Mills, Larry wrote: > > Steve > > I agree that it is terribly sad. > > And wading across upstream of a Class IV is just wrong. > > But the debate isn't the rightness or wrongness of signs > in wild areas or wading in the wrong place. It's about > a dead girl. > > If it was your child, I suspect you would do anything > and everything possible to retrieve their body. I know I > would. I put people ahead of things every time. > Actually, I'm not sure I would. If it were me, I can't think of a better place to spend eternity than in a Wild and Scenic River. Far better than a 3x6x6 hole in a cemetary. If it were my daughter, I would certainly allow them to remain there before I asked others to risk their lives to extract them. And I'm confident that my son, who knows the Chatooga intimately, would be happy to have it serve as his final resting place. Actually, I've already instructed my wife to have me cremated (after I'm dead, that is) and sprinkled into Bull Sluice, a Class V rapid about 2 miles upriver from where the girl is. [warning: the next paragraph may seem tasteless] The effort has, at this point, an element of futility. It's highly unlikely that they will recover the girl whole, or even the whole girl. It's not as if her parents will be able to hug her one last time. She's been under water for weeks. BTW, my comment about wading above rapids was not meant to diss the girl and her companion, but to illustrate that people in the wilds will do inapproriate things, and that signs cannot anticipate them all. I have to disagree with Larry about the point of the debate, though. Around here, at least, it is about making permanent changes to a national treasure. Those of us who have spent appreciable amounts of time on the Chatooga don't consider it a thing. The river has a life of its own, and for centuries has lived that life independent of man. If the parents want the body recovered and it can be, fine, but let's leave the river alone. -- Steve Cramer Test Scoring and Reporting Services University of Georgia Athens, GA 30602-5593 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Jul 15 1999 - 09:05:41 PDT
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