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Last night I was assigned by the Superstition Search & Rescue organization to begin the investigation of an overdue hiker. It took over an hour to verify his vehicle was not at the Peralta, Gold Mine or Carney Springs Trail Heads. He also had not signed in or out at the trail register. Where was he? Had he hiked from these locations at all? Was he in need of a search and ultimate rescue?

No organized search can begin until it is determined where a missing person might logically be. It was cold last night, was he prepared to spend the night in a short sleeve shirt and hiking shorts. Or would he have had to spend the night with his feet in his daypack and toilet paper wrapped around his hands to keep warm, as the two college coeds did last week.

Search is considered an emergency. Please remember to notify a spouse or friend if you are changing your hiking plans. Please sign in and out with your full name at trail registers. If you do not want to use your name at least use a code name that your spouse or friend can share with the search personnel. For example, if you are day hiking and are not taking flashlights, matches, clothing, water and food sufficient for a nights stay, just use "Stupid is as stupid does". And I am not kidding!

A wrong turn on a trail junction, a sprained ankle or finding another hiker in distress may put you into the night where you do not want to be and be unprepared. If you find yourself overdue and night has overtaken you, remember that hikers passing by you in the dark are most likely those who are searching for you. The two college coeds last week were afraid to call out for help when they heard and saw our two man search patrol pass by. I guess they had read to many stories about the Superstitions.

What happened to our overdue hiker? I don't know if he hiked at all but he was found later that evening at his GYM WORKING OUT! Had he called his wife on his cell phone and told her what he was doing, it would have saved a lot of time for our Sheriff's Deputy, our Search Commander and myself. End of story. Please don't let this happen to you..

In response to SuperstitionGuy's reply:
Thanks for that reminder to all of us. Too often we think, hey it's just a little day hike nothing can possibly go wrong.

Every hiker should know what to do WHEN things go wrong. If you hike enough it is not a matter of IF but WHEN. I know I'll stir up some debate, but I like Cody Lundin's philosophy from his book 98.6 - The Art of Keeping Your pumpkin Alive. Know enough to stay alive and to help your rescuers find you.

Every hiker should carry a whistle. They weigh virtually nothing and can be heard a lot farther than your voice, and they last a lot longer than your voice.

I typically leave early without waking my wife. I tell her my itinerary the day or night before and I leave my itinerary in the same place in the kitchen. If I change my itinerary I call and TALK with my wife - not just a voice message - before changing. :A1:

ps: Thanks for being part of Superstition Search & Rescue. We all appreciate the time and dedication of you folks.

I, too, always tell my spouse, or leave him a detailed note as to where I'm going and when I'll be back. I belong to Apache Rescue Team in Springerville/Eagar, and have been on quite a few searches myself--mostly lost hunters in the snow.

I always sign the trail registers. However, I was "informed" by some hikers I know from Tucson that they no longer sign them. I don't understand this. They were saying the Forest Service is looking for new ways to set up trail registers. Where I live in the White Mtns. they like us to sign the registers, not only in case of an emergency, but also it helps them to know how many people are using the trail, and helps them budget for building more trails, or maintainence.

I often guide backpacking trips in the summer. For these trips I call the ranger district to let them know we will be in a certain area, in case of a big fire--then they could send someone to tell us we need to get out.