Who: 7-year-old Michael SandovalWhere: Red Mountain, ArizonaHis mistake: He wandered off from the group and got lost.What happened: A boy got lost after wandering away from his hiking group. The group consisted of three adults and 10 clients of the Coconino Community Guidance Center. The group noticed he was missing around 3 p.m. and search [...]

Who: A dad, his two daughters and the dad’s squeezeWhere: Mokelumne River, CaliforniaTheir mistake: They crossed a river using a zip line and didn’t think about getting back on the way out.What happened: A family needed to be rescued during a camping trip. Doug Butler, his companion and Doug’s 9- and 6-year-old daughters planned on [...]

Who: A 25-year-old woman and her friendWhere: Lake Louise, near Banff, CanadaTheir mistake: Looks like they were well-prepared. Only mistake I see is they went skiing when avy danger was “considerable.”What happened: Four backcountry skiers were skiing near Lake Louise when two of the skiers (both women) were struck by an avalanche.

One of the skiers [...]

Who: A hiker, no age or description given.Where: Ricketts Glen State Park, PennsylvaniaHis mistake: He was hiking an icy trail without crampons or clamp-ons. He also ignored signs that trail conditions were dangerous due to snow and ice deep in the canyons.What happened: A man hiking alone slipped on an icy trail and fell 30 [...]

Who: 67-year-old Curtis Woodrow Stark II and his buddy, a 44-year-old Claremont manWhere: Great Burrito in Joshua Tree NP, CaliforniaHis mistake: Looks like he got tired and let go. Unfortunately the equipment in the rocks didn’t hold. He also wasn’t wearing a helmet.What happened: A climber and his friend were climbing the Giant Burrito when [...]

Who: A man in his 50s and other not-so-safe hikersWhere: Wilderness areas near Phoenix including Echo Canyon (pictured above) and South MountainTheir mistake: Looks like some bad accidents here. Maybe they tried to tackle something a little too big for them.What happened: Phoenix firefighters and search teams were busy on Sunday rescuing six hikers and [...]

Who: A 21-year-old University of Hawaii student.Where: Likeke Trail near the Pali LookoutHer mistake: She was hiking alone and she got lost.What happened: A woman was hiking four to five hours alone in a heavy-brush area when she suddenly got lost. The woman eventually used her cell phone to call for help. Rescuers used [...]

Who: A 26-year-old woman and her friend.Where: Murphy Ranch Park, Southern CaliforniaHer mistake: No real mistake here.What happened: A woman somehow broke her leg in a wilderness area above Whittier, California. The woman was with a friend, and they called authorities with a cell phone.

Rescuers arrived and were able to hike the woman out. Her [...]

Who: A woman hiker and a male hiker.Where: First incident was in Left Gully in Tuckerman Ravine (pictured above). Incident two was in Huntington Ravine near Central Gully (pictured below).Their mistake: First person was sliding with crampons (not a good idea). Person two just slipped.What happened: In the first incident, a woman fell and slid [...]

Who: An Israeli hiker.Where: Outside of Beit She’an, IsraelHis mistake: He hiked through a minefield and lost a foot. Not sure whose fault it is that he slipped from the chopper.What happened: I can’t make this stuff up. A hiker in Jerusalem decided to hike through a minefield. During his expedition, he stepped on a [...]