Would you rather be stuck in rocks or in a toilet on the trail?

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Here it is: the photo that will haunt your nightmares for the next few months. It was impossible to find a picture of two bare feet sticking out of a crack between rocks on the Internet this week. I understand perfectly why – the picture and the story behind it terrible.

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

Campbell tried to catch the fish. her phone when she slipped and fell headfirst into a crack. She fell about ten feet before her body became stuck between the rocks. She spent the next seven hours between a rock and a hard place, completely upside down, as her friends and then search and rescue teams tried to free her. Rescuers eventually used machinery to remove several heavy boulders from the outcrop, allowing rescuers to pull her to freedom.

“She was tired and very dizzy,” one rescuer told CNN. “All 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 did not receive her phone number. But she became widely known and, alas, disgraced on the Internet.

Outside readers may notice eerie similarities between Campbell’s ordeal and the stories of two other people who found themselves in compromising situations. when searching for lost Apple products. In 2022 and then in 2023 separate hikers fell into toilets on the trail And trapped and the last place anyone would want to explore: an outdoor toilet storage locker. Both people had to wait about 30 minutes for rescuers to pick them up and hose them off.

Of course, everything is here in Outside I’m glad Matilda Campbell was rescued from her predicament. Perhaps unsurprisingly, her story has sparked heated 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 in a smelly bathroom stall on the trail? Here’s what we had to say:

Steve Potter Climbing: Toilet on the trail. Being an editor at ClimbingI feel like being stuck between two rocks would unfortunately be more awkward from a professional standpoint.

Corey Buhay, Outside: I also choose a toilet at the beginning of the trail. I hate being upside down. Plus, if I’m going to get stuck somewhere, I at least need a soft place to sit down.

Adam Roy tourist: Two stones. If I potentially die a horrible death, then at least there’s some dignity in it. I don’t want the words “toilet at the trailhead” to appear in my obituary.

Ellen Butler, Velo: Toilet at the beginning of the trail. I just checked in with my main hiking partner—my 17-pound schnoodle puppy. She pointed out that our limit was 30 minutes, not 7 hours. She let me know that she was sticking to her daily Number of steps Fi collar and intensive sleep schedule are non-negotiable.

Jonathan Beverly Run: Toilet on the trail. Just reading about me being upside down and motionless in a rock crevice makes my heart rate skyrocket. I need to move, even if it means splashing around in poop.

Christine Hostetter Outside: No competition, I would choose the stones. Spending 30 minutes splashing around in poop is a surefire way to make yourself sick as hell. No amount of soap could make me feel clean again. If I were stuck between two rocks for seven hours, I could at least sharpen my meditation skills.

Fred Dreyer Outside: I would also choose the toilet at the beginning of the trail. As much as I hate terrible smells, I’m also very busy, with a weekend schedule filled with chores, errands, and regular runs to Costco. I can’t spare seven hours for anything.

Susan Lacke, triathlete: Are you telling me that I will have seven hours during which I won’t have to respond to texts or work emails? Sign me up for Rocks, no phone required.