**** Info via Halifax SAR
Last night at 10:30pm Halifax SAR was called by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Nova Scotia to assist two hikers who were disoriented and ran out of light on The Bluff Wilderness Hiking Trail.
While it was known that the subjects were somewhere on the 30km trail system, their exact location, or what loop they were on, was unknown. Halifax SAR dispatched several specialized wilderness rescue teams into the trail system, each taking a different route. A marine team was launched on Frederick Lake to navigate to the southern tip of the lake and hike into the trail system from there.
At 1am the lost subjects were located on the 2nd loop. After an assessment and being warmed up, they were hiked 1.5km with the marine team and another Halifax SAR ground team to the rescue boat at the southern end of the lake. The two subjects and two search teams extracted via the boat, and the subjects were evaluated by waiting Emergency Health Services – EHS at 2am. The remaining ground search teams hiked back out, with the final team exiting around 2am.
While the days are warming up, it’s important to remember that evenings can still be cold, especially if you become stationary. As such, we recommend you always bring extra clothes and food/water, even if you don’t think you’ll need them. Also, while cell phones are a great navigation tool, batteries can die quickly in the cold and when being used for navigation, so we recommend you bring a battery pack and/or paper map. And finally, if you do find yourself lost or injured, don’t hesitate to call 911 when you realize you need help.
