According to a National Park Service news release, the 42-year-old Belgian tourist was taking a short walk Saturday in the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in 123-degree heat when he either broke or lost his flip-flops, putting his feet into direct contact with the desert ground. The result: third-degree burns.
“The skin was melted off his foot,” said Death Valley National Park Service Ranger Gia Ponce. “The ground can be much hotter — 170, 180 [degrees]. Sometimes up into the 200 range.”
Unable to get out on his own and in extreme pain, the man and his family recruited other park visitors to help; together, the group carried him to the sand dunes parking lot, where park rangers assessed his injuries.
Though they wanted a helicopter to fly him out, helicopters can’t generate enough lift to fly in the heat-thinned air over the hottest parts of Death Valley, officials said. So park rangers summoned an ambulance that took him to higher ground, where it was a cooler 109 degrees and he could then be flown out.
I feel like if you go to Death Valley, in July, when we’re having record-breaking temps all over the world, and you wear flip flops…look, I’m not saying anyone deserves to lose a foot just because they’re making stupid choices, but maybe like, a toe. Because man, that is wildly stupid.
While I fully agree with you, for a second there I wondered what could have been proper clothing and footwear for this type of trip. I normally wear Chaco sandals in the Summer and they seem to be sturdier and more appropriate footwear for this walk and then I thought they could melt too, so… Hiking boots? Those would possibly not melt, so maybe they would have been appropriate, but I’m not sure…
A strange game, the only winning move is not to play… You don’t go to Death Valley in the boiling hot summer (I myself have been in June of many years ago and it was a chillier day)
It’s Death Valley.
You want at least mid-rise hiking boots. Trail hiking shoes might be okay, except in the case you step on a rattler.
The boots aren’t full proof protection but they’re much better than a sock.
The biggest reason to go down to shoes is if you plan to be moving over boulders- it’s pretty hard to edge.
Biggest things are that they’re comfortable, sized right and sturdy enough to not fall apart. (Also? Bring lots of socks. Swapping socks frequently will help with the perspiration)
(ETA) For general clothing avoid dark or bright colors- light tan is best, wear light breathable pants and similar shirt. Id recommend avoiding cotton (it sucks for wicking,) and go with linen. I recommend long sleeves but a lot of that has to do with me having 3 shades- white, pink and burnt.
Hat and sunglasses that are comfortable.
Also? The biggest rule? Tell someone where you are going, what your route is, and when you expect to get out. I recommend checking in and out with the parks service cuz they’re gonna be the ones looking for you.
You’ve gone straight to hiking though and are talking about crossing boulders, thats a world away from what happened here. It says he took a short walk from the carpark, likely a footpath to a scenic view, the path is probably suitable for kids and old people. It did say he was with family and other tourists carried him to the carpark so this was not a trek or hike, it was a brief walk
I think the story here isn’t ‘idiot fails to prepare for hike’ it’s more like ‘hot sand can be more dangerous than you think’ which is important because I would never go hiking unprepared but I would take a short walk to look at the view without really considering the possibility that the sand will melt my feet off.
"some folks will never lose a toe; then again some folks’ll. Like Cletus the slackjawed yokel. "
