DrNed
The mountains are calling and I must go
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2013
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I attended a Wilderness Medicine Conference today sponsored by the Utah County Search and Rescue and the key note speaker was Kevin Bardsley. If you're interested here's at least two thread where his disappearance was discussed. Here's another thread.
He entitled his speech "Things I Regret."
As an adult who takes teenagers into the wild, I have used the story of his son, Garrett, many times to teach the teenagers I work with on how easy it is to get lost in the wild. Needless to say, I was highly anticipating this presentation.
Here are the things I found interesting: He was there as a father, not a scout leader. They were only 150 yards away from their camp. I knew they were close, but not that close. This was Garrett's first scout camp. In preparation, he (Garrett) had taken a beginners wilderness survival course. As part of the course, he learned to build shelters. Dad said that he thinks that's why Garrett's remains have never been found. He built a shelter somewhere so his remains are well hidden. Kevin said that he had told Garrett to not drink the water unless it was purified - which he now regrets. He feels that well-intentioned advice probably contributed to his death. He still thinks his biggest mistakes were letting him go back alone and Garrett not having something as simple as a whistle.
Because it was discussed on the thread I linked to above I went up to him after the presentation and asked, "Was abduction ever ruled out?" He responded so quickly and passionately that I didn't dare ask how it had been ruled out. Actually, based on his reaction I thought that's something he doesn't even want to consider and the thought of that would likely destroy him.
He then went on to show me a map that comes from tech developed since Garrett's disappearance that shows paths of least and greatest resistance to narrow most likely paths. The path of least resistance in the Cuberant Basin is the way you come in. So if I were choosing a likely scenario I would say he accidentally got up the mountain above his camp (east I think) realized he had gone too far and went down and came out of the basin and kept going (southwest I think).
Kevin has since founded the Garrett Bardsley Foundation that helps manage volunteers at searches. He feels that Garrett's disappearance has helped others be found.
If you ever get the chance to hear him speak I'd suggest you jump at it. He isn't what we would consider an expert but his experiences have given him skills and perspective that I, for one, learned a lot from.
He entitled his speech "Things I Regret."
As an adult who takes teenagers into the wild, I have used the story of his son, Garrett, many times to teach the teenagers I work with on how easy it is to get lost in the wild. Needless to say, I was highly anticipating this presentation.
Here are the things I found interesting: He was there as a father, not a scout leader. They were only 150 yards away from their camp. I knew they were close, but not that close. This was Garrett's first scout camp. In preparation, he (Garrett) had taken a beginners wilderness survival course. As part of the course, he learned to build shelters. Dad said that he thinks that's why Garrett's remains have never been found. He built a shelter somewhere so his remains are well hidden. Kevin said that he had told Garrett to not drink the water unless it was purified - which he now regrets. He feels that well-intentioned advice probably contributed to his death. He still thinks his biggest mistakes were letting him go back alone and Garrett not having something as simple as a whistle.
Because it was discussed on the thread I linked to above I went up to him after the presentation and asked, "Was abduction ever ruled out?" He responded so quickly and passionately that I didn't dare ask how it had been ruled out. Actually, based on his reaction I thought that's something he doesn't even want to consider and the thought of that would likely destroy him.
He then went on to show me a map that comes from tech developed since Garrett's disappearance that shows paths of least and greatest resistance to narrow most likely paths. The path of least resistance in the Cuberant Basin is the way you come in. So if I were choosing a likely scenario I would say he accidentally got up the mountain above his camp (east I think) realized he had gone too far and went down and came out of the basin and kept going (southwest I think).
Kevin has since founded the Garrett Bardsley Foundation that helps manage volunteers at searches. He feels that Garrett's disappearance has helped others be found.
If you ever get the chance to hear him speak I'd suggest you jump at it. He isn't what we would consider an expert but his experiences have given him skills and perspective that I, for one, learned a lot from.
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