Lost in the wilderness
Ron Gibeault recounts rescue after losing trail on way to cabin
Joseph Tunney
Northern News Services
Friday, August 26, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Ron Gibeault says he made a mistake after he hit a tree with his Argo ATV near his cabin, close to 100 kilometres east of Yellowknife.
Ron Gibeault was lost for 32 hours in the wilderness in late July. Here, he points to Goose Lake, where he was discovered. - Joseph Tunney/NNSL photo |
He thought he could walk back to his cabin, without any of his gear, alone.
"It was a stupid mistake," Gibeault said Wednesday at his store, Ron's Equipment Rental & Industrial Supply, on Kam Lake Road.
He had flown to the cabin on Consolation Lake on July 28 to check out some old trails nearby. While out on the trail he hit a tree, causing the transition on his vehicle to malfunction, with only the reverse working.
With the cabin being a little over three kilometres away, and Gibeault being comfortable in the bush, he thought he could make the walk. After leaving his ATV around noon that day, it would be 32 hours before he was picked up by a Summit Air airplane near Goose Lake. He chose an old trail that ended up taking him away from Consolation Lake. Gibeault said the terrain soon became difficult, with steep rocks and burnt swamp, making walking difficult.
Then, he said he became confused about where he was - he found it was difficult to distinguish one lake from another.
"It took me until the next day to realize that I made the wrong turn," he said. "The reason I knew I had made the wrong turn is because I could see the airplanes. I could see a helicopter."
Around 5 a.m. the next morning, some of Gibeault's relatives and Mike Rarog from Arctic Response Canada went out in an ATV and boat to find him. When they couldn't, Gibeault was reported as missing and more rescue crews joined the search. Gibeault tried to wave down the search-and-rescue planes he saw, but couldn't because he was still in the woods.
"I was waving with my vest, a life-jacket," he said. "They still couldn't spot me."
After being passed over three or four times, he walked around Goose Lake and climbed on top of a hill.
When he reached the top, his iPhone caught some reception, giving him the ability to call his daughter-in-law, Cynthia Pavlovich.
"Where he was, he just got lucky enough," she said about the fact he was able to make a call from so far outside Yellowknife. He told her he was near Goose Lake, something he knew because he had gone fishing there in the past.
Pavlovich then called the cabin where his wife, Joan Gibeault, could then help crews in the air locate him. Soon, a Summit Air plane landed on Goose Lake and crews began climbing the hill towards Ron.
Pavlovich said he had jokingly asked the airplanes to just drop a bottle of water for him.
"(He was like), 'I'm really thirsty,'" she said.
By 8:15 p.m. July 29, Ron had been rescued.
"I think I was in shock," Joan said about her husband being lost in the woods.
For Gibeault and his family, the ordeal has been a learning experience he hopes others can take lessons from. Gibeault said he knows best practice is to stay with one's broken vehicle or bring gear with them but said he can't really explain why he didn't follow those guidelines.
"I didn't even use my GPS," he said.
Overall, the family is thankful things turned out for the best, thankful for the rescue teams and thankful for everybody else who helped bring Gibeault home.
"Everybody was willing to do everything they could do," said Gibeault.
