Tragic death of kayaker in the Great Smoky Mountains national park

The body of a 27 year kayaker Isaac Ludwig was found this morning in the Great Smoky Mountains national park about 1,000 feet downstream from the confluence of the Road Prong and the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River.

Isaac Ludwig of Hartford, Tennessee and 2 other kayakers 23 year old Jared Seiler of Gladwyne, Pennsylvania and 24 year old James Donahue of Nashville Tennessee entered the Road Prong River near the Chimney Tops Trailhead and planed to kayak the rain swollen body of water and rapids on the lower section of the Road Prong and take their kayaks out of the water before they reached the West Prong.

Once in the water Jared and James very rapidly assessed that the water was running too swift and pulled their kayaks out but Isaac tragically pushed on downstream.

Isaac Ludwig was an experienced kayaker who worked for Rafting in the Smokies and did in fact have the appropriate safety gear of a life vest and helmet on while he was in his yellow Liquid Logic whitewater kayak.

Amazingly another kayaker who was unrelated to this accident lost a similar boat of the same color which was found wrapped around a tree near the Chimney Tops Picnic Area.

Smoky Mountains National Park Rangers and Gatlinburg Fire Department's Swift Water Rescue Team were involved in a search effort but the body of Isaac was found above the water line entangled in vegetation by 2 other kayakers who were running on the river which had dropped about 2 feet since yesterday.

The recovery of Isaacs body in now ongoing and is quite difficult given the surrounding terrain and the fact that there are no hiking trails near where the body is located.

While working at scout camp Isaac was taught to roll a kayak by his father at age 16 and had a driving passion for the sport. He owned at least 5 boats and by his own admission was not a stranger to having to repair damage to his boats from smashing into rocks.

Isaac had an interest in clean water environmental issues and in his free time wrote for a magazine called Sidetracked which promotes adventure sports. He was also involved in environmentally friendly kayaking products.

After car accidents, accidental drowning is one of the most common causes of serious injury or death to visitors of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Commonly after large rainfall many kayakers take on the streams and rivers of the Great Smoky Mountains national park. While many put in along the roadside of Little River, some will hike deep into areas to put in. For examples some as much as 5 miles or more in Deep Creek NC to brave the rapids where a swift rescue is virtually impossible.

Hikers and visitors to state and national parks need to take personal responsibility.

The tragic death of 2 year old who fell while hiking with his family in Chimney Rock State Park in North Carolina has opened a dialog where people has been inquiring as to if there were sufficient warnings of the potential danger to hiking children and if these warnings were bilingual or not. Now some are asking if children should be banned from being on certain hiking trails.

In this day and age it is up to everyone to take personally responsibility for their own safety as well as those under their supervision. I have personally turned around on trails that I have hiked before because conditions were such that the trail was unsafe for me to continue.

I never needed a sign to tell me to not dangle one of my kids over a lion's cage at the zoo or let them be alone next to a burning campfire when they were too young to understand not to stick their hands into the pretty flames.

Unfortunately even though I always did do my best to protect my children, they did get some bumps and bruises, sometimes when they were right next to me because accidents do happen - that's why cars have seat belts.

Rather than ban driving because accidents can happen, we ban dangerous behavior when driving such as drinking/drugging while driving and speeding - the biggest dangers in our national parks and state parks that claims more lives than anything else.

It's not that I am just singling out this tragic accident in the Chimney Rock Park. This Labor Day I was hiking along the Appalachian Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and saw 3 blatant cases of foolish behavior which were risky to the risk takers as well as the lives of others arround them.

Before even leaving the Clingmans Dome parking lot to start my hike, 4 men in their early 20s were climbing on damp rocks that have a warning sign prohibiting people from climbing on them. One of their backpacks along with a water bottle were by the warning sign.

Next at the Double Spring Gap backcountry shelter there were more overnight campers than the maximum capacity of the shelter and in violation of Great Smoky Mountains national park rules, tents were set up outside the shelter.

One of these tents contained 4 people who ate food and then stored their food overnight in their tent. Considering the next backcountry shelter over the Mount Collins Shelter has an active bear warning, the chance for an unpleasant encounter with a black bear which could potentially endanger everyone in the over capacity shelter is high.

All backcountry shelters in the Great Smoky Mountains National park that I have checked have signs warning of the presence of black bears in the GSMNP and what to do to avoid them as well as some of the other park regulations for campers. These warnings were obviously ignored.

Further down the Appalachian Trail about 2 miles past the Silers Bald Shelter I ran into 3 young male hikers coming down the trail with the leader of the group wearing beach sandals. It turned out that Mr. Flip Flops was an experienced hiker who just felt like not wearing his hiking boots on this trip.

I asked him which one of his friends was going to carry him out if he twisted his ankle or got hurt and his friends laughed and pointed at each other. Considering how deep in country they were, any extraction would have to be a serious undertaking which would have also put any rescuers at risk.

All of these risk takers spoke English and acted foolishly knowing of the potential danger they were putting themselves and others in. Obviously they just didn't care about their own safety as well as the safety of others.

I hike 10 - 15 miles a day in the Great Smoky Mountains national park year-round unless the weather or road conditions are hazardous. While I solo hike most of the time (which I don't suggest) I outfit myself so that I am ready for any potential emergency and I don't behave in a risky manner or take chances along the trail to increase the chances that I will have to be rescued.

When I bring someone else along on a trail I make sure that I know their skill level and that they have an understanding of what they can and can not do and make sure that they have the right footwear, clothing and supplies to safely and comfortably come hiking with me.

If you plan on taking a hike or engaging in any other activity in the park that has a risk, be smart, go to one of the visitor centers and speak to one of the Park Rangers or volunteers and take their expert advice.

While no one can guarantee you won't have an accident or an unpleasant experience, with a little planning and taking personal responsibility for your own actions and those in your party, your hike will probably end with pleasant memories of time well spent in the park rather than a nightmare that will haunt you the rest of your life.

Tragic death of 2 year old on hiking trail in Chimney Rock Park

Hiking with his family in the North Carolina Chimney Rock Park, a 2 year old from Spartanburg South Carolina fell yesterday morning to his death in an area which has a steep drop off.

While park staff did what they could including repelling down a cliff, administering CPR and extracting the youth and transporting the child to a hospital their effort were in vain as the child tragically died.

The trail was closed off during rescue efforts which took under 2 hours included the help of Emergency response crews, fire and police who all arrived at the scene of this accident in Chimney Rock Park.

According to Rutherford County Chimney Rock Park Superintendent Adrienne Wallace the accident is under investigation and it is unknown how far the child fell as well as how the child was able fall given the fencing that lines the hiking trail.

Sadly what should have been a glorious day the park ended in an earth shattering event for the family. Many hiking trails and especially waterfalls have had serous injuries and deaths when people have climbed on wet rocks, left the designated trail or left small children unattended or not under direct control by holding their hand.

Most hiking trails do not have fencing or railings to protect people from falls and this accident shows that even fencing or rails does not mean a deadly accident can still not occur.

As a professional hiker who hikes between 10 – 15 miles a day year round I can tell you I personally slipped 3 times in the past week. I was able to catch myself twice with my hiking poles and maintain my balance but a sore on my arm and elbow are clear evidence that even a professional who is paying attention and properly equipped can easily have an accident on a hiking trail.

Black bears are very active in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Although there have been no recent attacks by black bear in the Great Smoky Mountains Nations Park (GSMNP), some visitors are pushing their luck given how active the black bear are in this the most active bear season of the year.

The best way to handle yourself when you see a black bear is to stay as far away as possible and never let the bear think that you are a threat to the bear or its cubs which may be close by and out of your sight. You should however act as a threat of you can not get away and are about to be attacked by a bear.

Fall season in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is usually a very active bear season which is a treat to the Millions of visitors who come to visit the park and hopefully get a glimpse or even get to take a picture or shoot video of the symbolic icon animal of the Smoky Mountains.

In the fall, the black bear in the park are in a race against time trying to gather as much food as possible before they slow down and become inactive for the winter. Black bear in the national park don't hibernate in caves during the winter as for all practical purposes there are no caves in the national park other than a sealed off cave in Cades Cove and 2 caves in the White Oak Sinks area of the park between Tremont and Cades Cove.

Black Bear in the GSMNP instead nest in hollows of trees or in a hollow tree. Bears can most often be seen high up in trees rather than on the ground. The tree in the National Park most favored by the black bear are oak trees both for the acorns they provide as food and for the shelter the older large oak trees provide to the bear.

The black bear in the fall typically eat as many nuts, berries, grasses and forbs and insects and other animals including carrion it can in an attempt to fatten up and can put on as much as 4 - 5 pounds of winter weight a day.

The female black bears will winter pregnant and the size of a litter is often dependent to the volume and quality of food the black bear acquires during the fall active season. Black bears typically have 2 or 3 cubs in a good year and just 1 or no cubs at all after a year with a limited or harder harvest.

This year's drought which has heavily affected the Smoky Mountains and the natural food stock of the black bear so the resident bears are very active in order to find the food that they need. Just don't get between a hungry bear and its food!

One of the most common questions visitors to the National park ask me is "Where can I find the most black bear in the park?" Traveling extensively through the backcountry and developed areas in both the North Carolina and Tennessee sections of the National Park I have found that the best areas of the national park to find a black bear are: The Roaring Fork section of the park by Gatlinburg Tennessee, Cades Cove typically between Sparks Lane and Hyatt Lane in the edge of the woods, backcountry areas between Cosby TN a Big Creek NC, and along the Gatlinburg Bypass on the way to Pigeon Forge. This bypass referred to as the spur will often have bear walking right across the road.

This week I have already counted 22 black bear in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park:

• 8 along the road leading into the Roaring Fork Area before the Ogle Cabin
• 1 on the old Sugarland Trail between Roaring Fork and the Sugarlands
• 2 in the Greenbrier section on trail along the way to campground 32
• 2 in Big Cataloochee NC on the Boogerman trail near the stone walls
• 1 in Big Cataloochee NC in the back field near the old cemetery on the hill.
• 1 in Deep Creek NC Parking area
• 3 in Cades Cove area on the Scott Mountain Trail
• 2 in Cades Cove area on the Gregory Bald longer trail
• 1 in Cades Cove in woods off Hyatt Lane
• 1 in Cosby TN on the Hens Wallow Falls trail at the second fork

Although I am only counting 8 bear on Roaring Fork, the same bear I have seen 9 or 10 times I only counted as 1. I can almost guarantee that if you go to Roaring Fork in the next few days early in the morning or before sunset you will see at least 3 or 4 bear.

Unfortunately many people who are watching or photographing the black bear are not acting wisely chasing the bear up the side of the hill, whistling to get the bears attention or just stopping their car and parking in the middle of the road. All of these are forbidden behavior and illegal and can result in death or serious injury.

Bear jams are so common right now in the Roaring Fork area that often there are now up to 2 officers trying to keep park visitors under control so no one gets attacked by a black bear or hit by a driver paying attention to the bear and not the road.

My favorite is the foolish man pictured here who kept climbing the hill chasing a mother bear with her cubs and taking pictures with a camera phone. He lucky left without being attacked by the momma black bear that had her 2 cubs along for the feast of acorns on the ground and before the National Park enforcement officer arrived. Imagine risking death, dismemberment or arrest to take a poor quality picture with his cellphone that he will probably erase or lose within a year or so. Was it worth it?

The bear are fun to watch but please pay attention to the national park black bear regulations and safety rules!

Death in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The peace of the Smoky Mountains was shattered Sunday afternoon with the death Terry L Fox of Gatlinburg Tennessee when while driving Northbound on the Spur towards Pigeon Forge his 2005 Dodge Caravan struck a guard rail.

The fatal accident occurred on the Spur in the turning lane on the left hand exit to Flat Branch Road just north of the tunnel.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Rangers initially responded and were then joined by Gatlinburg EMS who had to break into the vehicle in order to extricate Mr. Fox who was later transported by Gatlinburg Ambulance to the Ft. Sanders Sevier Medical Center.

The Sevier County Medical Examiner has requested an autopsy since there was very minor damage to the vehicle there is a possibility that Mr. Fox may have had a medical condition may have caused the accident and been the cause of death.

Even if it is medical condition that ultimately caused the accident we wish to warn our readers that the number one cause for death in the Smoky Mountains national park is not due to bear attack, avalanche, drowning or falls but are caused by vehicle accidents.

Waterfalls in the park are also a source of fatal injuries when people attempt the climb on the slippery rocks or get to close to the edge of a drop.

There has also been numerous drownings in the National Park caused by swift moving water and submerged rocks such as in the Sinks area of the park in Tennessee.

We ask all visitors that come to the Smoky Mountains national park to drive safely, act responsibly an keep small children under their control. We don't want what could be the best vacation of a life time to one that ends you life.