Hiker lost/found in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains

[royalusa]

From http://www.hlntv.com/article/2012/01...er?hpt=hp_bn13 :

"The 21st century hiker's list of must-haves: A map, extra food and a cell phone.


And it's that last item that just might have saved the life of a Maryland man on New Year's Eve. Not only did he use his phone to call 911, he also used an iPhone app that turned the screen into a virtual flashlight so rescuers could find him in near total darkness.


Christopher Tkacik says he and his dog, Boo, got lost while out hiking on northwest Maryland's Catoctin Mountain. After several hours of trying to find his way out of a maze of trails, he called 911.


"I still argue with my wife that I wasn’t lost, but I guess I was," he told HLN affiliate WJZ.


Told to stay in place and wait for help, Tkacik says he loaded up that flashlight app. When a helicopter was overhead, he held up his phone and used it as a virtual beacon to help rescuers locate his position.


Now that is better living through technology.


All told, Tkacik and Boo spent eight hours lost on the mountain. And without his phone and virtual flashlight who knows how much longer they might have remained there.


As it is, not only did Tkacik survive -- but he made it home in time to keep his New Year's plans, too.


"I got home around 9:30. We still went to the party.""

[Blissful]

Good reason to have maps in a maze of trails

[YohonPetro]

That "maze" has like three trails. http://www.nps.gov/pwr/customcf/apps...ountain%20Park Follow the "right wall" and you'll eventually get out, just like in any maze. So he needed a helicopter to find him, I guess he's paying for the fuel so he could find his way 20 minutes back to his car? He didn't come with a flashlight of his own but had to rely on his iPhone (that, btw, has GPS on it, that he also couldn't use?!). If he was quiet an listened he could've heard traffic from the road at any point in that park. I'm not sure how someone, on a trail, could get lost there. I would think most people in that park couldn't get lost off trail for that matter! Better living through technology indeed!

[Dumplings]

Technology as a surrogate for preparedness.

[Damaged]

I so totally agree with you. I don't think we should be applauding technology here. We should simply be stating the obvious, which is that some people really shouldn't go in the woods. You have to work very, very hard to get lost and stay lost in that park.

[BlakeGrice]

agree. Don't applause technology....thousands of people have hiked that trail without it. A little preparation and situational awareness goes a long way.

[beakerman]

wow....they just circumvented the evolutionary process...great. I've been in that park and you just cant get lost....even without a map.

[jj2044]

This kind of off topic, but i thought it was funny. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44875752...ze-calls-help/ this family was lost in a corn maze lol A CORN MAZE !!! maybe i just think it funny becuase i grew up around farms, but how dumb can people be

[AegisIII]

He was hiking in Gambrill State Park, not in Catoctin Mountain Park. GSP is on Catoctin Mountain (and so the news reports were right in that regard), and has maybe 16 miles or so of trails. I've hiked all the trails there, and it would not be easy to get lost. I think I know how he got lost. I think he was heading south on the east side of the Yellow Trail, and where it reaches the Catoctin/Blue Trail, he continued straight ahead onto Blue, instead of turning onto the Yellow/Blue heading south back to the parking area. The reports I've read said he did have a map. And he should have been able to figure out where he was (he was in Clifford Hollow). As luck would have it, he was no more than 3/4 miles from a road via trail. (Though, in his defense, the state park map does not show that trail.)

Now, I suppose I should re-consider what I've said and note that he was on the boundary with the Frederick Watershed. There are probably at least 90 miles of trails there, and except for the Catoctin Trail, they are unblazed and there are, in general, no signs at the trail junctions. It's also not the best mapped area; I had to make my own by downloading plenty of GPS tracks. I've gotten lost there a few times. Thankfully, with my own maps, and general understanding of where I was, I've always been able to get my bearings back. I've also never been in what to me is an unknown place near dark on a day hike, so I really don't know what the psychology of that would feel like.

I think with the map he had, he should have been able to figure out where he was and turned around and made it back up the hill and to the road where he could flag someone down. Frankly, I don't fault him for the response. He's not the one who asked for three helicopters and ATV searchers, and they were not the first idea the responders tried. And he was in some sense lost and it was becoming night, so I understand making a call. And while I said he was maybe 3/4 mile from a road, with the map he had I'm not sure if he could have known that.

[Sly]

If they srumbled into the Camp David area, they'd be found before they even knew they were lost. LEO's come out of nowhere.

[Sly]

This kind of off topic, but i thought it was funny. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44875752...ze-calls-help/ this family was lost in a corn maze lol A CORN MAZE !!! maybe i just think it funny becuase i grew up around farms, but how dumb can people be

LOL... too funny.

[DaSchwartz]

New Year's Eve was a very mild night up there. He should be charged full price for the rescue and honestly, sounded like he just wanted to get off in time to party for New Year's.

[Mountain Mike]

Do we fault the guy for using technology, or the guys using it to rescue him & enlarging the gene pool. Survival of fittest. Best toys & more money till batteries die

[ALLEGHENY]

Can you see me now?