Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/07/25/man-suffers-3rd-degree-burns-on-feet-after-losing-flip-flops-on-hike-in-death-valley.html
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Who hikes in flip-flops anywhere, much less in fucking death valley!
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And just not visit Death Valley in the summer.
Even if he hadn’t lost his shoes, the sand probably burned the sides of his feet.
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I just had a flashback.
When i was a kid, me and my relatives hit the beach and it was a particularly hot day. I think it was a cousin whose sandals melted from the heat and came apart, and we had walked quite a way from where we parked and were halfway to the spot where we were camped out at the beach. We had to hunker down in a tiny little shaded area while someone ran to the car to get her some spare shoes.
And i think i recall a friend had something similar happen in Las Vegas where the soles of their shoes started to melt from the heat 
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well…if youre homeless in vegas, it gets worse than that;
There was the woman whose leg was amputated after she got third-degree burns from passing out on the scalding hot sidewalk. She now uses a wheelchair.
I still cant believe the denial of whats to come despite some gruesome realities of the climate catastrophy which are already happening, resulting in fates like the above.
The region is among the fastest-growing metro areas in the US. Roughly 2 million people have moved here over the last 50 years, with nearly a million more expected by 2060
thats what I mean; I think this is delusional, the region will be completly uninhabitable in 2060.
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sharpening stones/ walking on coals
wtf? what could possibly motivate a person to walk into Death Valley in flips?
@Mindysan33 i owe you that coke, but i want to echo your bewilderment!
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I can’t even imagine. I stupidly walked barefoot across the street and back one day last week to retrieve a delivery that was mistakenly left at my neighbor’s house, and my feet hurt for a few hours. And it was like 96 that day. So like a minute or two on hot asphalt made my feet hurt. I cannot imagine how much worse walking barefoot on the sand in Death Valley would be. Ouch.
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… should not be a thing
Can’t they just close until Labor Day 
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Some people wear flip-flops riding a motorcycle, so I’m appalled, but not surprised.
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When I was at school, we did hill-walking and other similar expeditions during which we were taught how to be safe in the wild with suitable clothing, maps, compasses, and so on. Consequently my whole life I’ve been aware of the dangers of nature, and I’ve taken appropriate kit if I wanted to go somewhere a bit wild.
However it seems that many people aren’t given these chances to learn. They just assume things are going to be okay somehow, and set off with completely inadequate equipment.
For example, Japan is currently worrying about foreigners going up Mt Fuji in sandals and tee-shirts.
I believe the authorities have a significant degree of responsibility to warn people of hazardous conditions, but if you’re an adult, you can and should look things up before you set off into the wilderness. You’re not just endangering yourself, you’re endangering the rescue crews – often volunteers – who will try to rescue you.
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It’s possible that youthful experiences in “centuries of careful hydrological management polder” left our Belgian without an intuitive grasp of “death valley”.
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Right? Everybody knows flip-flops are glacier equipment!
(pictures from IT papers, but I’ve seen similar things far too many times).
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Yeah, never walk on hot sand without appropriate footwear.
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It didn’t occur to anyone to walk in the surf?
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We were walking towards the beach, not parallel to it. So no surf
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I grew up in boy scouts, but I remember a college hiking course that was a phys ed elective being very helpful. Things I remember from the class were: layers are good, comfortable shoes are often worth the price, and that if significant other is not somebody who spent a lot of time in the woods, bring an extra sweater/coat, extra water, extra food for them. If the partner brings enough, or too much for themselves, there’s no problem, but it was very common for him to hear that somebody brought their significant other out, they underprepared and were miserable, and the significant other never wanted to go back in the woods again.
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Unfortunately, there are many who lack common sense these days. And in particular when it comes to flip flops. I see them used in a lot of places where they shouldn’t be!
There are tourist attractions in several parts of Europe that require good footwear to get to. Yet, I still see people embark on a several hour trek for some of them, in flip flops.
Especially people who see some nice spot on Instagram, and think “I wanna go there!”, pack socks, underwear, shorts, T-shirts, toiletries, and flip flops.
Then, they get on a plane, land in the nearest major city, and get a bus to the nearest village.
And finally, they go by their own internet research, which does not mention anything about local tour guides who will help them prepare for the trek.
One country that’s notorious for having famous beauty spots with long walks across rough terrain to access them, is Norway. One example, is Pulpit Rock, which takes about 4 hours of walking in each direction to and from the visitor centre. That’s not so much the distance, as the rough terrain up and down.
Speaking of the visitor centre: It’s staffed by locals who know what it takes to get safely to and from the cliff, and how to stay safe up there.
To get to Trolltunga, another Instagram hotspot, the walk is between 8 and 12 hours, including some short breaks along the way.
There haven’t been many fatalities falling off the attractions themselves (a 20 year old student died falling off Trolltunga, trying to take a selfie in 2015), but Pulpit Rock sees a few cardiac arrests on the trek going up, and once or twice a year, they end up being fatal (unable to restart the heart).
Trollstigen takes about three hours to climb on foot. And the list goes on.
The weather can change quickly while on these treks. You might have sunshine, warm temperature, dry conditions, when setting off, and after a couple of hours, you get hit with heavy rain and disorienting thick fog. What if the bad weather conditions lasts for a couple of days?
This morning, there was a rescue operation on greater Skagastølstind, the country’s third highest mountain. The fog was too thick to bring a rescue helicopter in all the way. Local mountaineers had to climb the last bit to get to the stranded tourists, and then feed them and give them heat blankets, because they were soaking wet and had run out of provisions, and didn’t have extra clothes.
Many other countries in Europe are also likely to have beauty spots that are challenging to get to in such manner. I just happen to know Norway well, and that it’s not like Ireland, where there usually is a parking lot within a few hundred metres of the beauty spots.
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Did a ride-along with a ranger there years ago, and noticed that every time she left the vehicle for a field contact she lowered a passenger side window. She told us it was simple: an accidental lockout could kill her before help could arrive. It’s hard to grasp how dangerous that place can be to human life.
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