The damn coastal mountain drainages

There has been a lot of news items recently about a hiker who failed to return from a solo trip in the mountains east of Squamish. A massive ground search was undertaken which found evidence of his passage - mainly in the form of footprints. Sadly, the hiker himself has yet to be found.

What struck me, were the reports of the terrain in which his footprints were found:

Searchers were scouring the Bull Creek area after discovering Wright's footprints in the creek bed the previous day.

They believe Wright attempted to climb out of the bed and slid back down.

Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/bc/Missing+hiker+footprints+sighted+Bull+Creek+area/3444707/story.html#ixzz0yLLKR0HD

The RCMP news release also talks about a 15 m slide in that area as well as a steep snow slope that the missing man attempted to climb in order to get out of the creek bed. After that failed attempt, the footprints continued downstream.

It is an all too familiar story. Although it must seem to be a reasonable thing to do, following any creek bed downstream in the coast mountains is a high risk activity. The drainages in the coast mountains are heinous. The further you go, the greater chance you have of being cliffed out as they often get steeper as opposed to gentler as you get further from their source. The folks that work with North Shore search and rescue are often called to find skiers and boarders who left the bounds of the local ski hills, got into the wrong drainage and got themselves into significant trouble by continuing to follow it.

So, for the next time you are in the backcountry, here's my advice:

1) before you enter any drainage, make sure you know its the "right" drainage. Some are used as well established routes, but often the drainage right next to the one you are aiming for will turn your trip into an epic.

2) if you are in a drainage and you don't know where you are or where it is going (and you'd better be damn sure if you think you know where its going) - go UP. I know it seems like more work (especially for skiers and boarders!) but its often the safest thing to do. Remember, if you are lucky enough to have people trying to find you, they are most likely following your trail - why make them go further?

3) whenever possible, travel on ridge tops.

4) if lost, get to high ground or where there is less ground cover so you can be seen from the air.

have fun, be safe...no trip or line is worth the lifetime of adventures you have in front of you.