A hiker who got lost during what was supposed to be a 10-day camping trip in northeastern British Columbia has been found alive after more than five weeks in the wilderness.Sam Benastick, 20, was first reported missing on October 19, but it was a month after extensive official search efforts were called off that he was finally located.According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Northern Rockies detachment was notified at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday that Benastick had been spotted. Two people on their way to work on the Redfern Lake trail saw him walking towards them and recognized him as the man who had been missing. As the CBC reports, he was holding himself up with two walking sticks and had wrapped pieces of his sleeping bag around his legs to keep them warm in temperatures that locals said fell to -20C.The pair took him to a nearby hospital, where his identity was confirmed and he was examined for potential injuries. There, he told police that he "stayed in his car for a couple of days and then walked to a creek, mountain side where he camped out for 10-15 days," then, "moved down the valley, and built a camp and shelter in a dried-out creek bed.""Finding Sam alive is the absolute best outcome. After all the time he was missing, it was feared that this was would not be the outcome," BC RCMP Communications Cpl. Madonna Saunderson said, offering thanks to the Fort Nelson and North Peace and Search and Rescue teams, the Canadian Rangers, and local volunteers. According to a GoFundMe set up by Benastick's sister, Kate, he had set off on his red Honda dirt bike for a solo 10-day camping trip in Redfern-Keily Provincial Park, located northwest of Fort St. John. He was reported missing after the 10 days elapsed and his family didn't hear anything from him. The fundraiser brought in over $42,000 to pay for private helicopters, as well as hotels, campsites, fuel, and food for the search crew that stayed to help long after the official effort was called off.
A hiker who got lost during what was supposed to be a 10-day camping trip in northeastern British Columbia has been found alive after more than five weeks in the wilderness.Sam Benastick, 20, was first reported missing on October 19, but it was a month after extensive official search efforts were called off that he was finally located.According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Northern Rockies detachment was notified at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday that Benastick had been spotted. Two people on their way to work on the Redfern Lake trail saw him walking towards them and recognized him as the man who had been missing. As the CBC reports, he was holding himself up with two walking sticks and had wrapped pieces of his sleeping bag around his legs to keep them warm in temperatures that locals said fell to -20C.The pair took him to a nearby hospital, where his identity was confirmed and he was examined for potential injuries. There, he told police that he "stayed in his car for a couple of days and then walked to a creek, mountain side where he camped out for 10-15 days," then, "moved down the valley, and built a camp and shelter in a dried-out creek bed.""Finding Sam alive is the absolute best outcome. After all the time he was missing, it was feared that this was would not be the outcome," BC RCMP Communications Cpl. Madonna Saunderson said, offering thanks to the Fort Nelson and North Peace and Search and Rescue teams, the Canadian Rangers, and local volunteers. According to a GoFundMe set up by Benastick's sister, Kate, he had set off on his red Honda dirt bike for a solo 10-day camping trip in Redfern-Keily Provincial Park, located northwest of Fort St. John. He was reported missing after the 10 days elapsed and his family didn't hear anything from him. The fundraiser brought in over $42,000 to pay for private helicopters, as well as hotels, campsites, fuel, and food for the search crew that stayed to help long after the official effort was called off.
