NIGHT IN OPEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26749, 19 April 1948, Page 4

NIGHT IN OPEN

TWO TRAMPERS LOST SLOPES BELOW SWAMPY FOUND BY SEARCH PARTY Cold, wet and miserable after a night spent sheltering in a patch of mahuka on the lower slopes of Swampy, Gordon William Sim, of 40 Helena street, and Grace Norris, of TZ Arthur street, two young members of the Otago Tramping Club, were found by a search party at 10.35 a.m. yesterday. It was fortunate that the search party found them when it did, as the trampers were well off their course, heading towards the Silver Peaks. The thick blanket of fog which enveloped the hills on Saturday and yesterday morning was responsible for their misadventure.

Early yesterday morning the parents of one of the trampers became worried about their absence, and search parties were organised by the Dunedin police and the Otago Tramping Club. The searchers divided themselves into three groups, and after about an hour and a-half one of the parties found the missing trampers on the last saddle before the ascent of Swampy is begun. Luckily, they were in the vicinity of the mountain track, or the search party would have held little chance of finding them. The two trampers set out on Saturday morning for Flagstaff, via the Leith Valley. They went up through the bush towards the top of Mossy Creek, which is about three miles from the valley road, and late in the afternoon they found themselves in the open tussock country. A heavy fog had descended, and as the two young people kept on they soon lost direction. They were not carrying a compass. Apparently they became completely “bushed,” and when night fell they were forced to stay in the open, the only shelter offering being patches of manuka. About a dozen members of the Otago Tramping Club joined the police party in Ben Rudd’s hut early yesterday morning, and three parties were formed. The fog was still lying heavily and the only course open to the searchers was to keep near the mountain track. When they were found the two trampers were heading towards Silver Peaks. Had it not been for the quick success of the search party, the incident might possibly have been more serious. They returned to the hut at 11.40 a.m.