This chap's story is rather amazing considering what usually happens to people who get lost in low temperatures and are ill equipped. He was lost for 12 days according to the official report over here, he left as most day hikers do over here , unfortunately with just a bottle of water and two rolls without much else and light cotton clothing. He pigged out on pizza the night before so that may have helped a bit, GRIN.

He told no one where he was going and walked alone. PLBs were available at the police station, but he didn't know that they were available I guess.

A ten km hike is not a major deal usually, the problems started when he lost the trail (not too hard over here in places) as it started to get dark. The trail is in a very wide canyon of sorts with the cliffs of the Blue Mountains towering above the valley on both sides. The sun can be lost pretty quick down there as the sun falls lower in the sky.

He says that he is smart, but has no common sense.... Considering even a cigarette lighter or signal mirror ..... or compass.....would have saved him days earlier than he was....... He ended up traveling 60 km over the 12 days and he was off trail, bush bashing for most of the time. After a day or so, realizing he was going in the wrong direction, he turned around and tried to find his way back. He did some smart things like improvising a shelter and eating some wild nuts, mind you, over here that can be a bit risky if you don't know what you are eating, he was lucky... He kept moving around during the night to keep warm which was pretty sensible as the temperatures were 1 degree above freezing and rather damp. It is pretty amazing that he survived, many others would have died easily.

As it was, he basically walked out, he was just a few kilometers from his starting point when he came across a few campers on a trail.

If he had said where he was going, he may have been found much earlier.

There will be more publicity for PLBs over here now and hopefully it will save a few people who would possibly die otherwise. It would have saved a bunch of money that was spent on this search, that is for sure.

Hopefully the publicity that he has gotten will serve as a warning to those overseas that if you come over here to go into the bush, you need to be prepared as you may not be as lucky as this guy.

Cheers,
Mac.