Shortly before noon, Ms. McEvoy had wandered off the path and realized she was lost. The temperature had reached about 73 degrees by then, which isn’t necessarily comfortable when the sun is beating down from above and the reflective heat is beating up from the desert floor. To boot, Airport Mesa is partially surrounded by homes and businesses, but it’s also full of deep winding dips and steep slopes. A wrong turn could lead a lost hiker into miles of open forest. At about 11:42 a.m. she called for help.

The Sedona Police Department used several tools and strategies to find Ms. McEvoy.

PILOT ROD GREEN, of Arizona Adventures Helicopter Tours, describes how he helped find a lost hiker on Airport Mesa Trail during a post-rescue flight.

While officers searched on foot, police also called Arizona Adventures Helicopter Tours at the airport to see if they could help. Pilot Rod Green had just taken off with a group of tourists who got a little extra excitement on their visit.

Mr. Green has flown choppers for about 17 years, the past 5 years in Sedona. “The police asked me to take a quick look for them,” Mr. Green said.

Officer Ron Hunt kept Ms. McEvoy on the phone so she could describe the rock formations and other landmarks around her. “We relayed the information to the helicopter pilot,” Officer Jon Dexter said. Ms. McEvoy told police when the craft was above her.

“I saw her,” Mr. Green said, and held a pattern over the area in his Bell 206 Jet Ranger for about 15 minutes while police got a fix on her location.

Because Ms. McEvoy had a cell phone, police were able to use the Global Positioning System, by which cell phone towers can track a cell phone’s location. GPS does not always work in rural or remote areas that aren’t equipped with enhanced emergency technology. “We enhanced our 9-1-1 system more than a year ago,” Mr. Dexter said. “It helped. We could see her approximate location on a computer screen.”

Now all they had to do was go get her. Officers hiked into the forest and found Ms. McEvoy in good health, but out of water and tired. “We gave her some water and took it nice and easy to get her down [from the mountain],” Mr. Dexter said.

Officers walked her down to Oak Creek and then to a rendezvous with Sedona Fire District medical crews on a private road about a half mile up Oak Creek Cliffs Drive, south of Poco Diablo Resort on Hwy. 179. Medical crews checked her out and Ms. McEvoy was released at about 1:50 p.m. Police gave her a ride back to her hotel.

Conditions in the Arizona desert can be deceptive – for example the temperature peaked at about 75 degrees Tuesday and dropped to an overnight low of 42 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Dehydration, exposure, injuries and disorientation can turn a pleasant spring hike into a vacation nightmare for the unlucky and the unprepared.

Ms. McEvoy’s is a happy story. It could have been different if she’d forgotten her cell phone and, say, twisted an ankle – even so close to ‘civilization.’

Sedona emergency crews rescue several lost hikers each year, according to one firefighter at the scene.

Authorities recommend hikers always:

• Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to return.
• Take lots of water.
• Wear appropriate clothing.
• Carry a cell phone.

And, like Ms. McEvoy, stay calm, cool and collected.

© 2008 Cyndy Hardy. Printed by permission. All rights reserved.

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