It was unclear how the trail in British Columbia had appeared on Google Maps in the first place.

Hikers rescued after following non-existent trail on Google Maps::It was unclear how the trail in British Columbia had appeared on Google Maps in the first place.

    • CmdrShepardEnglish
      10·
      1 year ago

      The alternative is blindly following some other app into the wilderness though. Doesn’t seem like such a cut and dry example of stupidity.

    • DoomsdaySprocket@lemmy.caEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      To be fair, Vancouver, BC is a popular spot for tourists, especially those doing outdoor activities, who I suppose may come from places with a different hiking and trail culture, and different types of signage. Maybe Google maps is more accurate where they’re from? Maybe they just didn’t realize how much landscape detail the tree cover can hide. Lots of folks who come here don’t speak a lot of English in my experience as well. It’s still on them, though.

      I’m not even a hiker though, the trails are just too packed full of people for me here.

        • DoomsdaySprocket@lemmy.caEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          I think these people are dumb as rocks myself, but it’s interesting to wonder why the bad decisions are made.

          NSR I believe has a policy of not charging the costs of the rescues to those they pull off the mountains, to not discourage people calling for help when they really need it, but I’m sure that’s a struggle to justify some days.