The article concerning another Summit County Rescue Group mission on Buffalo Mountain (“Couple, dog rescued in late-night mission on Buffalo Mountain” published Sunday in the Summit Daily News), includes a quote from the Rescue Group’s spokesperson, Charles Pitman, who implies that a wilderness-designated area such as Buffalo Mountain should not have trail signage to indicate the direction of the safest trails or of trails that are most hazardous.
The article notes that at least four rescues of this type have been required this summer. In my viewpoint, it would be much more cost effective and safer for all parties involved to post simple signage on the top of Buffalo Mountain indicating “Safest trail down” and “Descent in this direction has resulted in multiple emergency rescues and hiker injuries.”
Summit County residents and public safety authorities can recognize that inexperienced and even experienced hikers will make similar mistakes as noted in this article. It is our responsibility to indicate both inapparent danger and also less obvious safe hiking routes to hikers at sites such as the Buffalo Mountain summit. I don’t think we’ll violate federal statues regarding wilderness-designated land by doing so. No one intends to make our mountains an amusement park, and basic directional safety on trails should be encouraged.