A California Boy Scout troop is drawing praise after they came to the aid of a 78-year-old man lost and injured in the Emigrant Wilderness north of Yosemite. The group—nine Scouts, all around age 12, and five adults from Santa Barbara's Troop 26—came across Douglas Montgomery, a former Scoutmaster, as they hiked near Long Lake on Aug. 6, per People.
Montgomery, an ex-scoutmaster himself, was on a two-week solo trek when he fell into a lake, lost his backpack—along with food and a GPS communicator—and wandered miles off course. With no gear or sustenance, he spent a frigid night outdoors, unable to walk until sunrise. "I was getting colder and colder. And that's when [Troop 26] came along," he told the Los Angeles Times. Scoutmaster MJ Hey tells the Santa Barbara Independent that Montgomery was "struggling a bit" and "literally couldn't walk on his own."
Trained in search and rescue, Hey coordinated a helicopter evacuation while the Scouts shared their food, H2O, and electrolytes and helped Montgomery get warm. Three hours later, a California Highway Patrol chopper arrived, flying Montgomery to safety and reuniting him with family.
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Montgomery, who once led Scouts into the same wilderness, reflected on the importance of teaching young people survival skills. Hey echoed that sentiment, calling the episode a reminder of the need to be prepared for the wilderness's unpredictability. "No matter what situation you're in, you [should] always have your essentials," he tells the Times.
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