scoutldr Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 (CNN) -- Eleven members of a Boy Scout troop did not emerge from a camping area in the mountains of western North Carolina as scheduled Sunday evening, prompting an overnight search effort, local authorities said. The eight scouts and three adult leaders from Troop 217 in Raleigh, North Carolina, were on a weekend camping trip in the Black Balsam Gap area near the Blue Ridge Parkway in southern Haywood County, according to Haywood County sheriff''s dispatcher Michael Huffman. Their vehicles were still in the parking lot at the entrance to the campground Sunday evening, leading authorities to suspect the scouts simply camped out for another night, Huffman said. Lisa Logan, whose husband is one of the scout leaders and son is a scout, said she has "a complete peace that they''re fine." "I think more likely than not what happened is they got behind in their schedule, saw they weren''t going to get out by dark, decided it was probably safer for all the boys to just stop, camp and come out in the morning," Logan said. Search teams were organized late Sunday night after their families in Raleigh did not hear from them after they were supposed to have begun the five-hour drive home, Huffman said. Five search teams combing the mountainous, heavily wooded area have not found any sign of the scouts, but they have eliminated a lot of territory, according to Haywood County Emergency Services Director Greg Shuping. Shuping said he the weather is good and he is optimistic the search will bring a happy ending soon. Several parents were driving from Raleigh to the camping area overnight. The area is located in North Carolina''s Pisgah National Forest and has popular hiking trails running through it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoutldr Posted September 24, 2007 Author Share Posted September 24, 2007 Troop hikes out of the woods unharmed. They just got lost. We now return to your regularly scheduled programming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunny2862 Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Troop makes wise decision to not blunder about in the darkness, put boys safety ahead of making the schedule, which was blown anyway. Sounds like a plan to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GernBlansten Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 I wonder if they filed a valid tour permit? Could have been the difference between life and death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packsaddle Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 I know that area. Lost is probably the wrong term. Perhaps disoriented is better but ''lost'' is almost impossible. I guess it''s a matter of perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GernBlansten Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Our Philmont motto was, "Hopelessly lost, but making good time." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoutldr Posted September 27, 2007 Author Share Posted September 27, 2007 Disoriented, probably. The followup article said they woke up in the morning, looked up and saw electric wires, followed them to a cabin where they met a meter-reader, who led them to the Fire Dept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquila Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 "Five search teams combing the mountainous, heavily wooded area have not found any sign of the scouts" -- the only downside to properly taught "Leave No Trace" principles ;-). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunny2862 Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 Gern, I had a lieutenant like that once.... good thing we SNCO''s were independently tracking our movements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
local1400 Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 They probably just wanted to stay another night so they could get chocolate Cokes from Rocky''s in Brevard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insanescouter Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 Did they every show up? Were they found? Am I missing something ... confused look ... what happened ... way i read the article they had not been located ... Scott Robertson http://insanescouter.org Helping leaders improve Scouting on resource at a time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
local1400 Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 Yes. You can read the story and see photos on The Asheville Citizen Times website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packsaddle Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 Local1400, aaaaahhhhhh Brevard. Sorry, this is off topic but, let us face it, the topic is old news now. Anyway, Transylvania County and Brevard have be on my top places list. If you have not been there recently, Brevard has some other great establishments as well to eat or enjoy in other ways. And, if you want to enter a time warp and go back to the days when you could get into the movies for 25 cents, the theatre is authentic...and wonderful. It DOES cost more than 25 cents though. Not to mention one of the nicest colleges anywhere, the most amazing population of white squirrels, and on....and on. Aaaaahhhhhh, Brevard..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
local1400 Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 No Pack, I haven''t been to Brevard since 2000 when I moved back home. I used to work for an overnight courier and Brevard and Pisgah Forest were my areas. I always thought the only thing missing from that lovely town was a drive-in theatre to make you think you went back in time. I do crave those chocolate cokes though! Very nice people there, and as for the theatre, I had a key to the door to deliver the movie cans and scan the bar code on the wall-no one home at 11 a.m! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtm25653 Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 I don''t have the article in front of me, but the SM''s wife was quoted as saying she wasn''t worried about the troop because they were scouts, and she knew they were prepared. They found their way out Monday morning. This story was our SM minute last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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