ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, February 7, 1996            TAG: 9602070022
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B-2  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: LURAY
SOURCE: Associated Press 

PARK URGES CAUTION FROM HIKERS 6 MORE RESCUED DURING LATEST STORM

Shenandoah National Park officials, who rescued six hikers during the weekend snowstorm, say people are recklessly using the park in bad weather.

The latest rescue came less than a month after numerous arduous trips to reach other hikers during the January storm that dumped up to 47 inches of snow in some parts of the park.

``It's really time that we need to start asking people to please think ... before they come, and use good judgment related to the weather,'' park spokeswoman Lyn Rothgeb said.

The hikers began their journey on foot Friday evening in the park's southern end. ``These folks were not as prepared as they should have been. They weren't sure of their destination,'' Rothgeb said. She said she did not have the hikers' names, ages or hometowns.

The group was trying to reach one of the back-country cabins rented out by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club.

The main road that winds through the park was closed because of snow and a forecast for subzero temperatures, park officials said.

The hikers called park emergency officials with a cellular phone at 3 a.m. Saturday to report that they were lost. Rangers retrieved the hikers by 8 a.m. Saturday. No one was injured.

In addition to the risk for hikers and rangers, rescues are costly, Rothgeb said. Last week's rescue cost between $500 and $1,000 for equipment and overtime wages for park employees.

``Visitors need to understand that the park can ill afford to spend precious financial resources on rescues of this type,'' park Superintendent Bill Wade said.

The National Park Service does not fine or cite people whose poor judgment places them in danger and activates rescue teams, Rothgeb said.

During last month's storm, park rescue teams - with help from the Virginia National Guard and Virginia Department of Emergency Services - retrieved hikers from several areas of the park.

During that storm, rangers rescued three groups of hikers in the park and another group who had camped just outside the park in Madison County, Rothgeb said. Park teams also investigated 28 reports of stranded hikers, using helicopters, airplanes, all-terrain vehicles and snowplows.

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