- Joined
- Aug 25, 2013
- Messages
- 658
Hey all, I have an important experience to share with you all while it's still fresh in my mind. It's not going to be very short, but I believe it is very important information and an excellent example of basic survival principles.
Some background first: I am 18 years old, backpacker and camper since I was a wee one, and am currently a volunteer for my county's junior Search and Rescue team. We were requested on Monday evening of this week to respond to a pair of stranded hikers on the pacific crest trail near Mt. Adams in Washington State on Tuesday morning at 0800. We woke up at 0300, met up at 0400, and made the 4 hour drive down. We got on scene at the trailhead at about 0800. We were told by the sheriff that they were stuck about 2 miles from our position, in 6"-1' of snow. Our subjects were thru hikers of the PCT (pacific crest trail) and had come all the way from the border of mexico up throughout the year. Another search within 30 miles was already underway, and our mission seemed simple and straightforward, so we didn't recieve any base or logistics support (no antennae to boost radio signals, no good topo maps of the area, no backup teams, etc., but we did have good GPS units and good compasses) the seven of us started up the mountain at 0830 at 3200' elevation, with no snow on the ground.
We make it 2 miles... then 4.. then 6. At this point, its 1200 hours and there is about 5 inches of snow at 4500 ft. Our subjects were at 6,000 ft. At this time we decided to split into two groups, a fast and slow team, so that we could reach the subjects faster and help stabilize their condition by the time the second group arrived. Both groups had a radio, gps, shelter, food, water, medical supplies, etc. I was part of the three person group who pushed ahead. As the elevation climbed, the snow started piling up faster and faster. 1 foot, 2 feet, 3 feet. We had made it about 7 miles, at 5000 feet by 1330. We continued on, and the snow level kept rising until finally, it was just below our waists. at this point, we were at 5700' elevation, and about a half mile in a straight line from our subjects, but the past mile had taken about an hour and a half due to the snow. At 1530 hours, we had to make the decision to turn around despite being so close to the subjects, as we would then become part of the problem, and unable to help rescue the subjects. We got a message down to base that we were heading down and started our descent. after a mile of hiking we ran into the second team, who were in poor condition.
One of the members had broken his leg in the spring, and had fallen and landed on it badly on the hike up, and re-injured it. Both of our radios were dead, and we had very limited cell coverage the entire day. We discussed our options until about 1700 hours, and finally made the decision to send two members from the fast team down to base to tell them the situation, while the other 5 of us made camp for the night. The two guys left, we set up our shelter ( we use tarps for shelter, as they are also used to do hypothermia wraps for subjects). We managed to get a text down to base sent notifying them of our status, our coordinates, and a request for a helicopter. We never got a reply, but about an hour later, we started to hear the chop of rotors. We had marked out the best area for them with our bright orange ANSI vests, and they saw us. They dropped the basket and an airman who told us he only had room for our injured and our subjects for now. He hoisted our injured, dropped us a radio on coast guard Frequency and left. Of the group spending the night, I had the most survival experience (the others were 16, 16, and 17 years old.) So I took charge of things. While they set up a communal shelter set up, I used a Becker BK9 to chop down, and split a 7" pine that had been dead for quite a while. It was bone dry on the inside. I had one member make fuzz sticks with my strider SNG while I was preparing the firewood. We were almost ready to start the fire, which I was very confident would light, when we heard chatter on the radio. The coast guard chopper was headed back and had room for all of us, if we kept our pack weight down. At this point it was pitch dark, so they came in with their spotlight on, dropped the basket, and hoisted us all up. We were brought to portland international airport, where we met up with the two who had hiked down to base about 2 hours later, everyone safe and sound.
The moral of this story is always, always, always expect and prepare for the unexpected. We were under the expectation that it would be a short hike with minimal snow when we left base, so I left my ESEE Junglas and folding Sawvivor saw in the truck. (the beck was my friend's, one of the two who headed back down to base that night.) If I had brought those two tools, I could have MUCH more quickly and easily gotten the materials for fire, and had someone else working a second tree for firewood through the night... If my friend wouldn't have brought his Becker, we wouldn't have had fire for the night, and would have to rely on small backpacking stoves and sleeping bags for heat, in three feet of snow. We were very lucky that conditions didn't get even worse, and that we could be pulled out that night, and I feel so blessed to be home safe and sound.
If you have any questions or need any clarification, let me know.
Here are some pictures from the search:
I am the one with trekking poles and a green hat.
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Some background first: I am 18 years old, backpacker and camper since I was a wee one, and am currently a volunteer for my county's junior Search and Rescue team. We were requested on Monday evening of this week to respond to a pair of stranded hikers on the pacific crest trail near Mt. Adams in Washington State on Tuesday morning at 0800. We woke up at 0300, met up at 0400, and made the 4 hour drive down. We got on scene at the trailhead at about 0800. We were told by the sheriff that they were stuck about 2 miles from our position, in 6"-1' of snow. Our subjects were thru hikers of the PCT (pacific crest trail) and had come all the way from the border of mexico up throughout the year. Another search within 30 miles was already underway, and our mission seemed simple and straightforward, so we didn't recieve any base or logistics support (no antennae to boost radio signals, no good topo maps of the area, no backup teams, etc., but we did have good GPS units and good compasses) the seven of us started up the mountain at 0830 at 3200' elevation, with no snow on the ground.
We make it 2 miles... then 4.. then 6. At this point, its 1200 hours and there is about 5 inches of snow at 4500 ft. Our subjects were at 6,000 ft. At this time we decided to split into two groups, a fast and slow team, so that we could reach the subjects faster and help stabilize their condition by the time the second group arrived. Both groups had a radio, gps, shelter, food, water, medical supplies, etc. I was part of the three person group who pushed ahead. As the elevation climbed, the snow started piling up faster and faster. 1 foot, 2 feet, 3 feet. We had made it about 7 miles, at 5000 feet by 1330. We continued on, and the snow level kept rising until finally, it was just below our waists. at this point, we were at 5700' elevation, and about a half mile in a straight line from our subjects, but the past mile had taken about an hour and a half due to the snow. At 1530 hours, we had to make the decision to turn around despite being so close to the subjects, as we would then become part of the problem, and unable to help rescue the subjects. We got a message down to base that we were heading down and started our descent. after a mile of hiking we ran into the second team, who were in poor condition.
One of the members had broken his leg in the spring, and had fallen and landed on it badly on the hike up, and re-injured it. Both of our radios were dead, and we had very limited cell coverage the entire day. We discussed our options until about 1700 hours, and finally made the decision to send two members from the fast team down to base to tell them the situation, while the other 5 of us made camp for the night. The two guys left, we set up our shelter ( we use tarps for shelter, as they are also used to do hypothermia wraps for subjects). We managed to get a text down to base sent notifying them of our status, our coordinates, and a request for a helicopter. We never got a reply, but about an hour later, we started to hear the chop of rotors. We had marked out the best area for them with our bright orange ANSI vests, and they saw us. They dropped the basket and an airman who told us he only had room for our injured and our subjects for now. He hoisted our injured, dropped us a radio on coast guard Frequency and left. Of the group spending the night, I had the most survival experience (the others were 16, 16, and 17 years old.) So I took charge of things. While they set up a communal shelter set up, I used a Becker BK9 to chop down, and split a 7" pine that had been dead for quite a while. It was bone dry on the inside. I had one member make fuzz sticks with my strider SNG while I was preparing the firewood. We were almost ready to start the fire, which I was very confident would light, when we heard chatter on the radio. The coast guard chopper was headed back and had room for all of us, if we kept our pack weight down. At this point it was pitch dark, so they came in with their spotlight on, dropped the basket, and hoisted us all up. We were brought to portland international airport, where we met up with the two who had hiked down to base about 2 hours later, everyone safe and sound.
The moral of this story is always, always, always expect and prepare for the unexpected. We were under the expectation that it would be a short hike with minimal snow when we left base, so I left my ESEE Junglas and folding Sawvivor saw in the truck. (the beck was my friend's, one of the two who headed back down to base that night.) If I had brought those two tools, I could have MUCH more quickly and easily gotten the materials for fire, and had someone else working a second tree for firewood through the night... If my friend wouldn't have brought his Becker, we wouldn't have had fire for the night, and would have to rely on small backpacking stoves and sleeping bags for heat, in three feet of snow. We were very lucky that conditions didn't get even worse, and that we could be pulled out that night, and I feel so blessed to be home safe and sound.
If you have any questions or need any clarification, let me know.
Here are some pictures from the search:
I am the one with trekking poles and a green hat.
