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Wilderness Survival Test Prepare for the worst

"BE PREPARED." It's more than just the Boy Scout Motto. For Arizona Highways photographer Lon McAdam, these are words to live by. McAdam confronted a life-and-death situation on a recent trek through the harsh and unforgiving Superstition Wilderness.

Shrewd preparation and backcountry savvy got him home in one piece.

"I called this the 'final push, " McAdam says. "My oldest son, Travis, and I had been hiking to this canyon and exploring the lower reaches. Gaining a better understanding of the canyon, we now could plan the final push."

Familiar with the terrain and water sources along the route, they plotted a nine-day trip up Rough Canyon to the summit of Cimeron Mountain. There, they would celebrate the completion of a journey more than three years in the making. But when the time came to go, neither Travis nor McAdam's usual hiking buddies could accompany him.

"It's either stay home and dream, or go solo," the 54-yearold McAdam says. "Solitude in the backcountry has been a companion I've kept since my teenage years. I've spent a thousand days alone in the wilderness.

In the cool days of early April, McAdam set out alone. His backpack was heavy with camera gear, food, water and other necessities of wilderness survival, including a rented satellite telephone. He'd also left a detailed map marking his campsites in Rough Canyon with his wife, Toni. No reason to think this trip would be any different from past solo treks.

On his second night in the canyon, McAdam called Toni to let her know everything was fine. The next day that all changed. Scrambling through a boulder-strewn section of the creek bed, he stumbled and went down hard, fracturing his left kneecap on the rocks. Immediately he tried calling Toni, but trees overhead interfered with the satellite signal. He shoved the phone back into his pack and moved into a clearing. In the heat of the moment, he inadvertently knocked the bite valve off his hydration pack, dousing the phone and rendering it useless.

"It was just a simple little trip," McAdam said. "I broke my knee, drenched my phone and pretty much realized I was screwed."

Shaken but alert, McAdam assessed the wreckage of his big adventure. Just three days into his conquest of Rough Canyon and the trip was suddenly over. Anticipation turned to disappointment. With his phone out of commission and Toni not expecting him home for another six days, he knew he'd have to endure the long wait for rescue in extreme pain. Afterstabilizing his knee with duct tape, he crawled up a hillside to position his blue tarp where searchers might spot it.

Once a secure camp was set up, McAdam's focus shifted to another concern. This is bear country. He knew they frequented this drainage from all the bear scat he had seen. Restricted mobility made it impossible to keep his food a safe distance from the campsite, but he was able to hoist it over a high branch in a nearby tree.

"I'm never without a can of pepper spray on my person when I'm in bear country, and I let bears know I'm in the vicinity by whistling and occasional bellows of some sort," he said.

With little to do but wait, McAdam finally picked up his camera, turning it on himself to document his ordeal.

When he failed to return home on schedule, Toni called Pinal County Sheriff's Office to report her husband missing. To aid in the search, she contacted the satellite phone company to pinpoint the location of his last call. Reliable information on his whereabouts prompted the quick dispatch of a search helicopter to Rough Canyon.

The sound of the approaching chopper alerted McAdam that rescue had arrived. Reflections from his small signal mirror caught searchers' attention, and soon he was enjoying an aerial view of the Superstition Mountains he hadn't expected on this hike. Within hours he was back home surrounded by family.

Surgery and rehab to repair his busted knee have curbed his hiking for now, but this painful episode is not the final chapter of his story in the aptly named Rough Canyon. "I will complete my trek eventually," McAdam says. He holds no grudge against the canyon that chewed him up and spit him out.

McAdam once wrote, "Those of us who venture into the wilderness know full well that the biggest threat to survival is the image in our mirrors. Our success or failure, our life or death, depend on the decisions we make in the backcountry. We'd never blame the landscape or natural forces for our mistakes."

A publisher has approached him about telling his story of survival in an upcoming book. He says there are things he'll do differently next time, but the story has a happy ending because he was prepared. And if McAdam does write the book, it should be required reading for all Boy Scouts.