PHOENIX — With the days getting warmer and temperatures already reaching the triple digits, it is important that Arizonans who decide to go hiking are cautious and prepared.
On Thursday, 31-year-old avid hiker Hannah Moody was found dead after last being seen at the McDowell Sonoran Preserve recreation area in Scottsdale the previous morning.
Dave Cawley is the host of the “Uinta Triangle” podcast which is about the disappearance of Australian hiker Eric Robinson. He joined KTAR 92.3 FM’s Arizona Morning News on Friday to talk about the podcast as well as the dangers of hiking alone.
Cawley explained that Robinson was known as a world-class hiker who before his disappearance had trekked through Nepal, New Zealand, Patagonia, the John Muir trail in California as well as the Grand Canyon.
Despite that experience, Robinson disappeared during a 10-day walk through the Uinta Mountains in Utah and was never found.
“Arizona and Utah are similar in this way, where we have all this open space, these wide open lands that people love to come visit. And that just makes it so difficult if somebody goes out into that wilderness on a hike, especially Eric, he’s alone, and they don’t come out,” Cawley told KTAR 92.3 FM’s Arizona Morning News.
What does Cawley say about the dangers of hiking alone?
The podcast host stated that there are tools to help people be prepared when hiking, especially alone, including GPS devices, satellite phones and emergency beacons.
Cawley noted that Robinson did have an emergency beacon on him when he went missing that mysteriously never went off.
He also talked about with alpine terrain, specifically the Uinta Mountains. It is extremely rugged, rocky and the lower slopes are forested making it a tough place to go missing, adding if you’re not found in the first 24 to 48 hours, there’s good chance you won’t be found at all.
However, this is not to say that people shouldn’t hike. Cawley himself is a hiker and understands the call of the outdoors, emphasizing that he loves hiking the Arizona strip. He even hiked the same itinerary as Robinson to get a better understanding as to what might have happened to him.
“That’s a big part of our story is celebrating the wonderful places, but also recognizing, hey, if something goes wrong when you’re out in the wilderness, consequences can be high,” Cawley said.
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