Feets First Into the Canyon
Manolo says, Ayyyyy! The flip-flops they are truly the shoes of danger!
An injured 38-year-old mother of two and a handful of rescuers spent more than two hours in sweltering Butte Creek Canyon Tuesday after the woman fell about 100 feet while sightseeing.Julie Cordero and her family — husband Danny Jr., son Danny III and daughter Jamie — stopped between Paradise and the home in Chico about 4 p.m. to take in the view from Lookout Point.
As three family members studied a makeshift memorial to one of Lookout Point’s previous victims, Julie Cordero edged close to the canyon edge several yards away.
“She was wearing flip flops,” said Butte County Fire/CDF Life Safety Officer Steve Fowler. “She turned to walk away and slipped feet first into the canyon.”
Wearing the flip-flops for the hiking on the rim of the canyon is, in the humble opinion of the Manolo, asking for the trouble.
P.S. Many thanks to the Manolo’s internet friend the Chuck for sending this story.
August 1st, 2005 at 8:23 am
Ayyyy! indeed. That foolish woman, she is lucky to be alive.
August 1st, 2005 at 10:34 am
The Tia Nieve is reminded of the Darwin award. Said lady appears to have been among the nominees, but not a winner.
August 1st, 2005 at 11:02 am
OT, but the Manolo must check out this link featuring the Hasselhoff!
http://twistyfaster.typepad.com/i_blame_the_patriarchy/
August 1st, 2005 at 11:27 am
Actually, here is the more direct Hasselhoff link:
http://www.post-literate.com/gerpunx/archives/2005/01/prepare_to_lose_your_mind.php
August 1st, 2005 at 1:17 pm
The Miss Nell, she is worried for the offspring of the woman with the flipflops. Clearly their mother was not blessed with the sense given by the God.
August 1st, 2005 at 2:03 pm
Sometimes people will look into their camera to take a photo, and then keep backing up without looking where they’re going.
August 1st, 2005 at 3:12 pm
Of the shoes of the Elvira, her Vasquez hiking boots are the most cherished. They protect her toes, support her ankles, and accompany her to the most interesting places. But the Elvira does not need the proper footwear to know that she should not step up to the edge of a canyon.
August 1st, 2005 at 4:04 pm
blame the wearer, not the flip-flop.
August 1st, 2005 at 4:57 pm
Ah, the Darwin Awards….Is the Tia Nieve, the Manolo, or anyone else here familiar with the Ig Nobel Prizes? “Every Ig Nobel Prize winner has done something that first makes people LAUGH, then makes them THINK.” Here is a link: http://www.improbable.com/ig/ig-top.html.
August 1st, 2005 at 6:37 pm
Not shoe-related, exactly, but the Fred has noticed that Canyons, especially really, really big ones, seem to suck the brains out of tourists. I once had the opportunity to make many dollars during a hike out of the Grand Canyon, because oh so many people could not understand the very complicated signs posted at the top:
1. Bring 1 Gallon of water per person
2. Hiking down is easy. Hiking back up is very very hard.
Being the mean person I truly am, I managed to unload all my extra water, food, and flashlights on the unsuspecting tourists struggling back up the canyon wall. Ha ha! I, therefore, did not have to drag all that dead weight uphill myself! Too bad I forgot to charge anything (though one guy did wave a $20 at me, offering to exchange it for a pair of oatmeal-raisin cookies.)
Come to think of it, many of those tourists were wearing the highly unsuitable shoes. Even the 3 inch spike heels. Note to self: next time, bring a stock of light but nifty hiking boots. Medium tan conceals the desert dust well…
August 1st, 2005 at 9:03 pm
I’m sorry, only an idiot would go hiking or whatever she was doing in a pair of flip flops.
August 1st, 2005 at 9:31 pm
Like Fred the Fourth, the Elvira has been in the Grand Canyon down to the Colorado River and the Phantom Ranch, with her cherished and most fabulous Vasquez hiking boots. And her cherished Loki trekking poles, her cherished Camelbak water system, her cherished bags of dried fruit and salty snacks, and her cherished wide-brimmed hat. Plus industrial-strength sunscreen. She, too, has seen the tourists wearing the flip flops down the first portion of the trail, although she imagines they turn back when they encounter the putrid puddles of the urine of the mules. She hopes the wonder of the Canyon will inspire some of the tourists to come back again with the fabulous hiking boots.
For those who are amused by the tourists who step too close to the edge of the canyons, the Elvira highly recommends the book “Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon” by the Michael P. Ghilieri and the Thomas M. Myers. The book, it is not all about death, it is well-told, and it is even amusing in spots. Perhaps the lady with the flipflops should have read it before she took her unfortunate misstep.
August 2nd, 2005 at 8:27 am
The hiking flip-flop! An idea whose time has come and gone - right over the edge, along with their wearer. La BellaDonna blames the flip-flop, whose nature it is to let the foot of the wearer slip and slide, as well as flip and flop, and La BellaDonna blames the wearer, who foolishly seems to have thought the canyon hike would have been the day at the beach.* It would have been much less dangerous to have made the error in the other direction; the hiking boot, worn at the beach, is much less likely to get the wearer killed.
The readers of The Manolo already know what some peoples insist on learning the hard way: there is the good reason why one should dress suitably for the occasion! This means the occasion of the hiking, as well as the occasion of the meeting of the President!
*Life’s a beach … and then you die.
August 2nd, 2005 at 12:54 pm
I agree with the Manolo. The flip-flops are only for the walking.
August 3rd, 2005 at 12:42 pm
no me canso de dicir el daño que esta haciendo el zapato chino…….y no me hacen caso. asi les va……
August 4th, 2005 at 1:16 am
Flip-flops are only suitable if you are a campaigning politician.
August 4th, 2005 at 2:19 pm
It is not the clumsiness of the flip-flop that is the danger, but the exposure of the toes and the thinness of the sole. I have hiked in the flip-flops, and they were okay (indeed, far more “grippy” on the rocks than I would have thought), though I would not undertake a day-long hike without the Vasques of wonderfulness.
Methinks that the flip-flops were but the smallest part of this woman’s problem.
September 4th, 2005 at 2:39 am
LOL
I wonder if she will go climbing everest next in her Flip flops
August 23rd, 2007 at 10:31 am
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