The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Rescue-1 located a lost hiker in the Sycamore Canyon and got her to safety before dark Sunday evening, a YCSO spokesman said.
Just before 4 p.m. on March 9, the Sheriff’s office was notified that a 33-year-old woman had become separated from a group of hikers, Dwight D’Evelyn said. They waited for her at the trailhead, and when she did not show up, they called for help.
Rescue-1 was launched because darkness was approaching. Using GPS data from the woman’s cellphone, the crew was able to find her, D’Evelyn said. She had taken a wrong turn and had walked four miles away from the correct trail, backtracked, and was still two miles away when located.
D’Evelyn said several factors worked in her favor, including the facts that she was wearing light-colored clothing and had a cellphone that allowed GPS tracking. He pointed out that calling for help as soon as the group knew she was lost would have been safer, however, because time is of the essence, and that once she realized she was lost, the hiker should have stayed where she was, because moving people are tougher for search crews to find.
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