Sequoia guy at the ranger station still haunts me

I was checking in at the Mineral King ranger station last June and this dude in line just casually goes 'you know that route you're doing has a creek crossing that's chest deep right now' and then walked off before I could ask anything. Still wonder if he was messing with me or actually trying to help, has anyone else had a random stranger give unsolicited beta that turned out to be real?

2 comments

2 Comments

noraj7915d ago

Honestly I used to think people who gave random advice on trails were just showing off or being weird, but last fall I had this guy at a trailhead in the Smokies tell me the bridge was out on the loop I was doing. I almost ignored him but he was so specific about the fallen tree he'd helped clear. Turned out he was right, saved me from a five mile dead end. I still feel bad for almost brushing him off, so now I listen even if it sounds crazy. That chest deep creek warning probably saved your day or at least your dry socks.

river18315d ago

Man I've been that guy giving unsolicited beta and ALSO been the guy ignoring it and paying the price. One time I told a lady at Yosemite that the Mist Trail was pure ice above Vernal Falls, she waved me off like I was crazy, and forty five minutes later I saw her coming back down with a look on her face like she'd just argued with a bear and lost. So yeah, that Sequoia guy probably saved your bacon even if he did it in the weirdest way possible. I still remember the rancher in Wyoming who stopped his truck to warn me about a lightning storm coming, I tipped my hat and kept walking, got soaked to the bone and had to hide under a rock for two hours feeling like the biggest fool in the Rockies.