In my area there are coastal trails which linked outports (fishing villages) for generations. The trails still exist today and many are maintained and some even world class (see "East Coast Trail, Avalon Peninsula" and "Skirwink Trail, Trinity Bay"). There is one trouble on those which aren't maintained--and many weren't and some still aren't: Coastlines recede. I've found myself looking straight down between my feet from time to time down through holes through a matting of roots and loose gravel into open space down to the rocks below! Walking on air is not very safe and there have been incidents. Thankfully, the rise in tourism dollars the past few decades has led to local towns maintaining them more and moving eroded sections back away from receding edges.
There is a lesson here, though: Sometimes in remote areas it's hard to even know if what you are doing even IS dangerous in the first place. I'm reminded of some Russian tourists some 15 or 20 late Octobers ago deciding to hike down some old paths to a now-resettled village on the quite remote Northern Peninsula (Newfoundland). Longish, hike, but not bad as a doable day hike. Some of their bones have been found over the years. Turns out sudden quite brutal snows/freezing rains occur in northern Newfoundland in the late fall sometimes and you need to carry proper gear. Locals know this. They also know there is little they can do in the middle of such snow/rain/freezing rain/sleet storms on an immediate basis.
Tourists used to more "civilized" so-called wilderness areas simply don't know how different real back country is from more manicured cottage country and rural country. Even in Gros Morne National Park, a well-equipped couple were hiking couple of years ago on the most famous/most traveled back country trail there (see "Western Brook Pond"). One fell and broke their leg. This was in the spring where the typical weather is one nor'easter with tons of snow after another at that elevation (think Mt. Washington which is affected by the same systems). Forget the details but even though they were on the trail, had followed all the safety rules and carried proper gear and had a satellite PLB to boot (no phone service--hell that's true one or two ridges back most anywhere even close to the capital city which is why I always carry one regardless) it took something like at least a day and a half to reach them even with national park resources.
Last edited by jgnfld; 12-15-2020 at 06:23 AM.