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f OA, Ranger!" 



his shoes inside his shirt and his ounce of judgment undoubtedly saved 

 the lives of all three, for it was but a short time until they were trapped 

 on a narrow ledge, with bruised feet, unable to proceed. The boy with 



the shoes made his way perilously back to the 

 peak and down the regular trail to call the 

 rangers. It was night when he reached the 

 ranger station. Darkness, broken by lightning 

 storms, delayed the "drag out" until the next 

 day, when the two barefoot boys were found 

 on their precipitous ledge, almost frozen. 



Foolhardy recklessness causes practically all 

 of the distress on the trails. Youngsters insist 

 on blazing their own trails, against warnings 

 of old-timers of the mountains. Two youths 

 made their way into the Grand Canyon of the 

 Yellowstone, below the falls, and were unable 

 to climb out up the steep walls. They were 

 seen by another hiker, or they might have been 

 there yet, for no human call for help could carry above the din of the 

 falls. It was one of the most difficult "drag outs" ever accomplished by 

 the national park rangers, and it required many hours, during which 

 the three men who did the rescue work were in constant danger of 

 slipping into the raging torrent below all because two hikers forgot to 

 pack a little discretion in the old kit bag when they hit the trail for a 

 holiday. 



The world's record for "drag outs" is held by the rangers of Grand 

 Canyon National Park, where the approaches to the park are at a high 

 elevation. From the rim of the Canyon trails wind down to the river, 

 and many people undertake the hike down into the Canyon. It is down 

 hill all the way, and as the hiker continues to a lower elevation, respira 

 tion becomes unconsciously easier, until by the time the visitor has 

 reached the river, he feels fine and not the least tired and considers him 

 self something of a hiker. Where they drop out is on the way back, up 

 hill all the way, with altitude against them. It is exactly the reverse of 

 the average hike. The "drag out" mules earn their keep at Grand 

 Canyon, and the saying is that, though it's the same identical trail up 

 or down, "it's seven miles down and seventy-seven miles back." 



It should be added here that the hiker who keeps himself in trim by 

 frequent walks about his home, who plans his trips and knows where he 

 is going and about how long it will take, who understands his own 

 physical condition and knows what he is equal to, almost never is humil 

 iated by having to submit to a "drag out. 1 ' The rash ones, the blunder 

 ing ones, those who start out for a little walk and can never turn back 



