inReach Devices Prevent a Search and Rescue Event

It was 2 p.m. when Evy Schrager announced to her fellow hunters that she was heading back to the truck where her husband and father were waiting and glassing the valley.

But an hour and a half later, Evy hadn’t arrived.

The other hunters in the party had made their way back to the truck, and there was no sign of her along the way. The trail was wooded but well-defined. She should have been back much sooner.

“My heart sank,” said her husband, Jeff Schrager. “We had not seen Evy since she left with them earlier in the day.”

It was the last week in October at 8,000’ in the Jarbidge Wilderness Area of Nevada. The forecast that day was clear and mild, but stormy, cold weather was predicted that night. Evy had a whistle, raincoat and fleece liner, but she had left her phone, Jeff’s inReach® device, fire starter and other safety equipment back at the truck — thinking she would not need them for a day hunt with companions and being so close to the vehicle.

“We feared she may have been injured or attacked by a mountain lion and dragged away from the trail so as to not have been seen by the others when they returned to the truck,” Jeff said.

Everyone packed warm clothes, flashlights and survival gear and headed back to the trail to search for Evy. They decided that if she was not located by 5 p.m., Jeff would trigger an SOS message to Garmin Response^SM, the 24/7-staffed international response coordination center, on his inReach device to initiate a full search and rescue (SAR) response.

They went back to where Evy had first separated from the other two party members and found nothing, so they split up and continued looking and calling for her.

There was no trace of Evy.

Evy Schrager grew up hunting and fishing with her dad, brother and cousins, and she has traveled and hiked all over the world. She’s no beginner in the backcountry.

While heading back to the truck that day, she lost her footing and slipped in an unfortunate part of the trail — falling down a steep ravine.

Though unhurt beyond some bumps and bruises, she found herself at the bottom of the ravine with no safe way to get back to the original trail and with no form of communication. Her only choice was to head farther down the ravine and hope to locate the trail.

Eventually, Evy found a trail that looked familiar and walked it for several miles, only to realize it was not the correct trail. By then, she was truly lost. Noting that there was limited daylight remaining, Evy enlisted the survival methods she had available — climbing up on a big rock, putting on her bright red rain jacket to be more visible and blowing her whistle over and over.

Jeff was just about ready to trigger an SOS when his inReach device pinged. It was a message from another inReach device — a hunter they had run into earlier that day.

“We found Evy. This is Josh Munns. My son is the 12-year-old with the tag.”

Jeff couldn’t believe what he was reading. He messaged back for more details.

“She is OK. Just exhausted.”

Jeff began crying, relieved and joyous.   

“Josh’s timing was perfect,” Jeff said. “Had he not texted me from his inReach when he did and just simply hiked out, no doubt we would’ve initiated a call for a full SAR response very shortly thereafter.”

Josh Munns happened to be in the area where Evy was lost and heard the whistle. From a distance, he could see something bright red, so Josh and his son made their way over and found Evy sitting on the rock.

Josh had the foresight to send an inReach message to Jeff, and then they hiked Evy to safety.

That night, the predicted storms rolled through. Reunited and lying safely in their tent, Jeff and Evy listened to the rain and wind outside, grateful that nobody — Jeff, Evy or a search and rescue team — was out in the weather, and, according to Jeff, especially thankful “for placing Josh and his son where they were and when, and for Josh’s inReach.”

As for Evy, it was a reminder of how important having a source of communication is in the backcountry, no matter how experienced you are or how short the excursion is.

“The Garmin inReach should be standard equipment for any outdoor activity,” she said. “When you think you won’t need it is when you are going to need it.”

Notice: Active satellite subscription required. Some jurisdictions regulate or prohibit the use of satellite communication devices. It is the responsibility of the user to know and follow all applicable laws in the jurisdictions where the device is intended to be used.