Having been involved in S&R in the past and now again, I can tell you nothing people do surprises me. We have a trail that goes down a canyon to a creek with a hot springs that is very popular. People are forever going down it during the warm daytime in bathing suits or shorts and flipflops. They usually carry little food and extra clothing. They do find the ability to carry adult beverages and smoking products. Well when it gets dark the temps drop dramatically and the trail isn't so easy uphill and in the dark. These people are usually cold,wet,hungry,tired and in trouble. But they do have their cell phones that work intermitantly. But of course they have no idea where they are and in fact usually call a friend or family member so the info we get is second hand.(the phones are usually dead or not working when we try) I have even seen them go in when the weather is threatening and get in trouble when the creek floods.

One of the stupidest and saddest thing I ever saw was a scoutmaster took a group of boys up to the summit of Mt San Gorgonio. Some of the boys were in a hurry to get to the top and were moving very fast. One of the scouts was a little over weight and not in as good of shape. Needless to say he was falling behind. The scout leader then made a fatally stupid mstake. He left the young boy behind, assuming that they could catch up with him on the way back. That was the last time anyone saw the boy again. A massive search was launched that lasted for weeks. It involved mounted, foot and air. The Army even got involved. The boy was never found, only his camera with a photo taken of himself, a scared lost little boy. I spent several days on that mountain searching and it still haunts me.

I myself am not immune from lapses in judgement. When I was a teenager, my friend and I were camping along a creek and it was cold at night. We had heavy old sleeping bags with some unknown synthetic filler. My bag had a snap in flannel lining that had come loose and was bunched at the foot of the bag. This was ok as it kept my feet warm. We were sleeping in a lean-to that we had built and had a fire burning in the front of it. I didn't want to accidently kick my feet in the fire so I placed a large rock between the foot of my bag and the fire......When I awoke the next morning, my bag was smoldering. I hadn't noticed that an ember had jumped the rock landing on the foot of my bag because of the liner that was bunched at my feet. Well that was the second stupidest thing that I had done. The stupidest thing was when I slapped the smoldering bag with my hand. The synthetic filler was a melted pile of very very hot goo that both stuck to my bare hand and burned it at the same time. I immediately jumped out of the bag and carried it over and emersed it and my burnt hand in the cold creek. That lesson cost me a sleeping bag and several large painful blisters.