6.24.12 - Day's End Lost Hiker Search

Hiked with Andy for a good portion of the day. Had some great talks and laughs. This guy is hilarious! If anyone out there reading knows my old manager in Saratoga, his humor reminds me of Don's.

For most of the morning I was hiking solo and really enjoyed the peace and quiet that NJ has to offer. Came across a fire tower and definitely went up to grab another view. Hadn't looked at my guidebook at all, so coming up to the top of a mountain and finding a big, nice pavilion was cool! After not seeing them for about 6 weeks or so, I ran into Huff and Puff, which was great seeing them again.

Ended up at High Point Shelter after a fairly easy 20 mile day. Will be able to cruise into Unionville, NY to resupply tomorrow.

After eating at the shelter, around 8:30pm, a lady came over to us and said her friend was in pain and she couldn't find her. There was mention of hurting shoulders and legs, and common high blood pressure with the lost hiker. She had left her friend on the trail to go find the shelter and then come back, but when she went to look, she couldn't find her. A group of us, including a few Boy Scouts, came up with a plan to go search. The lady called 911 to inform the rangers that her friend was lost. We set up a command central and collected phone numbers, got a description of the lost hiker, grabbed headlamps and water, and 7 people went out and split into three groups to search, while two others remained at the shelter as command central. The two scouts who had already come from the north took a section of trail that direction, while the 5 others of us who had covered the southern section already, headed that way. The group of 5 split into a group of 2 and 3 at a trail split. After hiking out about .7 mile, we started to hike back to the junction to meet the others who had split off. Got a call in the meantime to hang tight. Then after we got to the junction, we got a call that said to come back. The lost hiker was at that point in contact with the rangers and they actually had her download an app on her phone called Glimpse. From that, they were able to pinpoint where she was, and they sent someone to her. Back at camp, I went to get water, and I heard a helicopter. I found out it was due to this and that it's typical to run through a scenario so that the pilots can log hours they need to. As I lay here at 10:20pm, the chopper is nearby, the blades cutting the air and making it loud here. Glad she was found, and hopefully everything was ok.

It was really great to see a group of mostly strangers, come together to act as a team to help find this lost hiker. Made for an exciting evening!