While I do have a lot of opinions about life in this crazy society of ours, I generally keep the opinions to myself — unless I’m asked to share. However… sometimes some problems are hard to ignore — especially when it might have an impact on me in some way. I find the need to put in my 2 cents.
One of the joys about living in the Pacific Northwest is the abundance of wilderness parks and recreation areas available for use. I enjoy going on hikes and exploring the back-countries with my camera. While most of the popular national parks and forest areas usually are well maintained by the U.S. Forest Service, still… whenever I visit any of the parks and recreation areas, I am fully aware of the dangers and risks of venturing out into the wilderness. And if I choose to ignore signs like this, and I get hurt… I have no one to blame but myself.
I guess that’s why recent news of people suing our Park Services for wrongful death really infuriates me. While it is sad that these families suffered the loss of their loved ones, however by not willing to accept personal responsibility and placing blame unjustifiably and seeking compensation with frivolous lawsuits will end up making these beautiful places inaccessible for others to enjoy its natural wonder.
Last month a woman whose husband was killed by a mountain goat last year, is suing for 10 millions dollars. Her lawyer is claiming the national park service knew the goat was aggressive and dangerous and they should have kill it or remove it from the park… Gee, what a great idea… let’s kill and remove every dangerous wild animal from the wilderness so that it is safe for people to visit. And yesterday, the parents of an 11-year-old girl, who was killed accidentally by a huge ice boulder at the Big Four Ice Caves over a year ago — is suing the U.S. Forest Service for their daughter’s death. According to the suit, the parents and their ambulance chaser, lawyer insisted that the Forest Service did not provide enough adequate danger signs warning people about the risks of collapsing ice, snow and unstable caves along the trail to the caves.
I’ve visited the Big Four Ice Caves a couple of months ago and there were warning signs along the trail — not to mention the sign at the end of the trail giving the final warning about staying off and out of the ice caves. And from what I’ve read from other visitor’s comments, the area always have warning signs about the dangers of getting too close to the ice caves. The parents chose to ignore the warning signs and put their children at risk. During my visit at the ice caves, while I did heed the warning of not climbing on and staying out of the ice caves, I did make the choice of venturing out into the danger zone to take some close up photos of the ice caves and waterfalls. I was at least 25 feet away from the ice cave entrance. The father said the family was standing about 15 feet away from the ice cave entrance to get pictures when the accident happened. Trust me… when a large chunk of rock falls off the mountain above the ice caves, you would need a lot more than 15 feet to be safe.
In my opinion, with or without the danger signs, anytime you are hiking in the wilderness; you should always be aware of the hidden dangers and obey the warning signs or proceed at your own risk. It’s not right to blame others if you choose not to use your common sense. Okay, I’ll get off my soap box now… thanks for listening…
Emily's Photography Blog 
Hey, there was not a warning sign at that intersection where the older woman ran the stop sign and hit my car a couple months ago…does anybody have a name of the lawyer with the Mountain Goat law suit????
Raven
Completely agree–people are too lawsuit-happy these days. Regardless, those are some beautiful pictures you took!
Beautiful photos. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season.
I agree completely. Unfortunately, it only takes one person to ruin things for everyone else. Happens time and again.
Great photos!
Amen. Drives me crazy too. Take responsibility for yourself — with or without the warning signs!
Lovely shots as always. When there are dangers, it’s a chance to see awesome views.
It is the unfortunate state of the society in which we live. Congress, don’t get me started. But it seems that there is no disaster in which a law suit does not follow as a result of negligence on the part of someone, even a goat. No one claims responsibility for their own actions. It goes back to when the dog ate the homework. There was a recent story of three people who went over the warning fence and were then swept over Niagara Falls. What’s the point of a warning sign anymore? In Germany a child drowned in a crowded pool in full view of the life guards. No law suit followed. Swimming is inherently dangerous and the swimmer assumes some responsibility when entering.
First of all great photographs. Secondly I entirely agree with you. All too often people are turning to the law with frivolous claims, sometimes they are actually at fault and yet they are allowed their day in court.
Thank you for sharing your opinion..There were several deaths at Yosemite last summer. We need to heed the warning signs.I agree with you! Beautiful photos!
I agree. beautiful photos, HDR?
Thanks for the compliment, Erin. No, this is not HDR. Usually, I shoot in RAW and use Lightroom3 for processing.
I agree 100%! Those cases should never even make it to trial, but some silly judge will let the cases continue, and then the jury will feel sorry for the relatives and award a huge settlement, after all, the government has deep pockets to pay from, ours!
The Big Four Mountains photo, stunning! I completely agree that so many people do not want to take responsibility for their own actions and the general population ends up losing the awesomeness of so many things.
Love it! I complete agree.