BACKCOUNTRY adventurers should be looking out for one another as it can make the difference between someone getting safely out of the woods or only getting more lost, says the head of North Shore Rescue.
NSR volunteers responded to two reports of lost hikers in the last week, both of which were brought to a successful close only because other hikers stopped and took the time, said Tim Jones, NSR team leader.
On July 25, a woman and her three children, aged seven to 13, were hiking on the BCMC Trail when they lost their way and wound up on the Skyline Trail, not knowing how to get out.
A male trail runner happened by the lost family and called 9-1-1 on their behalf using the woman's phone and gave them some directions on how to get home but then immediately took off before dispatch could get an exact location. With the family being panicked, tired and not having a good grasp of English, North Shore Rescue tried in vain to pinpoint where they were. Making matters worse, the trail runner offered some counterproductive advice, Jones said.
"Whether she interpreted it wrong or not,. .. she did state to us that he told her not to call search and rescue or she'd be charged. It actually made things worse, because right after that, they kept on moving. We had no idea where they were," Jones said.
That is precisely why NSR and virtually every other search and rescue organization refuses to charge for their services, Jones added.
Luckily, as NSR volunteers were forming a trapline around Skyline, a second more helpful trail runner ran into the lost family, and called Jones directly and waited with the rescue subjects until volunteers arrived.
Another lost and unprepared hiker was "extremely lucky" on Saturday night after he made several wrong turns and wound up halfway up Crown Mountain. NSR dispatched 11 searchers into the area, but it was a helpful trio of well-prepared hikers who happened by the man that was crucial to him getting out safely in the dark, according to NSR.
Those hikers are now being praised for escorting the man and preventing the need for an all-out search in the dark with no indication as to his whereabouts.
"I know it can upset your planned hike or your run, but we really respectfully ask people, if do you come across people who are lost, escort them out, especially if they've been lost for two or three hours," Jones said." To me, it's everyone's responsibility."
