The Sandia Mountains are a relatively narrow strip of high ground that forms the eastern boundary of Albuquerque. From the top you look down and see the city spread out a mile below and extending to the western horizon, and to the east you see the foothills and the lower wooded plains below and various communities. Highway 14 runs right next to the mountain the whole length of the east side. In other words from anywhere on top you can look out and clearly see landmarks below. Evenso, several times each year, search and rescue teams have to go out and find people who manage to get themselves lost on the mountain????
There's a popular hiking trail in the Chugach Mountains, just on the edge of Anchorage. It's called Flattop. Same thing, you can see Anchorage strewn below, but people often need rescuing, mostly because they underestimate the difficulty of the hike, in some places, the trail is narrow and very steep. Several times a year, some idiot gets up there and calls for "rescue". Unless they're injured, I think they should be charged the cost of their "rescue", too.
Oh I do too. There are several hiking trails descending from the summit of the Sandias to the base of the mountain on both the east and west sides. They aren't exactly easy hiking because of the steep grade, but they require no special gear. The more popular are rated 'moderate' as far as hiking trails go and are 5 to 6 miles distance--easily done in a half day or less. The more difficult are rated 'difficult' and can be 10 or 11 miles and some doing those will overnight along the trail. But I still don't see how folks get lost, and those who just get tired and don't want to walk out, I definitely think should pay something to cover the expense of their 'rescue'.
In N. Ireland we'd sometimes get requests for helicopter evacuation when the mists descended on the whole of Ulster and recent arrivals would sometimes get lost while out on foot patrol in the many hills that dotted the province. On every occasion the commander of Camp Bessbrook would ask them the following: "Do you have a map, compass, water and binoculars?", to which they always answered: "Yes, sir", only to get the following reply: "I don't suppose you might have a pair of balls dangling between those legs of yours, aswell?", to which they'd humbly reply with: "Yes, sir", only to be reminded that the IRA were almost certainly indoors and that they'd have to navigate their way back to base on their own.
Great story. I could understand if there was heavy fog--very rare in these parts--or a storm that made it impossible to see very far ahead--how people unfamiliar with the terrain could get turned around and lose their bearings if they got off the trail in the Sandias. But on a normal day? I just can't imagine.
I can understand why the requests came in: they were young, scared and in hostile territory, but equally I understood why their requests were always denied: helicopter evacuation was reserved for wounded personnel and they didn't want soldiers getting used to the expensive idea that they could disregard their training and rely on the Army Air Corps coming to their rescue whenever they got lost in the heavy mists that would descend on the entire province in the space of an hour. In any event, there were always Land Rovers roaming around most of the sectors with more experienced men onboard who would be directed to lost patrols if a request came in.
Apart from that, I'd support a charge being levied against callers who make frivolous S.O.S calls. Although first I'd secure funding from Westminster for our mountain rescue and lifeboat services which, at present, are charities that rely on donations from the public to operate. I consider that an outrage and it's one of the many reasons I support UKIP.
