I appreciate mountain rescue and all - they're literally heroes - , but could do without the finger wagging at having to call them. I guarantee some of those rescuers do equally dumb stuff regularly - skiing Tuckermans and shit.
I mean, presumably you volunteer for this because you want to save people, so wouldn't the prospect of going out with your bros and saving lives be fun?
Btw, I'd be perfectly fine if rangers wanted to make sure you're prepared or if you had to pay a fee to hike that goes toward rescuer wages. Or even if you needed certification to hike, but accidents would still happen and this line would still exist. I don't see any end to it.
Probably the only reason they aren't paid is because the liability of the employer would be insane.
How do we make everybody happy? Where am I mistaken?
Here's the article that inspired this diatribe (no, I'm not this guy thankfully)
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2024/02/20/hiker-describes-11-hour-ordeal-after-falling-on-mount-washington-admits-he-was-underprepared/