Hiker dies after getting lost in Slot Canyon

[accadacca]

ESCALANTE, Garfield County — A 62-year-old hiker from Alabama died after he and his family got lost trekking through a slot canyon near Hole-in-the-Rock Road in southern Utah.

Lane Friedman and his wife and their two children had decided to turn back after reaching a rocky section in the Spooky Gulch area of Kane County during a hike Tuesday, but made some wrong turns on their return, according to a prepared statement from the Kane County Sheriff's Office.

The children were feeling ill from the heat, so they and their mother sat in the shade to rest while Friedman tried to climb a hill in order to spot the trail back to their car at the Dry Fork trailhead. It was the last time they saw him, police said.

After some rest, Friedman's wife and children were eventually able to find their way to the trailhead, where they borrowed a phone from other hikers to call for help about 7 p.m., the sheriff's statement said.

A Garfield County officer arrived, but it was dark and unsafe for a ground search, the Kane sheriff's office said. The Department of Public Safety sent a helicopter to search Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.

The helicopter found Friedman's body about 1 p.m., and flew his body to Escalante.

State medical examiners are working to determine the cause of his death.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?sid=44827847&nid=960

[rockgremlin]

Yikes! Mom and the kiddies get out alive while dad wanders into his grave. Sad.

[kiwi_outdoors]

If you ain't no backcountry expert, at each turn look back and take a phot on the cell pone. Most helpful when backing out of places, including lava tubes.

[hiacbanks]

record track using gps, then reverse the track back to the starting point.
very sad for this family's lost.

[Sombeech]

Dang that's too bad.

On a somewhat related note, when they flew the helicopter to search, imagine how long they had to wait, the crew they had to call and gather and inform of the situation, and then the monumental cost of the operation.

Or they can get 1 guy, even an unpaid volunteer, to fly a GPS enabled drone with 4k camera. Sure it doesn't have the range of a helicopter, but it can fly several miles away from the controller, while still streaming back live video to the family on the ground, pointing to where they were.

A drone pilot won't always be available either, but soon it should be considered as not only an option, but the primary resource.