Pictures...of my rescue...

Thought you guys would get a kick out of this...

2 years ago I was on an 8 mile training hike (preparing for a 50 mile Grand Canyon backpacking trip)...
...and needless to say...it wasn't much fun...

I ended up hiking over 18 miles and was finally picked up by a Sheriff search and rescue chopper at about 7pm.
Was the middle of winter...there was forecasted rain and nightime temps well below freezing ...so if I was forced to stay the night, it might have ended badly.

So about 10 minutes before sundown, I turned a corner and walked right into a backcountry campsite full of Boy Scouts! The odds of finding them were unthinkable...the flight officer with the SAR crew later told me they were the only group scheduled to camp in the entire region (60 sq miles of regional forests). They gave me food and water (hadnt had either since early that morning). Only minutes later we heard a low thumping in the distance...they scrambled for their flashlights and signal mirrors...a beautiful Sikorsky popped up over the ridgline and I swear the pilot stared me right in the face.

Then they hovered above and lowered a guy down to pick me up...

Heres the pictures of my rescue (taken by some of the Boy Scouts):


(A few momments after the heli spotted me, they circled around as we tried to signal them)


(Going up?)

Let me know if the pictures load...because I can't tell on this piece of crap computer.

Enjoy and ask questions if needed!!!

For me they didnt load......but it sounds really exciting

no pics

Ok check again, I re-loaded them.

WOOHOO that looks way cool.....why couldnt you just hang with the Boy Scouts and head back to a nearby town and get picked up by someone? unless the chopper ride was cheaper

Insane Mercc wrote:

WOOHOO that looks way cool.....why couldnt you just hang with the Boy Scouts and head back to a nearby town and get picked up by someone? unless the chopper ride was cheaper

Well they had launched a massive search and rescue campaign...and they wanted me NOW haha.
I would have opted to stay with the Boy Scouts...but its kinda hard to negotiate when you're being tethered to a line under a heli thats generating hurricane force winds.
As I walked towards the guy, I had to litteraly plant each step or I would be thrown backwards. Was intense.

Plus the heli ride is cooler

Yeah helo rides are intense..especialy when your part of a hot load..twice a year we had a couple of black hawks land on this massive field by our school and we would get 10-20 minute rides. Ill see if I can find some pics.

Ok....I see what you mean HAHAHA

Haha awesome, you were doing this alone?

Yea...how did you end up alone...didn't you think to stop when you lost your crew?

Lone Wolf wrote:

Yea...how did you end up alone...didn't you think to stop when you lost your crew?

Was with a group of 3 guys. They were all over 40...so naturally I was a bit faster. My map was outdated and the trails were poorly marked. I was not prepared, had only 2 small nalgene bottles and a backpack with a first aid kit and "simuli" (weights...). Didnt have any of my survival gear and went into the trek way too cocky because I had been on the trail before...

I stopped at about 4pm at a stream and decided I would set up a makeshift camp there for the night and worry about finding my crew in the morning. Needless to say, I ditched the unneeded items in my pack long before. But then I heard heli's overhead so I followed the trail to try and find a clearing (I was under thick canopy)...and lost track of time (partly due to my dehydration) and just kept walking. Idunno, something in the back of my mind said there was something out there. And a few minutes before sundown I stumbled into the Boy Scouts.

After getting picked up I was able to plot my path and areas of interests on the SAR map and they said that if I had "stayed where I was" I would not have been found until the next day (if I was found at all)...so Im partly glad my mind tricked me into walking.

I've definitely revised my survival techniques after this experience...and I guarantee this sort of thing will never happen again...and if it does I will be prepared.

A few weeks later I backpacked 50 miles (rim to rim to rim) in the Grand Canyon with no problems.
But I've learned my lesson

Human instinct for the win

DrummerBoyz95 wrote:

Human instinct for the win

Amen.

At any other time I would say "stay where you are"...but in my situation...staying where I was could have been lethal.
Quite an experience and I love sharing it with others. Ya don't have to make all the mistakes for yourself, learn from mine

I actually just got these pictures today...I get goosebumps every time I see them.

He's some photos I took during the hike...sadly my camera died after a few hours so I wasn't able to get any of my rescue or of the Boy Scouts...


(Beginning of hike)


(My dad on the left, his friend on the right)


(The stream I set up "camp" at)


(Trial marker...incorrectly labeled)


(Took this of a helicopter at about noon (not lost yet)...little did I know then that that very helicopter would rescue me later that day)