If there ever was a reminder to carry some basic gear, this is it.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/worl...article2326916/

A family of three huddled on the edge of an old-growth Oregon forest for six days, lost and cold, unable to signal search helicopters flying low and slow overhead.

Without food, water or even warm clothing, Belinda and Daniel Conne, along with their 25-year-old son, Michael, survived by drinking water from streams and taking shelter in a hollowed-out tree.

The family told Mr. Bishop they could see helicopters just a few hundred feet above them while they were lost, but couldn't signal rescuers.

When the family was finally found Saturday, they were only 200 yards from the nearest group of searchers. “We were actually right near them all three days” of the search, Mr. Bishop said. In the area's canyons, “you think people can hear you, but they can't.”