NEED TO KNOW
- A Boy Scout troop rescued Douglas Montgomery after he lost his bearings in the Emigrant Wilderness in California
- Montgomery, 78, was alone and had lost his backpack containing his food and GPS-enabled communicator when Santa Barbara-based Troop 26 found him on Aug. 6
- “I was getting colder and colder. And that’s when [Troop 26] came along,” Montgomery recalled, per the Los Angeles Times
A Boy Scout troop is being praised after helping to rescue a 78-year-old man who was lost in the wilderness in California.
The Santa Barbara-based troop, Troop 26, consisting of nine members aged around 12 and five adult leaders, was on day four of a six-night trek through the High Sierra north of Yosemite, when they came across a man alone near Long Lake in the Emigrant Wilderness on Aug. 6, the Los Angeles Times, KTLA and Santa Barbara Independent reported.
The man, identified as Douglas Montgomery, had been injured after falling into a lake. Having rested overnight with plans to set off home the next day, Montgomery had walked miles in the wrong direction after losing his backpack containing his food and GPS-enabled communicator, according to the outlets.
“Being cold all night made it impossible for me to walk. I had to wait for the sun to come and hit me before I could walk,” Montgomery told the L.A. Times. “I was getting colder and colder. And that’s when [Troop 26] came along.”
Montgomery, who is a former Scoutmaster himself, had been on a two-week solo backpacking trip at the time.
“He just looked like — basically looked like a homeless guy,” Scoutmaster MJ Hey told SB Independent. “He was struggling a bit. He literally couldn’t walk on his own.”
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Hey, who was trained in Santa Barbara Search and Rescue, initiated a helicopter rescue, according to the outlet. While they waited, the Scouts gave Montgomery food and electrolytes from their supplies as he warmed up in the sun.
Three hours later, the California Highway Patrol helicopter arrived from Fresno to pick him up.
Montgomery was transported to Kennedy Meadows, where a deputy met him and he was reunited with his family, per SB Independent.
“I’m an Eagle Scout from Troop 10 in Burlingame,” Montgomery told the outlet. “We took Scouts into the Emigrant Wilderness for about 20 years, starting in 1963.”
“Backpacking was my first love,” the 78-year-old said, adding that he believes it’s important to teach young people “how to live in the wilderness.”
Speaking to the L.A. Times, Hey said, “It’s a powerful lesson on the importance of being prepared for the perils that can so readily happen in the wilderness.”
“And no matter what situation you’re in, you [should] always have your [survival] essentials,” he added.
PEOPLE has reached out to the California Highway Patrol for comment.
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