PCT hikers lose trail in deep snow in Oregon Cascades

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PCT hikers lose trail in deep snow in May in Oregon Cascades

Welfare check on PCT Hikers
Date: 05/28/15 at 5:15 p.m.
Location: Pacific Crest Trail between Lilly lake and Elk Lake
Prepared by: Deputy Jeff Winters, Assistant SAR Coordinator

A team of 4 volunteers from the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue and 3 more Volunteers from Lane County SAR spent the day looking for a group of three hikers who left a voice mail message
with the Pacific Crest Trail Association stating that they had lost the trail in the area of Lilly Lake and needed a call back.

Attempts to contact the group by phone have been unsuccessful most likely due to poor cell phone coverage in the area. After the SAR volunteers scouted the Lilly lake area today, it was believed the hiking group
was able to re-acquire the trail and continued their trek toward Elk Lake, no longer needing assistance.

Efforts to contact the group will continue on a measured basis over the next 24 hours until their location and status can be verified at which time additional information will be released.

**UPDATED INFORMATION**
LOCATED: Sarah Morris, Mary Zakheim and Angela Zakheim all from Spokane WA

On the morning of 05/29/2015 as part of the continuing measured response, two volunteers from the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, deployed on horse back south bound on the Pacific Crest Trail from Elk Lake resort in an attempt to contact the hiking party. The group was located on the trail at about 9:30 a.m. and about 9 miles south of Elk Lake Resort. The group was having no problems and was
unaware their phone message had triggered any response from Search and Rescue.

The Sheriff’s Office would like to remind the public that 911 is always the best call to make when an emergency arises. However, cell phone coverage in the wilderness is unreliable and calls for help even through
unofficial channels are taken seriously.

In these cases, vague information leads to multiple scenarios that must be worked through for emergency response personnel such as Search and Rescue. Please be specific with what type of help is needed and
whether or not emergency personnel are needed on scene.

http://sheriff.deschutes.org/Media/Press-Releases/

What can be learned from this interesting incident?

We have been unable to talk to the three PCT Hikers. Federal HIPPA privacy laws prevent medical personnel, including SAR Volunteer Units, from providing contact information for patients. If they will contact us, we will correct any inaccuracies in our analysis. This analysis is not a 'could-a, would-a, should-a exercise', but a traditional effort to help folks learn valuable lessons from the experiences of others.

We do not know if they had the detailed PCT topo Maps available free through the PCTA, or a $9.00 USGS topo map or equal. We do not know if they carried a $25.00 declination adjusted COMPASS or if they had the simple skills to use them? We do not know if they had a simple GPS? A million Geochachers can't be smarter than folks looking for adventure near Bend Oregon!

What is that again? The "right" topo map, the "right" clear base-plate declination adjusted (15 degrees declination error - 1,350 feet off in each mile!) compass/protractor and an "optional" inexpensive (Garmin eTrex Venture HC) hand held GPS

Note that they used their cell phone to check in with the PCTA Office, not to call 911. PCTA called 911, connecting to a SAR Incident Manager. SAR/911 used the FCC mandated ability of all cell phones today, to obtain callers geographic Coordinants by cell tower triangulation. (Don't worry if you do not own a "smart phone" that has an expensive "GPS" map application, at extra cost each month. The most simple cell phone will work just as well.)

Yes, (if your Cell Phone Provider actually has service in your adventure area), you can follow the SAR Incident Manager's instructions and your ordinary cell phone can take the "Search" out of Search and Rescue. Arrange a simple call back schedule with SAR. (Don't call your friends, listen to your tunes or post on Facebook until your phone dies before you are found! Yes that has happened - read more on this website!). An ordinary simple cell phone may be best for the backcountry.

Times have changed!

Note that these experienced PCT Hikers were able to contact PCTA by cell phone to report heavy going in the winter Wilderness. Cell towers now provide service to almost all of the Three Sisters Wilderness in the last few years. If you can't connect, try walking to higher ground. Read More here: http://traditionalmountaineering.org/FAQ_CellPhones.htm

Ordinary cell phone coverage has improved, year by year, to the time of this writing in 2015 - see below for "The Rest of the Story". Check your own cell coverage in your favorite backcountry areas. Much of the high desert and the Three Sisters Wilderness is covered by Verizon using CDMA code. The cell phones from other (urban) providers are not able to "see" CDMA towers and will not connect to towers despite sales claims of "Roaming" access.

Two cell tower connections are needed to enable the required "triangulation" to provide the FCC required geographic Coordinants to find a patient on a topo map. Talking with a SAR incident manager may be better than exact geographic Coordinants. A good cell phone signal with the right Provider can take the "Search" out of Search and Rescue.

Each person in a group should carry their own simple personal cell phone. This may add several times the battery charge available to a group. Of course, don't keep them all on the whole time!

Map, compass and GPS together

Back country travelers should carry a base plate declination adjustable compass costing $25.00 a $7.00 topo map annotated with the UTM Geographic Coordinant Grid and simple current model Garmin GPS costing as little as $100.00.. A stranded person can take the search out of SAR by simply reading the UTM Geographic Coordinants to the Incident Commander over the cell phone. Consider a $100.00 SPOT-2 Satellite Messenger if cell phone towers may not cover the area you plan to explore.

Read below for some basic suggestions about how to Be Prepared in 2012. Basic Responsibilities and the Ten Essential Systems.

Google each one of these three search phrases from this page: Best Compass for backcountry Best topo maps for backcountry Best GPS for backcountry use Best cell phone for backcountry use

Millions of ordinary people world wide, use a common $100.00 hand held Garmin eTrex GPS with a topomap and color screen, for geocaching, hiking, hunting, cross country skiing, etc. Most GPS receivers have at least 14 hours of continuous life on two new batteries. Two extra AA batteries can be carried in a warm pants pocket to change out batteries weakened by cold. Lithium batteries withstand the cold much better than "regular" AA batteries.

The rest of the story

Deschutes County Sheriffs Search and Rescue Volunteer Coordinator Al Hornish, a 12 year veteran of DCSAR, stated the following in an interview published on January 26, 2012 in the Bend Oregon Source Weekly: "We have grown a lot over the past decade. The nature of missions has changed as well." "There are more Rescues and less Searches, mostly because of the better technology available." Read More. --Robert Speik, January 26, 2012.

FIFTEEN WEEKS
"Wednesday, July 7, 2010, or nearly four months since my fall off Mount Temple. After so much time, there is much to dwell on. The negatives: the pain of so many fractures, the sleeplessness, the drugs and the messed up things they do to you. It’s easy to get stuck in the negative; yet some part of me is drawn there by some morbid fascination."

"How big am I then? Not very. I made a mistake, a pretty small mistake. Or more honestly, I made a series of pretty small mistakes. I almost died for these transgressions. I would have died if it had not been for a cell phone and the chain of events it was able to put into motion. (I’ve owned a cell phone for barely six years.) I might not have died that very day, March 25, 2010, but from where we were, we were a long, long way from the medical care my injuries demanded: a trained trauma surgeon in an Emergency Room. Perhaps I would have lasted one night. Maybe not. It changes my perspective about what a day means. Carpe diem no longer seems some frat-boy cry to party. Today, means everything." --Steve House
http://www.stevehouse.net/Site/Training_Blog/Entries/2010/7/7_Fifteen_Weeks.html

Here are some Basic suggestions for each backcountry traveler

1. Practice the Four Basic Responsibilities of the Backcountry Traveler. They work! Basic Responsibilities

2. Carry the new Ten Essential Systems, sized for the forecast weather and the adventure in a light day pack. This includes a map, compass and GPS and the skills to use them. In the winter, this includes enough extra insulation and waterproof clothing to keep you dry and warm if you become stranded. In snow, you must have a shovel and insulating pad and the skills to make a shelter in the snow to avoid hypothermia and frost bite damage. It works! Ten Essential Systems

3. Carry your fully charged digital cell phones and periodically check where they can communicate with any cell towers to assist authorities in triangulating your position from cell tower pings. (Most cell providers do not use internal cell phone GPS radio signals to locate customers under FCC E911 regulations - they use triangulation). Cold disables batteries. Use Lithium batteries all year around. If the weather is cold, carry the cell phone in a pants pocket near the femoral artery. Report your UTM NAD27 coordinates from your quad topo maps and you GPS, your condition, the conditions where you are and discuss your plans with SAR. Ordinary Cell Phones If you are adventurous and often may be out of cell tower range, carry a $100.00 SPOT. SPOT-2 Satellite Messenger

4. Always stay found on your topo map and be aware of major land features. If visibility starts to wane, reconfirm your bearings with your map, compass and GPS and quickly return to a known location. A GPS is the only practical way for a trained individual to navigate in a whiteout or blowing snow. Lost Mt Hood Climbers

A suggested minimum standard news advisory for all backcountry travelers!

"We would like to take this opportunity to ask our visitors to the backcountry of Oregon to Plan for the unexpected. Each person should dress for the forecast weather and take minimum extra clothing to provide protection from a drop in temperature and possible rain or snow storm or an unexpected cold wet night out. Each person should carry high carbohydrate snacks, two quarts of water or Gatorade, a topo map and declination adjusted base plate compass and an optional inexpensive GPS (and the skills to use them together). Each person who has a cell phone should carry their ordinary charged cell phone (from a service provider that has the best local backcountry coverage). An inexpensive SPOT-2 GPS Satellite Communicator is a good additional option for some. Each person should carry their selected items from the new 'Ten Essentials Systems' in a day pack sized for the individual, the trip, the season and the forecast weather."

"Visitors are reminded to tell a Responsible Person where they are going, where they plan to park, when they will be back and to make sure that person understands that they are relied upon to call 911 at a certain time if the backcountry traveler has not returned. Call 911 as soon as you become lost or stranded. You will not be charged. Do not try to find your way, becoming benighted, exhausted, or worse yet - wet. Your ordinary cell phone call to 911 can take the 'Search' out of Search and Rescue."

THE MISSION of TraditionalMountaineering.org

"To provide information and instruction about world-wide basic to advanced alpine mountain climbing safety skills and gear, on and off trail hiking, scrambling and light and fast Leave No Trace backpacking techniques based on the foundation of an appreciation for the Stewardship of the Land, all illustrated through photographs and accounts of actual shared mountaineering adventures."

TraditionalMountaineering is founded on the premise that "He who knows naught, knows not that he knows naught", that exploring the hills and summitting peaks have dangers that are hidden to the un-informed and that these inherent risks can be in part, identified and mitigated by mentoring: information, training, wonderful gear, and knowledge gained through the experiences of others.

The value of TraditionalMountaineering to our Friends and Subscribers is the selectivity of the information we provide, and its relevance to introducing folks to informed hiking on the trail, exploring off the trail, mountain travel and Leave-no-Trace light-weight bivy and backpacking, technical travel over steep snow, rock and ice, technical glacier travel and a little technical rock climbing on the way to the summit. Whatever your capabilities and interests, there is a place for everyone in traditional alpine mountaineering.

WARNING - *DISCLAIMER!*
Mountain climbing has inherent dangers that can, only in part, be mitigated

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About Alpine Mountaineering:
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The Mountaineers' Rope
Basic Responsibilities Cuatro Responsabiliades Basicas de Quienes Salen al Campo
The Ten Essentials Los Diez Sistemas Esenciales

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Sign-in Agreements, Waivers and Prospectus     This pdf form will need to be signed by you at the trail head
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Emergency and Incident Report Form    Copy and print this form. Carry two copies with your Essentials
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