Posted on 09/24/2007 3:59:41 AM PDT by Rb ver. 2.0
A search is underway in Haywood County for a group of Boy Scouts from Raleigh reported missing Sunday night.
Waynesville, NC -- Emergency crews are hunting for a group of NC scouts who didn't come home from a weekend trip.
A dispatcher says a call came in to the Haywood County Emergency Operations Center about 9:00 pm Sunday concerning a group of eight Boy Scouts and three adults who failed to return home Sunday evening from a weekend trip to the mountains.
Local firefighters and members of Haywood Emergency Management, Haywood Rescue and NC Fire Dogs were involved in a search near the Black Balsam Knob area of southern Haywood County.
I don't want to think about "a van running off the road" scenario.
NC ping needed.
mark
the whole group?????
Just got back from a vacation in the Nantahala gourge. You’re right about not going off the road.
Prayers with them!
Troop is from Raleigh area
Hoping for the best.
I find it very odd that 11 people are missing. I was a boy scout, and got my orienteering merit badge—it’s one that just about every scout gets—hard to believe that no one among the 11 could figure out how to avoid getting lost.
Keep us informed.
Now that I’ve taken my first sip of Coffee and read it twice, I realize that area is my old stomping grounds. Black Balsam is the the Shining Rock/Middle Prong Wilderness area. Blue Ridge Pkwy. to the south, Cold Mountain to the North, and East Fork, West Fork of the Pigeon River on either side. If they’re on trails leading to either river, there’s definitely no cell service available.
The good news is no matter where they are, they are only a two hour at most walk to the nearest road. http://tinyurl.com/7m57a
Maybe we can spot them from the webcam: http://webcam.srs.fs.fed.us/
So long as there is no foul play involved — like no child molestering Scroats pretending to be Scout Masters — the Boy Scouts will probably be just fine.
Boy Scouts are always Prepared. A few days in the bush will probably do them the world of good.
Even so:
“Akela and Baloo and Kaa, look after these my young brothers as they sojourn among your people. We are of one blood, thou and I.”
*DieHard*
Ever do it in the dark?
Story above indicated they were running late and perhaps hunkered down for the night
Sunrise in Carolina. I expect we will know shortly what is going on.
Having to hunker down on a Sunday night almost happened to my troop once. We did a 20 mile bushwack across the Big Cypress Swamp during the dry season and due to palmetto thickets did not make good time on the first day. The towards the end of the day on Sunday we got into some nasty Karst topography, Sinkholes everywhere and very bad footing. Had we not made it to the highway at dusk we would have had to have stopped for the night. This was before cell phones, so I’m sure it would have caused quite a ruckus back home.
Their cars were all located at the parking lot. I am sure they are fine. Maybe someone was injured and they ran out of daylight. We should all know soon.
One scenario is that they found themselves with some time after getting off the trail and stopped at the Graveyard Fields area on the Parkway and hiked down to the lower falls on the East Fork. If they decided to boulder hop down the river it enters into a steep gorge where if you get caught in there at dark you’re not going anywhere until daylight.
Quite beautiful up that way.
“Ever do it in the dark?”
Heh.....
sounds like a good judgement call: keep the group together, start again in the morning.
It looks like we can expect them to climb out later this morning. Good thing, for them, that we’re having this unseasonably hot weather!
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