Bunch of questions. Poorly organized and worded. Another article said he initially planned to be gone for 10 days. This says he was in his car for a few days. Did he plan on camping in his car the...
Bunch of questions. Poorly organized and worded.
Another article said he initially planned to be gone for 10 days. This says he was in his car for a few days.
Did he plan on camping in his car the entire time, then went to the mountainside, then got lost?
Did he plan a round trip, then spend more time in his car then he planned, then left thinking he could make the round trip in the shorter time frame?
Did weather play a role?
Was he bootpacking? Skins? Snowshoes?
What did he eat for 50 days?
He said (in another article), that he had not caught a single fish. Did he scavenge? Did he have enough Backpacker's Pantry to last the entire time? That stuff doesn't weight much assuming you have a water (or snow) supply and fire.
Did he go to abandoned summer campsites, or cabins, and find food and/or shelter there? Like the "last hermit" did?
What kind of maps or emergency plan did he have?
Was he familiar with the area?
Did he have pre-downloaded GPS maps like OnX maps or Avenza (or the Canadian version of them if it exists?) Extra batteries for the devices that would hold these?
Paper maps with river drainages, trails, points of interest?
HAM radio, or even just two-way radio?
This is not criticism, by any means. In fact I'm sure this kid has a lot more experience than I do. But I spend enough time in the backcountry that I throw things in my truck/pack that might be helpful and sort of spend time thinking about what I would do, but don't have any sort of training. So I find this sort of thing interesting.
Some more details in this CBC article that answer a few of your questions: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sam-benastick-survived-wolf-1.7397381
"I don't know the full story," Reid said in an interview with CBC News Friday morning. "But he did say that he did get lost because he was getting chased by a wolf."
"He does love the outdoors," he said. "So he was prepared, and he lasted. He had one jar of peanut butter left in the last 20 days, and that's how he survived."
In a statement on Wednesday, RCMP only provided a few details of what they believe happened, saying Benastick told them he stayed in his car for a couple of days, then walked to a "creek, mountainside" where he camped for 10 to 15 days.
After that, police say, he "moved down the valley and built a camp and shelter in a dried-out creek bed." He was found Tuesday morning when he flagged down the two men and was taken to safety.
The first RCMP release about Benastick went out on Oct. 21, describing him as an "avid hiker/camper" who had brought with him a tarp, an 85-litre backpack, and other camping supplies.
Those supplies, Crocker said, included a hatchet, a camp tarp, warm winter clothes and "a lot of peanut butter."
Benastick's original plan, his mom said, was to take the Redfern Lake trail, an approximately 80-kilometre trail accessible by ATV or snowmobile. Crocker said her son had borrowed her dirt bike for the trip and that searchers managed to find one track that would match its tires, but it didn't give them any solid clues.
Not a sentence I thought I would be reading in 2024. But kudos to him, surviving 5 weeks in the wilderness with little-to-no supplies like that takes either a lot of determination, or a lot of...
But he did say that he did get lost because he was getting chased by a wolf.
Not a sentence I thought I would be reading in 2024.
But kudos to him, surviving 5 weeks in the wilderness with little-to-no supplies like that takes either a lot of determination, or a lot of experience, or both!
Redfern-Keily Provincial Park is pretty far north in BC, and ridiculously remote... so I am not surprised. Wolves, coyotes, cougars, lynxes, grizzlies, black bears, and moose are likely all a...
Redfern-Keily Provincial Park is pretty far north in BC, and ridiculously remote... so I am not surprised. Wolves, coyotes, cougars, lynxes, grizzlies, black bears, and moose are likely all a serious danger when camping there. And given those potential threats, and it being winter (when starving predators are even more desperate, dangerous, and willing to attack humans), he probably should have at least brought a rifle with him, especially with him going it alone like he did. So yes, there was likely lots of determination and experience involved, but also a lot of luck too, I suspect.
That just opens up more questions! How do you survive a wolf chasing you? You can't outrun them, so even if you somehow survive this, how do you get so far from your path that you can't find your...
"But he did say that he did get lost because he was getting chased by a wolf."
That just opens up more questions! How do you survive a wolf chasing you? You can't outrun them, so even if you somehow survive this, how do you get so far from your path that you can't find your way back? If the wolf was really chasing you, he'd be on your throat in seconds. Maybe he saw the wolf from far away and went too far away from the path to avoid an actual encounter? But I wouldn't call that "chased by a wolf".
This, if it was a wolf, it may have just been curious and even seeing if the big lone animal was either going to leave food behind or just keep over and die. But otherwise it's very unlikely to...
This, if it was a wolf, it may have just been curious and even seeing if the big lone animal was either going to leave food behind or just keep over and die. But otherwise it's very unlikely to actively fuck with a healthy adult human. Presuming it's also healthy and not starving.
That's a somewhat dangerous assumption to make of a wolf that comes close enough to your camp for you to see or hear them, especially this time of year. A man died in Sask in winter 2005 from a...
That's a somewhat dangerous assumption to make of a wolf that comes close enough to your camp for you to see or hear them, especially this time of year. A man died in Sask in winter 2005 from a wolf pack attack, a family was attacked in their tent by a wolf in Banff a few years ago, and a woman walking her dog was attacked in Yellowknife just last month. Attacks are pretty rare, and wolves are awesome (so I am not advocating they be killed, if it can be avoided), but attacks by them are not so rare here in Canada that you can just ignore a nearby wolf, especially when you're alone out in the wilderness. cc: @stu2b50
I mean I wouldn’t assume it, like I’m not about to recreationally tease wolfs in the wild, but it explains why a man can be “chased” by a wolf for several hours without an attack.
I mean I wouldn’t assume it, like I’m not about to recreationally tease wolfs in the wild, but it explains why a man can be “chased” by a wolf for several hours without an attack.
Nobody said the chase went on for several hours, AFAIK. And all it takes is a few minutes of panicked running to get lost up there, especially if it happened at night or while it was snowing hard....
Nobody said the chase went on for several hours, AFAIK. And all it takes is a few minutes of panicked running to get lost up there, especially if it happened at night or while it was snowing hard. But who knows... until he opens up more about exactly what happened this is all just idle speculation. I'll post a new comment if there is a major update though.
Same answer as @stu2b50 I wouldn't advocate ignoring it or petting the puppy (even if I am that white (nonbinary) woman). Wolves are awesome, and I won't claim to know everything about their...
I wouldn't advocate ignoring it or petting the puppy (even if I am that white (nonbinary) woman).
Wolves are awesome, and I won't claim to know everything about their behavior. Had there been a good opportunity the wolf might well have attacked, even just as a test. And you won't necessarily know if a wolf is particularly starved or unhealthy on sight.
Anyway, yeah, just saying why it isn't weird not to get merc'd by a random wolf
Could be it was stalking him for some time and he was keeping it at bay with loud noises, etc while he made his way somewhere where the wolf couldn't/wouldn't follow.
Could be it was stalking him for some time and he was keeping it at bay with loud noises, etc while he made his way somewhere where the wolf couldn't/wouldn't follow.
He might have just hoofed it to the safety of his car. Of course then the question becomes, how lost could he be if he made it to the spot where he had parked? I don't understand this at all.
Benastick told them he stayed in his car for a couple of days
He might have just hoofed it to the safety of his car. Of course then the question becomes, how lost could he be if he made it to the spot where he had parked? I don't understand this at all.
I think you're misinterpreting the stated timeline. I assume the RCMP meant he stayed in his car for the first few days before making his way to the location where he properly camped for 10-15...
I think you're misinterpreting the stated timeline. I assume the RCMP meant he stayed in his car for the first few days before making his way to the location where he properly camped for 10-15 day... which is probably when/where he encountered the wolf, getting lost as a result of fleeing from it, and so had to resort to camping in a makeshift shelter at the dry creek bed afterwards.
Bunch of questions. Poorly organized and worded.
This is not criticism, by any means. In fact I'm sure this kid has a lot more experience than I do. But I spend enough time in the backcountry that I throw things in my truck/pack that might be helpful and sort of spend time thinking about what I would do, but don't have any sort of training. So I find this sort of thing interesting.
Some more details in this CBC article that answer a few of your questions:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sam-benastick-survived-wolf-1.7397381
Not a sentence I thought I would be reading in 2024.
But kudos to him, surviving 5 weeks in the wilderness with little-to-no supplies like that takes either a lot of determination, or a lot of experience, or both!
Redfern-Keily Provincial Park is pretty far north in BC, and ridiculously remote... so I am not surprised. Wolves, coyotes, cougars, lynxes, grizzlies, black bears, and moose are likely all a serious danger when camping there. And given those potential threats, and it being winter (when starving predators are even more desperate, dangerous, and willing to attack humans), he probably should have at least brought a rifle with him, especially with him going it alone like he did. So yes, there was likely lots of determination and experience involved, but also a lot of luck too, I suspect.
That just opens up more questions! How do you survive a wolf chasing you? You can't outrun them, so even if you somehow survive this, how do you get so far from your path that you can't find your way back? If the wolf was really chasing you, he'd be on your throat in seconds. Maybe he saw the wolf from far away and went too far away from the path to avoid an actual encounter? But I wouldn't call that "chased by a wolf".
A single wolf isn't all that likely to willingly attack a large mammal.
This, if it was a wolf, it may have just been curious and even seeing if the big lone animal was either going to leave food behind or just keep over and die. But otherwise it's very unlikely to actively fuck with a healthy adult human. Presuming it's also healthy and not starving.
That's a somewhat dangerous assumption to make of a wolf that comes close enough to your camp for you to see or hear them, especially this time of year. A man died in Sask in winter 2005 from a wolf pack attack, a family was attacked in their tent by a wolf in Banff a few years ago, and a woman walking her dog was attacked in Yellowknife just last month. Attacks are pretty rare, and wolves are awesome (so I am not advocating they be killed, if it can be avoided), but attacks by them are not so rare here in Canada that you can just ignore a nearby wolf, especially when you're alone out in the wilderness. cc: @stu2b50
I mean I wouldn’t assume it, like I’m not about to recreationally tease wolfs in the wild, but it explains why a man can be “chased” by a wolf for several hours without an attack.
Nobody said the chase went on for several hours, AFAIK. And all it takes is a few minutes of panicked running to get lost up there, especially if it happened at night or while it was snowing hard. But who knows... until he opens up more about exactly what happened this is all just idle speculation. I'll post a new comment if there is a major update though.
Same answer as @stu2b50
I wouldn't advocate ignoring it or petting the puppy (even if I am that white (nonbinary) woman).
Wolves are awesome, and I won't claim to know everything about their behavior. Had there been a good opportunity the wolf might well have attacked, even just as a test. And you won't necessarily know if a wolf is particularly starved or unhealthy on sight.
Anyway, yeah, just saying why it isn't weird not to get merc'd by a random wolf
Could be it was stalking him for some time and he was keeping it at bay with loud noises, etc while he made his way somewhere where the wolf couldn't/wouldn't follow.
He might have just hoofed it to the safety of his car. Of course then the question becomes, how lost could he be if he made it to the spot where he had parked? I don't understand this at all.
I think you're misinterpreting the stated timeline. I assume the RCMP meant he stayed in his car for the first few days before making his way to the location where he properly camped for 10-15 day... which is probably when/where he encountered the wolf, getting lost as a result of fleeing from it, and so had to resort to camping in a makeshift shelter at the dry creek bed afterwards.
That makes much more sense
First thing I thought of was all the time I spent watching Les Stroud. Not sure any of it would have saved me here though.