Lost in the woods: N.B. woman's leisurely hike turns into an hours-long ordeal
CBC
It was supposed to be a leisurely little hike on a beautiful afternoon.
Instead, it turned into an hours-long ordeal that saw a woman lost in the woods, pleas for help sent out on a dying cellphone, and an entire community of Facebook group members – one of them in particular – rallying to her aid.
Andrea Saulnier's Sunday started out pleasantly enough.
"I just wanted to go on one of the trails, get some exercise," she said in an interview from her home in Weldon, in southeastern New Brunswick, the day after her misadventure.
She'd heard about the trail system at nearby White Rock Recreational Area in Hillsborough, so she headed over, took a photo of the trail map and started hiking.
"I went up one way, then I thought, nah, I'm not gonna go up there, it's getting too muddy. So I turned around, went down, went up this other path, and I thought, OK, this looks nice and straight. ... I'll take this one."
As she made her way, she ran into a couple of people who said they were "going around in circles" and had decided to turn around. It didn't seem portentous at the time, she said.
"I thought I'd just keep going. So I'm walking and it keeps going uphill and uphill and uphill, turns and twists. After a while ... I said 'Holy frig, how come I'm not getting anywhere?' "
By this time, Saulnier admits, "panic started setting in."
"I'm out of shape, I'm overweight, I'm thinking, 'This is not what I was planning for the day,' " she said.
Saulnier decided it was time to reach out for some guidance. Using her cellphone, she posted a plea on a public Facebook group, Keepers of Rte 114 NB.
Okay folks. Need some help. ... I'm in Whiterock on the Start Me Up trail. How frigging long is it? I'm running out of steam and cellphone running low.
Almost immediately, dozens of group members started responding.
"Each way is just under 4 km."
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