After reading an Otago Daily Times feature about the perils of tramping in the Silver Peaks, a mother and her son set off into the rough hill country on Saturday ... and got lost.
Dunedin Police Search and Rescue squad Constable Rene Aarsen said the pair - a woman in her 40s and an 18-year-old male - set off on Saturday from Whare Flat/Powder Creek and headed towards Mountain Rd on the Waikouaiti side of the Silver Peaks.
"They were going to go down Hermit Ridge, which looks feasible on a map. But in reality, once you get out of the tussock, the bush gets denser and denser until you can't go any further."
By Sunday evening, they were stuck in very dense bush.
Realising their predicament, they decided to set up camp for the night, Const Aarsen said.
The pair called police using a mobile phone at 7am yesterday, saying they were lost, the mother was dehydrated and "feeling dizzy".
"They were very well equipped - except for water. Like many people, they underestimated the amount of water and its availability on the Silver Peaks top," Const Aarsen said.
"They also underestimated the terrain and the difficulty of getting through the dense bush in the Silver Peaks.
"The irony is, they had read the ODT feature."
Const Aarsen said a rescue party was helicoptered to within two hours' walking distance of the pair, but could not land at, or winch from, the site because the wind was "quite atrocious".
"They were pleased to see us. It didn't take long to find them because we had cellphone contact with them.
"They were feeling relieved, but a bit embarrassed.
"They are reasonably experienced trampers. They've got a few tramps under their belts and they had a fairly well planned trip - apart from going off the main ridge."
Const Aarsen said the pair were lucky, because soon after they were picked up at a clearing by the helicopter, the weather had closed in.
"They were pretty fortunate that the weather held off as long as it did.
"The chopper ride in was very interesting. I was glad to get my feet back on solid ground."
All were delivered safely back to Mosgiel without injury at 11.30am yesterday.
Department of Conservation coastal Otago recreation programme manager Bill Wheeler said those who tramped regularly in the Silver Peaks area knew Hermit Ridge was risky and often impassable.
Had the pair discussed their tramping route with someone with experience in the area, they may not have needed rescuing, he said.
Mr Wheeler considered the Silver Peaks was not a good place to learn about tramping, because everyone learnt by their mistakes and it was not a good place to make mistakes.
He said Doc had recently upgraded the track from the main Silver Peaks entrance in Mountain Rd to the popular Jubilee Hut with bright orange markers.
He recommended trampers new to the area should use this route.
"It's the best marked section and it's a heavily used track.
"It gives people a good experience of walking to an outback hut, and it's right on the back doorstep of Dunedin."
