Hiker, Missing For 50 Days, Emerges Alive From Canadian Rockies

A Canadian hiker, who went missing 50 days ago, survived the frigid wilderness of the northern Rocky Mountains in British Columbia, authorities said.

Two oil and gas workers found Sam Benastick, 20, shivering and moving slowly on the road with the help of a stick and cut-up sleeping bag wrapped around his legs, The Guardian reported.

Mr Benastick is being treated at a hospital in Fort Nelson, British Columbia, over seven weeks after he was last seen heading into the wild, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said on Wednesday, adding he suffers from frostbite as well as smoke inhalation caused after his makeshift shelter caught fire.

He set out on a 10-day camping trip on October 7 but was reported missing by his family after he did not return home on October 17. He headed to the Redfern-Keily Provincial Park, an 80,000-hectare area comprising glaciers, waterfalls, lakes and forest valleys.

“Finding Sam alive is the absolute best outcome,” The New York Times quoted police spokesperson Madonna Saunderson as saying. She added that after all the time he went missing, the police feared this “would not be the outcome.

Mr Benastick informed the police that he stayed in his car for a couple of days before walking to a creek on the mountainside, where he camped for another 10-15 days. Health officials said that as of now he is “doing well.”

The “unbelievable miracle” came after police, rescue workers and his family members took part in an extensive search and scanned a landscape of mountains and blankets of snow.

Over 50 people, along with search dogs, scoured the region looking for any hint that Mr Benastick may have left.

Access to this region is challenging as the park is 50 miles (80 km) away from the closest road. "Be prepared for any weather conditions while visiting the park: you are in an isolated area and weather can change rapidly," reads its official website.

In recent days, the temperatures here have dipped to as low as -20 degree Celsius and even less than that as snow blanketed the ground.