my foot slipped. I didn't go anywhere but for a second I thought I was going over the 500' side. That was the first time I've ever thought I could die out there. It was an eye opening experience and something I'll never forget. Since then I take all precautions to hike as safe as I can. It's so easy to get "outta control" and make a small mistake which can cost you your life.

Personally I wouldn't mind dying on the trail, but my wife needs me here with her and because of that I'll always do everything in my power to make it home, even if it requires making sacrifices. I just have to come home, there is no other option.

This is hands down the best thing you've ever written

djui5 wrote:he had a ton of equip in his pack, including a really big metal detector

that's awesome, a true dutchman!

I've experienced some close calls both hiking and health wise; it changed me so as not to put off things I want to do, do them now, you don't know how or where you'll be 2-3 months, year whatever down the line. I don't seek death but will be ok whenever it happens. I've had a very good life, I've seen lots of things and hope for more. I have a loved one facing a shortened life right now and while I am very sad, he's had a long and good life and who can ask for more than that??

joe bartels wrote:This is hands down the best thing you've ever written

djui5 wrote:he had a ton of equip in his pack, including a really big metal detector

that's awesome, a true dutchman!

:A1: Thanks

We were looking for a canyon full of "potato sized gold nuggets". Ahem. Needless to say we never found it.

djui5 wrote:

joe bartels wrote:This is hands down the best thing you've ever written

djui5 wrote:he had a ton of equip in his pack, including a really big metal detector

that's awesome, a true dutchman!

:A1: Thanks

We were looking for a canyon full of "potato sized gold nuggets". Ahem. Needless to say we never found it.

I've always been interested to check out some of those side canyons on Lower Fish Creek. Up on Coronado Mesa you can see where one leads up to a seemingly decent sized alcove in Horse Mesa.

rushthezeppelin wrote: I've always been interested to check out some of those side canyons on Lower Fish Creek. Up on Coronado Mesa you can see where one leads up to a seemingly decent sized alcove in Horse Mesa.

It's amazing country, as I'm sure you've seen. Down in the canyon is a "religious" experience.

djui5 wrote:Thanks
We were looking for a canyon full of "potato sized gold nuggets". Ahem. Needless to say we never found it.

Well, you should have bought the genuine original Lost Dutchman Mine map that was for sale on ebay a few weeks ago, then you would have found 'em for sure!

There was some guy selling "casts" of the Peralta Stones on craigslist a while back, too

"I'm the one who has to die when it's time for me to die. So let me live my life the way I want to" -The Electric Prunes from Easy Rider soundtrack.

My family will be sad to see me go no matter where I die. Personally, I'd rather spend my life living than sitting on a couch eating cheese doodles and watching daytime programming waiting for the big MI. I don't begrudge people who want to do that though. It helps keep the wilderness from being overcrowded. ;)

Hmmm....
Fatalistic about death? I've spent some time in Nicaragua and visited El Salvador. It was a real eye opener when I first went there. A great majority of the people there are very poor by our standards and work so hard to survive they barely have time to think about anything else. Lots of back breaking farm work and manual labor. Mulling about dying and losing ourselves in extreme activities are luxuries we have in our lives which are made easier by modern conveniences and leisure time that is unknown in most of human history and is still unknown by most of the developing world.

I find myself cured of any thoughts of morbid introspection when I'm lost in helping other people. I don't know if this cure would help anybody else but it seems to work for me.

BTW I lost my watch one time in the ocean when I was down there. By the second day I forgot what day it was. It was the most beautiful forgetfulness I ever had. It was so good that I think that things like that happening to you might be another way to make fatalistic thoughts of death the last thing you would want think of. That and probably falling in love.