Not going to make it

[Texsox]

Lost Hiker Found After Six-Hour Search

Hiker Lost In Rural Area, Calls For Help

 

POSTED: 3:02 pm PST March 31, 2005

UPDATED: 9:15 am PST April 1, 2005

 

SAN DIEGO -- A 50-year-old hiker is safe Friday after getting lost during a hike along the Pacific Crest Trail in Pine Valley.

 

Raymond Sorensen of Santa Barbara was found in good condition after a six-hour search in the rural East County terrain Thursday afternoon, San Diego County sheriff's Sgt. Don Robbins said.

 

Sorensen was dropped off in Campo on Wednesday with plans to hike the entire trail, which stretches 2,650 miles up to the Canadian border, Robbins said.

 

But Sorensen contacted authorities at about 10 a.m. Thursday, saying he had lost his way in the general area of Boulder Oaks, near Interstate 8 in the southeastern reaches of San Diego County, Robbins said.

 

Deputies searched the back-country locale and its environs into the early afternoon, then called in a sheriff's helicopter and a search-and-rescue team, Robbins said.

 

At about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, authorities found the man in the Campo area, sheriff's Lt. Dennis Brugos said. As it turned out, he had wandered to a spot not far from a sheriff's substation.

 

What a fool. If he can't read a map and use a compass, he shouldn't be out there. That is a fairly well maintained and marked trail. He obviously hadn't done his pre-trip planing.

[YASNY]

The guy should be billed for the expenses of the search. He apparently put no forethought into this.

[Texsox]

There are people who read a book and think they have it all figured out. Sometimes their mistakes are so spectacular they become famous. About a year ago a guy was hiking alone and got pinned by a boulder. He hacked off his own arm to escape. He wrote a book and was hailed as some brave guy. My Scouts just laughed at the guy.

 

Step one to keeping your ass alive in the wilderness. Have a buddy with.

 

Step two, if you do not have a buddy, tell someone where you are going and when you will be back.

 

I'm just guessing here, but I'll bet this guy had a GPS with him but couldn't read a map. He also pushed the panic button pretty quick. If he was planning on hiking the trail, he would have had provisions for a couple weeks at least. He would have cached food along the way, or arranged food drops to general delivery at a post office. Find a backdrop to hike to, heading north and then follow that feature back to the trail.

 

Another likely guess is, on day one, he realized that 2,600 miles is a long way and gave up.