Does this punishment fit the crime? 3 cyclists jailed for going thru Grand Canyon

[lizbids]

So these boys perhaps could have hurt themselves. Ok, they should have been fined but jail time? Come on!!! There are way worse crimes that go unpunished every day...

[KnottedYet]

Backcountry rescues are pretty dang expensive. I do definitely agree with the fine they had to pay to search and rescue.

Any of you EMT trained folks relish the thought of packing a biker/hiker collision victim (or a plain ol' bike vs. gravity victim) on a backboard to an accessible point in Grand Canyon?

Yowza!

(and if anyone's never been there, you've gotta go! You wouldn't believe how intense and vertical-crazy it is, or how incredibly crowded it is year round! And beautiful! Photos and videos can never do it justice.)

[bmccasland]

Have been an EMT worked SAR, would NOT, repeat NOT want to drag someone out of The Canyon, the desert of Arizona was fun enough. Only place I know where the litter picker-uppers need climbing skills. There is a reason there are still parts of crashed planes in the canyon - too hard and expensive to get them out of there.

[Pedal Wench]

Like others, I've hiked quite a lot in the Canyon, doing rim-to-rim-to-rims about once a year (heading there again in May!), I would not want to encounter a bike on some of those sections. I believe the Arizona Trail uses the South Kaibab trail, which isn't particularly narrow, but there are sections with dropoffs, and it is used daily by mule trains. What those animals would do if they encountered bikes is completely unknown, and I doubt good. I think the punishment does fit the crime, mainly, as most of our punishments, to prevent others from following suite.