SPOKANE — The majority of 10,000 SOS calls came from hikers and backpackers, according to data released by Garmin, which sells the popular inReach satellite communication devices.
In fact, 39 percent of the 10,000 calls from the past 11 years came from hikers or backpackers. The next largest category was driving at 12 percent, followed by motorcycling, climbing/mountaineering and boating.
The information, published in late October, is enlightening, particularly a map showing the calls clustered around mountainous regions of the United States and other countries.
“It is interesting to note how conglomerations of incidents indicate mountainous regions, such as the Pacific Crest Trail in western United States, the Alps in Europe and nearly all of New Zealand,” the company noted in a blog post about the data.