This morning I hiked down to the 3 mile rest stop. About a mile down a volunteer ranger asked how I was doing, and where I was heading. This is what trail rangers do. They make sure hikers know the difficulty of the trail, have plenty of water and snacks, and aren't struggling or showing signs of dehydration, heat exhaustion, altitude sickness, etc. They offer tips, like soaking your shirt to stay cool. Basically they try to keep people from getting into trouble.
Since there were few people on the trail, we were able to hike together for ten minutes. I learned that she's been volunteering with the park service for about ten years. To me she looked about 60. She enjoys being out on the trails, and she hikes down to the river every other week. And she has hiked R2R (rim to rim).
I mentioned an odd experience I had yesterday. As I walked up the stone steps to the toilets at 3 mile rest stop, I heard a young man and woman having a conversation. And I thought: What a weird place to chat someone up. When I reached the toilets it was even weirder, because the guy was sitting on the deck, speaking thru an open door to a woman inside. But then I heard enough to realize what was going on. She had become ill and had vomited, and he was getting a rundown on her symptoms, health conditions, medications, etc. Not a ranger, but someone with first aid training.
The ranger I was hiking with said that there were 3 helicopter rescues yesterday, and one was mid afternoon to evacuate 2 people near the 3 mile rest stop. She wondered if it was the same people. But by coincidence I saw them myself. It was two women who did not look like experienced hikers. They were red faced and exhausted, resting on some flat rocks while a ranger tended to them. I heard him say: We need MedEvac.
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