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Oct 29, 2024

Would You Rather Be Stuck in Rocks or Inside a Trailhead Toilet?

An Australian hiker recently spent seven hours trapped between boulders after attempting to recover her phone. The ordeal was reminiscent of two recent survival stories involving camping latrines. New

An Australian hiker recently spent seven hours trapped between boulders after attempting to recover her phone. The ordeal was reminiscent of two recent survival stories involving camping latrines.

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Here it is: the photograph that will haunt your nightmares for the next few months. The image, showing two bare feet protruding from a gap between rocks, was impossible to escape on the internet this week. I completely understand why—the picture and the story behind it are terrifying.

On Saturday, October 12, a 23-year-old Australian woman named Matilda Campbell was on a walk in the rolling wine country northwest of Sydney. According to multiple reports, Campbell climbed onto a rock outcrop to snap photographs when she accidentally dropped her iPhone into a four-inch-wide gap between two boulders.

Campbell attempted to fish out her phone when when she slipped and plummeted headfirst into the crack. She fell about ten feet before her body became wedged between the rocks. She spent the next seven hours stuck between a rock and a hard place, completely inverted, while her friends and then search and rescue crews attempted to free her. Eventually, rescuers used machinery to remove several heavy boulders from the outcrop, allowing rescuers to yank her to freedom.

“She was tired, and she was quite dizzy,” one rescuer told CNN. “All of her blood was in her head, and she had nothing in her legs, so she couldn’t stand, couldn’t really walk at that stage.”

Alas, Campbell didn’t get her phone. But she did receive ample amounts of fame and alas, shame on the internet.

Outside readers may notice an eery similarity between Campbell’s ordeal and the stories of two other people who became stuck in compromising situations while retrieving lost Apple products. In 2022 and then in 2023, separate hikers fell into trailhead toilets and became trapped in the last place anyone would ever want to explore: an outdoor latrine’s holding chamber. Both people had to wait about 30 minutes for rescue personnel to hoist them out and hose them down.

Of course, everyone here at Outside is happy that Matilda Campbell was rescued from her predicament. Perhaps unsurprisingly, her story has sparked a spirited debate within our ranks. Would you choose to be stuck upside down between two rocks for seven hours? Or, would you rather spend 30 minutes trapped in the smelly holding chamber of a trailhead toilet? Here’s what we had to say:

Steve Potter, Climbing: Trailhead toilet. As an editor at Climbing, I feel that being stuck between two rocks would, alas, be more professionally embarrassing.

Corey Buhay, Outside: I’m also choosing trailhead toilet. I hate being upside down. Plus, if I’m going to be stuck somewhere, I’d at least like a soft place to sit.

Adam Roy, Backpacker: Two rocks. If I’m potentially going to die horribly, at least there’s some dignity in that. I don’t want the words “trailhead toilet”anywhere near my obituary.

Ellen Butler, Velo: Trailhead Toilet. I just checked with my main hiking partner—my 17-pound schnoodle pup. She indicated that 30 minutes is our limit, not 7 hours. She let me know that adhering to her daily Fi Collar step count and intense nap schedule are non-negotiable.

Jonathan Beverly, Run: Trailhead Toilet. Just reading about being upside down and immobile in the rock crevice makes my heart-rate skyrocket. I need to move, even if that means splashing around in poo.

Kristin Hostetter, Outside: No contest, I’d choose the rocks. Spending 30 minutes sloshing around in poop is a surefire way to get sick as hell. No amount of soap could ever make me feel clean again. If I were stuck between two rocks for seven hours, I’d at least get to hone my meditation skills.

Fred Dreier, Outside: I’d also choose the trailhead toilet. As much as I detest awful smells, I’m also extremely busy, with a weekend schedule filled with chores, errands, and the regular Costco run. There’s no way I could spare seven hours for anything.

Susan Lacke, Triathlete: You mean to tell me I could have seven hours where I don’t have to answer texts or work emails? Sign me up for the rocks, sans phone.