The cell phone security blanket

I don't know for sure, but it seems the anecdotal evidence points in favor of hikers being overconfident in feeling assured of a rescue if they carry a cell phone with them.

Though they are essentially GPS devices that monitor people's location, GPS devices don't always cut it in the wilderness. Even if you can get reception, the GPS doesn't provide a spot-on map to exactly where rescuers can find you. People can be very close safety and not even realize it.... the annals of hiking abound with stories of badly lost people who are barely off the trail. It doesn't necessarily mean searchers can find the hiker, especially in dense forest. Then, if it is foggy, rainy, snowy, etc. it is still hard to spot people.

Plus, you never know when the hiker will decide it is in his best interest to leave the spot where his GPS coordinates placed him... say he gets cut off mid-call from 9-1-1 and is not sure anyone is coming for him. He might convince himself that he still has one last idea on how to find his way back to the trail

Anyway, the case that inspired this post is a lost hiker in San Bernardino... been lost for 11 days now, and the official search has been called off, though some volunteers are still searching. Below is a picture of the rescuers from the San Bernardino Sun.

The hiker, who was apparently experienced, was not more than three miles from the Green Valley Lake Campground in the San Bernardino mountains, when he got lost.

"The experienced outdoorsman called 9-1-1 twice when he became disoriented and lost in heavy fog. During one call, Christy told the dispatcher he had walked about three miles.

Despite having Global Positioning System coordinates that approximate the spot where Christy was, rescuers were unable to pinpoint the location where he became lost. They also did not know whether Christy, who was not carrying food or water, had bushwhacked or walked along a road."

Not much of a security blanket after all.