Learn a lesson from hiker

It was a remarkable story, the kind one reads with awe and dread.

An experienced outdoorsman, Aron Ralston of Aspen, Colo., is pinned by an 800-pound boulder while hiking alone in the Canyonlands of Utah. After five days, with no other options, he severs his own arm.

Readers have to wonder: Could I have done the same? Could I have survived? Would I have had both the will and the skill to cut off my own arm?

Of such tales are TV movies made.

But one key element has been missing from most of the press accounts of Ralston's ordeal -- an element that should bother anyone who spends any time in the backcountry of the West.

If Ralston, 27, is so experienced, why did he violate the first rule of backcountry travel?

Always notify someone of the place you are going, the route you intend to follow and the time you expect to return. This is Outdoors 101.

Anyone venturing off the beaten path knows it takes only a relatively minor problem -- a twisted ankle, a snake bite, an unexpected change in weather -- to quickly put your life at risk. An 800-pound boulder pinning your arm may be a rare occurence, but it's one of a million things that can go wrong.

Ralston has hiked dozens of canyon and mountain trails, often alone. Perhaps his experience taught him he could take care of himself. It apparently made him overconfident. Yes, he saved his own life by extraordinary measures, but at an extraordinary cost.

By following one simple rule, Ralston would have been trapped in the Utah desert for no more than a couple of days before he was found, because someone would have come looking for him. He would never have had to arrive at the awful decision he did.

Take more than a sense of awe and dread from Ralston's story. Learn a lesson. Whether it's a weeklong expedition or a simple day hike, let someone know where you are going, what route you plan to take, and when to notify authorities if you don't check in.