Found Deceased CA - Paul Miller, 51, Canadian missing in Joshua Tree National Park, San Bernardino Co., 13 Jul 2018

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Hatfield said:
It would be a great way to start a small business and rent them to hikers on popular trails. The casual hiker usually doesnt invest in things like that but if there was a rental place right at the trail head I bet it would get lots of use.

I found my new business LOL
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I had the same idea, some companies do this already but they seem to be geared towards long trips (the Spot is mailed to you and it's expected that you'll be using it for at least a few days.) REI does equipment rentals but they don't rent Spots, which makes me wonder if they know something I don't.
 
PaulR said:
I had the same idea, some companies do this already but they seem to be geared towards long trips (the Spot is mailed to you and it's expected that you'll be using it for at least a few days.) REI does equipment rentals but they don't rent Spots, which makes me wonder if they know something I don't.
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It really sounds like it would be a good small business venture. I suppose getting permits to be vending at trail heads may be an issue. So long as the State Park got a % of the rental fee it seems they would not object though.

I saw this sort of thing happen in Nascar racing. Ive been a long time racing fan and went to many Nascar races and ended up buying my own Scanner to listen to the drivers during the race. Over time there began to be Rentals of the scanners right at the track. Now its a booming rental business at every Nascar race.
 
PaulR said:
I believe park rangers can and do a check at the end of the day, since the park is closing. I don't know how big the parking lots (or carparks) are in the UK, but here they can be huge and sometimes completely full. Here is an article mentioning a state park, about an hour's drive from Seattle, with over 200K annual visitors. There are 108 spots and they can easily fill up during a nice summer weekend early in the day. And this is just for the trailhead for a waterfall hike: https://www.heraldnet.com/news/parking-a-constant-problem-at-wallace-falls-state-park/
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Three examples of UK National Park car parks for you, from the Brecon Beacons (Wales), the Peak District and the North York Moors respectively:

Google Maps

Google Maps

Google Maps

These parks receive 5m, 10.8m and 11.75m day visitors per year respectively.

Some are only big enough for half a dozen cars, others will take a few hundred.
 
Hatfield said:
One reason why people are hesitant to put a note on their car dashboard is because they are worried about theft or break-in of their car.

Its a perfectly valid concern because it basically tells a crook what time you left and when you will be back. So a thief knows they have time to break into your car and steal stuff before you get back from your hike.
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A very valid concern. We don't have the same problems with dodgy transients that you do in the US, but also visitor carparks in remote areas here almost always have signs up warning people not to leave valuables in their vehicles. There's not much sympathy for people who do so and suffer loss as a result.
 
carbuff said:
What is a Spot? I tried to google it but "Spot" isn't specific enough to show up.

Actually I got a whole bunch of "spotting scope" and "how to carry without being spotted." Which I guess is a side effect of research in Tristan Beaudette's thread...
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Its a GPS satellite rescue device if you get lost or have an emergency in remote areas.

"SPOT sends your GPS location and data to orbiting commercial satellites. "

SPOT Emergency
 
carbuff said:
What is a Spot? I tried to google it but "Spot" isn't specific enough to show up.

Actually I got a whole bunch of "spotting scope" and "how to carry without being spotted." Which I guess is a side effect of research in Tristan Beaudette's thread...
Click to expand...
SPOT uses 100% satellite technology to keep you connected to the people and things that matter most, all while using the world’s most modern satellite network. SPOT offers peace of mind by allowing you to track your assets, send and receive messages, notify friends and family of your GPS position and status, mark waypoints, track your progress on Google Maps™ or notify rescue officials in the event of an emergency.
SPOT Emergency
 
Sorta like how in Yellowstone you rent the required bear spray canister or in Yosemite you rent the required bear barrel or at Mount Hood you rent a PLB (although this might still be optional there and just recommended?).

Great idea.
 
Obliquely on-topic. I don’t see why a hiker couldn’t simply wear a gps tracker (like you put on your car so you know where it is if it gets stolen), so you’d be able to find them if their car at the trailhead started to gather dust.

Anyone see a problem with that concept?
 
Search efforts for missing Canadian hiker 'scaled back' after 5 days
The search efforts for Paul Miller, a Canadian hiker missing since Friday, are being scaled back after 5 days of scouring the park, according to public information officer for Joshua Tree National Park, George Land.
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"While resource levels will be reduced, the incident will enter into a limited continuous search mode," reads the release. "During this phase, searchers will continue to methodically search areas of high probability when sufficient resources are available."
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RickshawFan said:
Obliquely on-topic. I don’t see why a hiker couldn’t simply wear a gps tracker (like you put on your car so you know where it is if it gets stolen), so you’d be able to find them if their car at the trailhead started to gather dust.

Anyone see a problem with that concept?
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Not as far as I can see.

It's also possible to use a GPS app on a phone for the same purpose like the one I use for metal detecting which tracks me around fields. However I don't know if it works in the absence of a phone signal as I've not detected in a place withouth a phone signal.

http://historyhunters.co.uk/tectotrak

Obviously it's quite heavy on the battery like any map-based app is, so it would probably be necessary to carry a powerbank to recharge your phone.
 
carbuff said:
What is a Spot? I tried to google it but "Spot" isn't specific enough to show up.

Actually I got a whole bunch of "spotting scope" and "how to carry without being spotted." Which I guess is a side effect of research in Tristan Beaudette's thread...
Click to expand...

Try narrowing down to hiking, backcountry, locator... It’s an example of a personal locator beacon. This one requires a subscription. There are others that are for one use only.
 
RickshawFan said:
The problem is, you have to have a subscription with the SPOT company. I suppose they could have special rental models, though.
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Presumably the company providing the rentals would be the one with the subscription.

There are any number of satellite phone and location apps potentially available. Our canoe leader uses one for our trips in wilderness Maine and Ontario.

The problem with both the satellite and the phone-based GPS is that there are a LOT of places where connectivity is spotty or nonexistent. Even something like cloud cover can affect the connection. Since you need line of sight, we often had to wait until the satellite was pretty much directly overhead to call in.

It's good technology but still limited. I'm curious now whether this Spot thing has actually solved any of the problems or if it's just got a slicker interface.
 
"While resource levels will be reduced, the incident will enter into a limited continuous search mode," reads the release. "During this phase, searchers will continue to methodically search areas of high probability when sufficient resources are available."

Search efforts for missing Canadian hiker 'scaled back' after 5 days

Must be very difficult for his family.
 
carbuff said:
Presumably the company providing the rentals would be the one with the subscription.

There are any number of satellite phone and location apps potentially available. Our canoe leader uses one for our trips in wilderness Maine and Ontario.

The problem with both the satellite and the phone-based GPS is that there are a LOT of places where connectivity is spotty or nonexistent. Even something like cloud cover can affect the connection. Since you need line of sight, we often had to wait until the satellite was pretty much directly overhead to call in.

It's good technology but still limited. I'm curious now whether this Spot thing has actually solved any of the problems or if it's just got a slicker interface.
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I have a regular hand held GPS unit so I can speak to GPS devices. Spot does more than just GPS and actually signals that you are in trouble and gives your location to 3rd parties.
Their website has stories of successful rescues.

GPS is actually very reliable most anywhere but you are right that you sometimes have to wait for the satellites to get in position. And you dont want to be under heavy tree cover.

It took me awhile to learn that I had to be patient for my GPS device to lock onto the satellites. It can take many minutes sometimes. I have never not gotten a locked in signal. Sometimes just took awhile. My GPS can just help me navigate out. It cant communicate with other parties if I am hurt or lost.

Phones are a whole different story and I cant see how they can be reliable in remote areas with no cell service tower. I think they need a cell tower to properly work even with their GPS apps.

The problem with just using just a GPS tracking device like you would on a dog is I think most are interfaced with a phone app and so without a cell phone signal I dont think its much use if lost.

Satellite phones and GPS devices like Spot give you the extra communication to other parties through satellite only. No need for cell towers.
 
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Dushi said:
"While resource levels will be reduced, the incident will enter into a limited continuous search mode," reads the release. "During this phase, searchers will continue to methodically search areas of high probability when sufficient resources are available."

Search efforts for missing Canadian hiker 'scaled back' after 5 days

Must be very difficult for his family.
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Absolutely, but if there was really no trace of him there, they must do that. The conditions are also very dangerous for the searchers.
 
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