A interesting GPS article

[wzbt03Member]

One Hour Hike Turns Into 4-Day Ordeal After GPS Batteries Fail in Smokies
February 21 2003 at 10:15 AM roger

Response to February Accidents/Rescues

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What was supposed to be a one-hour hike in Cades Cove turned into a four-day torturous ordeal for an Ohio man.
On Monday, Mike Gourley, 42, from Kettering, Ohio, parked his Ford Focus at the Tipton Place on Cades Cove Loop Road and went off-trail hiking.
He planned to photograph some wildlife and the view off Cobb Ridge at an elevation of 3,200 feet. It was a simple plan that went astray.
Gourley had a Global Positioning System (GPS) keyed in to the location of his car, but the GPS batteries went dead. His spare batteries were left behind.
Cades Cove District Ranger Jack Piepenbring credits Gourley’s survival with that “sheer determination to keep moving” and good clothing — Gore-Tex pants, a toboggan and other gear designed for wilderness hiking.
“The next two nights I got into debris huts. The first night it fell in on me and I just slept like a log anyway. The next night I made a little better shelter,” he said.
Piepenbring said Gourley would come down a ridge trying to follow a stream to the road only to run into an impassable rhododendron hell. He’d have to turn around and climb back up.
One item Gourley wished he’d taken with him was his water bottle. He ended up drinking out of mountain streams, which caused him to get sick and nauseated.
Maryville (TN) Daily Times Feb. 21, 2003

*** I found this article interesting as I have planned for some time to take my GPS into the Smokies and do the Huggins Hell approach to Mt. LeConte. Many have warned me against this and while the plan is still on the back burner …… someday .
wzbt03

[arfferParticipant]

This story got me thinking that for the low cost and extreme light weight, this might be a very good item to toss into your caching pack:

[Author]

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