Three hikers rescued after heavy rains and snow melt made creeks too dangerous to cross. Sounds like searchers could not get a very good fix on their PLB position due to the terrain and the hikers used a flare to signal the rescue helicopter.

There is some input from one of the hikers in this thread:
http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=40718&whichpage=1

Some helmet cam video from one of the search and rescue staff:
http://www.northshorerescue.com/2011/08/3-stranded-hikers-rescued-by-nsr-hfrs-team/

Edited to add some other reports with a few more details:
https://www.coquitlam-sar.bc.ca/2011/08/debeck-creek-2011-search-report/

http://blog.oplopanax.ca/2011/08/personal-locator-beacons-from-rescuers.html

This rescue was in the local news and on TV earlier this week.

Once again the local SAR teams were successful in their rescuing of the hikers. The Fools Gold route that the hikers attempted is through some of the most rugged terrain and forbidding environment in the PNW region. This route which is about 70 KM is not mapped and there is no trail to follow. Advanced map and compass skills are mandatory as it is easy to get lost in the dense brush and or end up in the wrong drainage or canyon.

Luckily these hikers had a PLB and made the right decision to push the button as it may of saved their lives. The rain we had on that day was some of the heaviest recorded for this time of year and the upper Pitt Lake area always gets more rain due to the high mountains surrounding it.

Google map of the upper Pitt Lake area which the SAR person posted in one of the above links. He also mentioned that SAR command was setup at Grant Narrows at which there is a well known regional park used mainly for boat launching. Ironically we up there all day yesterday canoeing and also did some mountain bike riding in the area.


Picture taken yesterday of Pitt Lake at Grant Narrows looking north. The rescue was some miles up the lake and slightly to the NW from here.

Talking about flares. I was able to find and buy a Green Laser Flare a couple months ago. My godfather and occasional overnight hiking partner wondered why I'd spend $85 (at Army Clothing sales, so say, about 1/2 off) for a green laser when the red laser was only $14. Later that night when I was painting objects at conservatively a mile away and you could actually see the green beam stretch out there, he was kicking himself for not getting one himself.

Doug did a long write up on green laser flares several years back and the technology is getting better each year.

I love my SPOT2 and its in my basic kit for everything, and my SDU-5E distress strobe light is still my tried and true signal love. But this green laser sure is cool.

I read the links listed. I still don't quite understand why they thought they needed rescue. Not lost, no injuries, no medical events.

OK so the waterways were swollen with runoff. Wait it out for a day or two, it will go down. I've done it. It would mean some (very) light eating for a couple days but that won't kill you.

IIRC there was some mention of hypothermia. Looking at the video, they were in Conifer Heaven, which means lots of pitchwood and fire materials at the base of those huge trees. I know, it rained a lot, but the best place to be if you need a fire in wet weather is a thick conifer forest. Maybe they didn't have the right tools.

I'm probably overlooking something, and there's surely some facts that were not reported by the media. But the general idea that comes to mind is that maybe they are good hikers but poor outdoorsmen. There is a difference.

I didn't see the reason clearly spelled out, but I found this comment from a guy involved in the search interesting:

A setback like this would have required waiting for a day for the creeks to subside (best case scenario). This would have put them without food for a day, and a day late at the trailhead (again, best case), which would have probably called SAR anyway. Of course, being in the bush they had no idea what the weather forecast was!

While he did imply that they weren't prepared enough, he also suggested that even if they were prepared to wait things out, a search would likely have been started due to their not getting out on schedule (he also suggested their planned time-lines were too tight).

I think this is one area where a SPOT can be considered an asset, as demonstrated by an earlier commenter on that same thread:

I almost always have one of my buttons programmed to say "I am ok but will be late" so that no one calls out an unneeded search if I am just delayed.