An Edmonton couple safely walked out of the wilderness last Wednesday after being lost in a provincial park, on the east boundary of Jasper National Park, for three days. Despite a search and rescue effort that combined Parks Canada, Hinton’s volunteer search and rescue group, the RCMP and provincial parks, the pair walked out on the South Boundary Trail until they found a road where they eventually were picked up by a passing car.

The Edmontonians had been camping at Harlequin Creek on Saturday, Aug 29. On Sunday, they decided to head off on a short day hike, leaving their possessions and tent behind, said Rupert Wedgewood, public safety specialist for JNP.

As the couple had gone missing in the provincial park, JNP public safety crew were providing a support role for the other agencies. “There was a request from the RCMP for our assistance in looking for two overdue hikers and we got the call on Tuesday evening,” explained Wedgewood.

“The provincial conservation officers had found the missing peoples’ tent on Tuesday and everything was there... which was a bit of a mystery. The tent was there with all their equipment minus their boots,” he explained.

While Wedgewood was the rescue leader, Mike Westbrook and Darian Sillence, resource conservation and public safety specialists, were part of the instant command team. Parks Canada also used one of the fire helicopters to search the spine that separates the provincial park from the national park.

Using search and rescue theory, combined with information from the missing persons’ friends and family, Westbrook was able to establish that the couple had a high level of fitness and endurance which meant they could walk for longer than a regular hike.

“They were on the extreme edge of how far people will travel,” he explained, “but that’s due to their physical fitness and they’re quite driven.”

Despite this peak physical condition, and a good knowledge of the area, because they had no map with them, the pair simply got lost.

“They got disorientated and did not return to their campground,” explained Westbrook who was in Hinton assisting with the rescue.

“They probably only went four or five kilometres that day... they got to a pass and thought they would go around a height of land, but in fact they ended up going down a significant hillside,” he explained.

According to Westbrook, the couple had to negotiate numerous cliff bands and steep terrain before they decided to spend the night about half way down. The next morning, they continued downwards eventually coming to the South Boundary Trail in Jasper National Park.

With only a little food - some nuts and other snacks - the pair were lucky to come across a Parks Canada back country warden cabin along the trail where they could re-orientate themselves by using a map inside the cabin.

“They could determine the distance from where they’d been camping,” explained Westbook adding that “they figured nobody would be searching that far.”

Given their distance, the couple rejuvenated by staying in the cabin for two nights and then took the official trail out of the wilderness.

“They spent one day at the cabin to feed themselves, got feeling better and decided they should find their way out,” added Westbrook.

For the search and rescuers, the couple were an interesting case because they were on the extreme edge of how far people can travel in one day, explained Westbrook.

“They were in extremely good physical shape and determined, so we had to extend our search parameters.”

He estimated the couple walked about 30km each day after their stay in the cabin.

By the time they reached safety, Westbrook said “they were tired, and they weren’t hungry and they wanted some water.”

While Wedgewood said there would be no charges laid for breaking into the cabin, he also said that the couple could have avoided this search if they were a little more prepared. This sentiment was also echoed by Westbrook.

“What we try to promote is a sense of self reliance,” Wedgewood said, “and part of that is having navigation gear... you should really be prepared for backcountry navigation and if they had a map they would have been likely to correct their error.”

Another suggestion, from both of them, is investing in a spot device or satellite phone. Spot devices have been used in several successful rescues this year, they said, including the Mount Edith Cavell rescue, as they alert authorities to a persons exact co-ordinates in the park.