A hiker who was lost in the backwoods of British Columbia for more than five weeks has been found alive.
Sam Benastick, 20, was reported missing on October 19 after failing to return from a 10-day fishing and hiking trip in Redfern-Keily Park in the northern Rocky Mountains.
Authorities called off search and rescue efforts for the avid hiker in late October. Temperatures in the region sometimes drop as low as 20C (-4F).
Mr Benastick was found on Tuesday by two people who were on their way to Redfern Lake to work, who realized that he was the one who had lost his way while hiking on his way to them.
Since he was always missing, a different outcome was feared, Cpl Madonna Saunderson of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told the BBC on Wednesday.
“Thank you very much. The family is happy,” he said, adding that he just got lost.
Mr. Benastick told police that he stayed in his car for a few days and then drove to a creek where he camped for 10 to 15 days. At the time of his disappearance, he was armed with a canvas, backpack and camping equipment.
He then left the village and built a camp and shelter in a dry river. Winter conditions increased, along with snowfall.
Finally, Mr. Benastick went to the place where he signaled his rescuers.
“Those are very difficult conditions for anyone to live in, especially [with] Limited supplies and equipment and food,” Prince George Search and Rescue manager Adam Smith told the BBC.
“Even someone with little experience can find that challenging.”
Multiple rescue teams, Canadian Rangers, RCMP, and family and friends, all conducted a ground and air search of “a very large area,” Mr. Smith said.
The rugged, remote region was hours from any cities, and had low hills, steep cliffs, and “snowy terrain”, he said.
Little is known about Mr Benastick’s condition or how he survived the backwoods. He is currently in the hospital.
Inn owner Mike Reid, who got to know Mr Benastick’s family when they stayed at his place during the search, told the broadcaster. The CBC that the traveler had cut his sleeping bag and wrapped it around his legs to keep warm.
He said he was told that the young man almost fell when he was put in the ambulance “in a bad condition.”
Before he was found, Mr. Benastick’s last known location was at the Redfern Lake Regional Trail – the park’s largest lake – where he was seen riding his red dirt bike, according to RCMP.
Mr Smith, the search manager, said he was “very keen” to learn more about where Mr Benastick was found and what he was doing when he went missing to help with future search and rescue programmes.
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