[Dschur]

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Decisions made by pair lead to happy ending

Alan Humphrey and his wife, Iris Faraklas, quietly held hands as they talked to reporters, reflecting the cornerstone of the plan that probably saved their lives: "Stick together."

Family members reported the couple as overdue on Sunday, May 25. Late on May 26, with additional information from friends, rangers were able to determine that the couple had been issued a permit to backpack the Royal Arch Route in the Inner Canyon backcountry from May 17-May 23, and that their vehicle was still parked at the entry point for the route - the South Bass Trailhead.

By May 28, five days after the couple were expected to complete their trip, multiple ground crews were searching high-probability areas on foot, helicopter flight crews were searching drainages and rim areas increasingly distant from the couple's anticipated route, a technical team from Zion National Park was searching the lower Royal Arch Drainage using canyoneering techniques and family members were starting to fear the worst.


Yet, at about 5 p.m. that day, a ground search team found the couple - tired, hungry, but otherwise in good condition - near the South Bass Trail in the Royal Arch route area.

"We couldn't believe it," said Patrick Gamman, a member of the team that located the couple. "After all of these days, we had been so worried!"

Less than an hour later, Alan Humphrey was being hugged by his father.

"There was a real sense of elation," he said. "It felt amazing to see my father and his friend right there at the helipad!"

Personnel working on the incident, and the couple themselves, attribute the fortunate outcome to being prepared and making good decisions. Humphrey and Faraklas had backpacked at the Grand Canyon before and were familiar with the rugged nature of the terrain and the changeable weather conditions.

In the 11 days they spent in the Canyon, conditions ranged from "temperatures in the 90s to hail and freezing," according to Faraklas.

While they had never hiked the Royal Arch route, they had done research on the trail and had sought the advice of others who had done the route before.

They set specific dates when they would be meeting people after their hike and they made sure that at least one person knew what they planned to do while they were at the Grand Canyon.

In spite of all of their preparations, on the last leg of their trip, the couple overshot their exit route and attempted to reach the Rim in the wrong side-canyon.

Eventually, they realized they were lost, and to a degree stuck, but they didn't panic. Instead, they assessed their situation, developed a plan and made a commitment to stick with that plan no matter what.

First, they decided to be prepared for up to a week on their own and rationed their one day of remaining food accordingly. Then, they found water and a source of shade and decided to stay put until help arrived or their meager supplies started to run out. Above all they made a decision to stick together.

These decisions, it is believed, are a big part of why they are here today. They shared the burden of decision making. They kept track of each other's condition physically, mentally and emotionally. They kept each other on track. They stuck to the plan.

Finally, as their rations began to run out, forcing a last ditch attempt to seek aid at the river, searchers and a resourceful pair of lost backpackers found each other.

Few make it out of such an ordeal needing little more than a meal and good night's sleep; but today, a healthy, injury-free couple is alive today because they made a commitment to stick together, to bring each other through no matter what.

Their message was simple: it can happen to anyone. And if it happens to you, stay put...make a plan...stick together.

[davis2001r6]

It should read Lost hikers can't read a map, waste days and hundreds of man hours for search team members. How the heck do you pass up Bass Canyon and try and hike up the next side canyon?

[davis2001r6]

Sorry but I have to quote a post from the Grand Canyon yahoo group. I found it pretty funny.

The facts:

1. Associates describe the couple as very experienced,

2. They managed the tricky Esplanade traverse to Royal Arch drainage,

3. They found and followed the "ledges" bypass,

4. They found and followed the Royal Arch drainage exit,

5. They safely rappelled into Toltec beach,

6. The cairn at the Tonto/South Bass trail junction is about 4 feet
high, and

7. There are many navigation landmarks available like the Dox Castle
in the South Bass drainage.

The couples possible thought process:

1. We have a lot of heavy food that needs to be carried up hill,

2. It looks like the trail may be slicker than feline feces near the top,

3. The mud is probably too deep to drive back to the village even if
we hiked out, and

4. Plan B is to find a drainage with water, eat some of the excess
food, and wait for the weather to break before hiking out.

I think there needs to be serious consideration to charging the couple
for the cost of the SAR.

Sorry, but somebody needed to say it.

[jeffmacewen]

There's a growing contingent of voices that want to see people make financial reparations for mistakes in the back country that could have been avoided. I find myself going back and forth on the issue...it's really hard to say what was (or should have been ) "preventable."

What I do know is that every time I hear about our tax dollars and SAR resources being put to use "rescuing" some obese individual suffering heat stroke on the tram in Sabino Canyon I want to gag...

[Vaporman]

True, but I'd rather taxpayer dollars be spent on SAR efforts for hikers than to cover for Mr. Jose when he decides to jump the border and rack up nearly a million dollars in debt only to be either deported or locked up, again all on the taxpayer dollar... We need to do something about this HUGE illegal problem in this state before I'm going to worry about who pays for SARs.

[azbackpackr]

Another thing that is really rude is people using the Catalinas as their particular place to commit suicide, expecting the SARA group to go up there and drag their bloody corpses back to town. Why don't they just shoot themselves in the front yard and get it over with?

[jeffmacewen]

Another thing that is really rude is people using the Catalinas as their particular place to commit suicide, expecting the SARA group to go up there and drag their bloody corpses back to town. Why don't they just shoot themselves in the front yard and get it over with?

Yea, that is a weird occurrence, lately...

[chumley]

Individual responsibility. Somehow our society has mostly forgotten about the concept. There's a sense of entitlement about everything.

I say you pay for anything that happens to you. Its your responsibility. Even if it was a terrible and unfortunate accident that you couldn't control. That's why people get insurance for things. To cover the catastrophic events that they are otherwise unprepared or unable to pay for themselves.

If you fall and break your leg while hiking and need to be rescued, you should still have to pay the rescue bill.

[jeffmacewen]

Private SAR insurance is actually pretty cheap, especially if you own a SPOT...

[te-wa]

I say if you fall and break your leg while hiking, you duct tape your trekking poles to your leg in 3 places, using the John Wayne variety of manliness- suck it up and get moving, you sissy! We're burning daylight!

[chumley]

Private SAR insurance is actually pretty cheap, especially if you own a SPOT...

While I personally think this is the way it should work, with the way things currently are, why would anybody ever pay for this insurance? Since when has anybody ever been charged for SAR? (except in case of extreme negligence, in which case I assume the insurance wouldn't pay either)

[Sun Ray]

Thanks Dschur for posting the news article as I've been trying to keep up with this story and had not come across this one. I'm going to give this couple some slack as maybe they were tired and not thinking clearly when they missed the clealy marked trail to the top. I've been in a tired state where I could not do simple math like figuring out, in general terms, how many miles are left to hike and based on my miles per hour, how long will it take me to finish. I plan and plan not to get into this state, but sometimes it happens.

[djui5]

I say if you fall and break your leg while hiking, you duct tape your trekking poles to your leg in 3 places, using the John Wayne variety of manliness- suck it up and get moving, you sissy! We're burning daylight!

hahaha

I'm just glad the couple is ok! That's all that really matters here isn't it?

[wallyfrack]

I say if you fall and break your leg while hiking, you duct tape your trekking poles to your leg in 3 places, using the John Wayne variety of manliness- suck it up and get moving, you sissy! We're burning daylight!

Those of us who've hiked with you know you're serious.

[hikeaz]

Well... as they say... 'truth is stranger than fiction'.....

The couple had successfully done the Royal Arch route, the rappel, got to Elves Chasm, etc. They had gone wrong on night 4 when they covered more miles than they realized that day, and had camped EAST of Copper but thought they were still WEST of Copper. So the next day, when they came to Bass, they did all the rationalizing to tell themselves that Bass was Copper, and when they got to Serpentine (which as we know is EAST of Bass), they "knew" it was Bass. So they based their stay there, thinking they'd eventually find the trail out or that someone would come by on the Tonto or come down the S.Bass to tell them where the trail had gone to... They only found the real trail when they finally decided they had to retrace their steps all the way back to Toltec Beach. The second time they crossed the real Bass it sunk in that they'd been under the false assumption the whole time about where Bass was, and they immediately started hiking up the right trail (Bass)..where they met the Rangers on the Esplanade (a couple of miles from the Rim).

[jeffmacewen]

That sounds like it's straight out of a SAR handbook; many, many rescues start because folks let themselves believe that their navigation skills are solid and their position fix is good. I've done it myself; you look at something, even with the best equipment, and think: "I must be right about here." Where they dropped the ball, IMHO, is not checking and rechecking until they could use a formation, feature, or set thereof to get a solid fix on their actual location that was indisputable. A mistake I doubt they'll ever repeat.

Thanks for posting the follow-up info, it's always good to digest this kind of stuff.

[chumley]

This is why I choose to use paper maps AND a GPS. Usually the maps are all I need, but on the rare occasion where one canyon looks like the next (or something similar), there's no substitute for GPS to solidify my bearings.

I don't understand how somebody can embark on a multi-day backpack trip without a GPS (and an extra set of batteries). It's not the 1950s anymore. It's like a cell phone. You don't need to use it all the time, but its a good safety device to carry with you in the unfortunate event that you might need to use it. The extra few ounces you have to carry are worth the potential benefit.

[big_load]

Here's one thing I learned the hard way: the compass doesn't lie. When the map disagrees with the compass, you're not where you think you are.

[jeffmacewen]

Here's one thing I learned the hard way: the compass doesn't lie. When the map disagrees with the compass, you're not where you think you are.

Exactly; the same can be said of a GPS, like chumley was saying...

[davis2001r6]

What good would a compass do if they are in the wrong side canyon? The tonto runs east and west, the side canyons run north and south.