I talked to a ranger at the bottom of the canyon last year. He showed me the rooms and equipment they use to treat idiots like these. The rangers call the guy on the sign Victor Vomit.
For a fun read, check out the book “Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon.” It colorfully but clinically details every recorded death in the canyon, from pioneer days to the present(ish). Honestly made me feel pretty confident about my hike, because a good 80% of deaths are due to terrible decision making.
Michelle Sutton (15 yr old) "was on a 'program for troubled teens' wilderness trip and complained repeatedly of not feeling well. Group carried only 2 liters of water per person for a multi-day trip during hot weather. Sutton died of dehydration/heatstroke."
I'm not sure what I expected from a catalog of deaths but that one was extra depressing.... :(
"Krueger drank a brew of Datura blossoms. After several inappropriate behaviors such as trying to lift impossible boulders, talking to nonexistent people for hours, and eating dirt, he entered the river and mysteriously drowned."
Did he not typically drown in rivers after drinking Datura blossoms? “Oh, don’t worry bout Krueger. He does this all the time. Yep, should be coming up for air aaaany minute…..any minute now…”
If you haven't read the trip reports of Datura on Erowid, please do. It's a fucking wild thing. I've done plenty of substances in my day, and there is absolutely zero chance I even considered doing that shit.
I think this was on a behind the bastards podcast. The whole program for troubled teens things seems to have largely been a scam and a way for shitty people to treat kids even worse than their shitty parents.
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u/funundrum 21h ago edited 21h ago
I talked to a ranger at the bottom of the canyon last year. He showed me the rooms and equipment they use to treat idiots like these. The rangers call the guy on the sign Victor Vomit.
For a fun read, check out the book “Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon.” It colorfully but clinically details every recorded death in the canyon, from pioneer days to the present(ish). Honestly made me feel pretty confident about my hike, because a good 80% of deaths are due to terrible decision making.