A Wellington tramper who became lost at the weekend did everything right, except carry a personal locator beacon, police said.
The 34-year-old man was walking alone on the track from Ahuriri Valley to Lake Ohau via Maitland Gorge. He was due to be picked up at 4pm on Sunday at Lake Ohau, but never arrived.
Police were advised he was missing on Sunday evening and Omarama Search and Rescue crews were mobilised the next morning.
The tramper was located by helicopter ‘‘alive and well'' with no injuries about 2.30pm on Monday.
Sergeant Blair Wilkinson, of Oamaru, said the tramper, who was about four hours off course, realised he was lost when it was too late in the day to retrace his steps to the Maitland hut where he had stopped for lunch.
The tramper had spent the previous night at the Snowy Gorge hut and had left information in the intention books both there and at Maitland hut.
He made a cross out of his pack liner and a bivouac, and he used the flash from his camera to catch the attention of the helicopter crew. Sgt Wilkinson said LandSAR had been ‘‘very happy'' with the planning of the man's trip and the decisions he had made along the way, but the 22 hours he was lost would have been reduced if the tramper had been carrying a personal locator beacon.
