Mt Whitney Zone Forums The Chat Room Brett's PCT Adventure

Not quite. Sorry to mislead. Of the three in the slower group, two had planned on only this one section of the trail.

I was worried early on, since their Spot locations showed they were making extremely slow progress. The faster hikers left them at the end of the second day.

The slower group continued on, and at the end of four days, were not quite half the total distance. But fortunately, there is a road up to Harts Pass -- pretty bad, I understand -- but it had been plowed clear of snow. Apparently it is known by the PCT hikers, because the faster group lost one and gained one member at that location.

Dan in the slower group had already set up with his wife, that if he used the Help button, that meant he wanted her to come pick him up. That is exactly what happened. It was not a SAR at all. He pressed the Help button, and we could see his progress moving down the road.

I got involved, though, by contacting the Forest Service and told them of the situation. They agreed to go unlock the gate on that road so Dan's wife could head up the road. They did NOT tell me it was treacherous, but that's what Esther told me after driving up part way. I also gave Esther the directions to find the road.

The pick-up became problematic when Dan and the two others met a vehicle on the road, and got a ride into Winthrop. He put his Spot away, or in some location where it would not send. He DID leave messages for Esther on her phone, but it did not work, except in Winthrop.

So at 9 PM, she called me, pretty upset, because she had driven the road and found no one. At that point I told her to call 911; not sure whether she did. But a little later, she called after she received the voice messages, so was able to find him.
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Dan is still suffering with swollen feet from his ordeal. Not sure what caused that, but Esther blamed the icy cold slushy conditions they had to hike in.