[Irish]

[WTCrocker]

I say that I NEVER tell anyone where I am going, that way when I change plans (which I always do) they won't go the wrong way. In truth I leave the approximate primary destination or at least the major river basin. On a weekend trip the panic time is noon the next day. On a week long trip the panic time is noon the second day late. If I am more than a few hours late it is vehicle problems and my vehicle is equiped for "End of the World" survival. So if I make it back that far I am OK. Flying solo forces you to be cautious and accept responsibility for your own actions. It also allows you to turn back when things get bad without the "Wimp" stigma appearing.

[Mike Collins]

I don't solo hike anymore. When I did as I peakbag I would not only say where the car would be left, I would say what peak and equally important what the planned route was. I would say what county I would be climbing in as Search and Rescue is by county. I would also leave my wife with the name and phone number of a person who had been on the peak I was climbing. Once a friend's wife called me at 11:00PM inquiring about her husband. Having been on the peak and route I could speak to her about the possibilities. It turned out to be lost car keys.

[Allison]

Here's another tip. I had to almost call SAR a couple of years back and I learned some things from that. The first thing SAR is going to do is go look for the car at the TH, so make sure to leave at least make, color, and model, and of course the TH, with your person. The next thing they are gonna do is come look for you, so if you say, for example, 6 PM on Tuesday is drop dead call SAR time, then they won't come looking for you til the next day. Given all of this, I make the "call SAR" time for first thing in the morning. That way, they can go look for the car, and then get out same day without endangering anyone. Oh, and also, the local Sheriff's office is generally going to be your SAR call, not the local FS office. Results may vary in the NPs.

[tennessee treader]

I always leave word of where I will be. I once found a man who had fallen from the Kendall Peak Katwalk and died. He had been there 10 days and no one knew where he had been (if they had the recovery would have been a few days earlier... )

[sarbar]

I do not envy you for that

[WanderingBear]

Being in King County SAR and having been on a lot of missions over the past 6 years, definately let someone know where you are going. If you deviate from your plans, leave information in your vehicle as to what you are actually doing. The Sheriff has the ability to get in to your vehicle so you don't have to post it where the public can see it. Other things that we like to know: - Are you a peak bagger? - Do you stay on trails or go cross country? - What equipment do you have with you? - Pre-existing medical conditions? - Experience level? - Carrying a radio (amatuer, FRS...)? Rarely do we run into a mission where the subject does have one but with the popularity of FRS... As for the thought that we won't respond until next morning...not really the case. Generally we will start as soon as we get the call. This was the case last week for a mission up the MF Snoqualmie where we had teams going into the field at 8pm for overdue hikers. Under normal summer conditions we will start a search at anytime. We do many missions in the dark.

[Allison]

Cool, thanks for clearing that up!

[Slugman]

Thanks for the confirmation of my carrying a walkie-talkie. I feel kind of stupid taking one on a solo hike, but I always figured it might help SAR find me if I had a broken leg or something. The person who calls in would know I had one and pass that info along.