He went missing on Vancouver Island. A whistle and a makeshift sledge got him home
This story has everything: car troubles, a MacGyvered wagon, dangerous wildlife and an unexpected ending
Dallin Beaumier did everything right.
The 33-year-old left a detailed plan with family and packed the right gear.
Even so, he ended up in several unexpected situations on his journey to and from Della Falls, smack dab in the middle of Vancouver Island.
What was even more unexpected, perhaps, was when he showed up on the doorstep of a local search and rescue more than a week after his harrowing ordeal began.
It all started when Beaumier, of Burnaby, B.C., began his journey to the falls on June 30. He decided to drive up to the falls, taking backwoods logging roads, after looking at the price of the water taxi generally required to get there.
He knew it would be difficult, and it was: on the way up, the muffler on his 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier car bent in half. On the way out, his oil pan struck a rock and leaked, and then his transmission started to fail.
But let's back up a bit, to what happened in between car troubles.
Not alone
Beaumier parked his car and hiked about 20 kilometres to the Della Falls trailhead, where he took in spectacular views. On the way down on July 2, he camped for the night, alone in the campground — or so he thought.
"There was no birds chirping, no woodpeckers. It was quite silent," he said.
Then suddenly, he heard a growling sound.
"I was just like, what is that? A helicopter?"
It was a cougar.
Though he had taken a knife and bear spray into the woods, he didn't have them within reach, so Beaumier grabbed a large rock.
When the cougar retreated, Beaumier prepared to go to sleep on a bed of moss, breathing the open air. But he had a feeling the cougar was still lurking.
"I blew on my whistle and then I heard scampering in the trees. And I was just like, OK, it's still around.
"As I was falling asleep, I heard something come up behind me and it just started yowling. You feel it down your spine, like it was terrifying."
Beaumier began yelling and started a campfire, staying up through most of the night to stay alert. As he dozed off as the sun came up, he saw the cougar's tail end disappear into the brush.
Building a wagon
Then came the trip back, on July 3. After his transmission went, Beaumier realized he'd have to hike out with whatever he could carry from the car. But he would need more than he could pack out on his back.
Survival mode had kicked in and he started making a wagon out of car parts.
"I took the two spare tires in the back of my car and then I cut my walking stick in half and I put it through the catalytic converter and then … I just cut the muffler and then ground it into quarters and then hammered that down with my blowtorch," he said.
And then that broke.
So he turned the wagon into a makeshift sledge. He pulled it for two days, before he stopped to camp, boil some drinking water and rest, and had another surprising encounter.
"And once I got to the bottom [of the hill], I had a bear encounter."
When he saw its "big fuzzy wuzzy" face watching him through the trees, he yelled and blew his whistle to scare the animal away.
From there, he continued on his journey. Filled with adrenaline, Beaumier said he got very little sleep.
Knock at the door
Meanwhile, his family had called the RCMP, acting on instructions from Beaumier to go for help if he hadn't returned within a week of his departure. The RCMP then called in the local search and rescue team.
Alberni Valley Rescue Squad search manager Richard Johns said members were sent by helicopter into the Della Falls area to search on July 7.
"Although they didn't see his vehicle, they did quickly locate a lot of indications that he had been there," Johns said. Indications like tracks from Beaumier's sledge.
"We definitely knew he was in the area."
The next afternoon, as the squad was sending out its last team of the day, there was a knock on the door of their headquarters.
"There was the person I've been looking at a picture of all day," Johns said.
Five days after setting out from Della Falls, Beaumier had made it out. He said he was lucky enough to meet a friendly man at a campground along his path, who gave him a ride to town. The two enjoyed a meal at McDonald's together before heading to the rescue squad hall.
"The random photo we had downloaded off of Facebook happened to be the same shirt he was wearing as he walked in," Johns said.
"Our teams … heard his story, there was a lot of big smiles and a lot of appreciation for the amount of effort he put into walking for as long as he did and putting the effort into self rescue. Our teams definitely won't be forgetting this for a while."
Planning and communication
Johns said his team "lucked out" because of how detailed Beaumier's trip plan was, and that he had shared it with family before heading out.
The plan included what equipment he was taking, the route he planned — down to where he was going to park his car — and when to call for help if he hadn't returned.
Beaumier said he hopes others do that in the future, so that it saves rescuers time if they're trying to find you.
He also suggests people take a whistle when they're in the backcountry.
"That whistle was actually a lifesaver," he said.
It was a lot of planning for a trip that went off the rails several times.
So, was it worth it?
"Oh my goodness, that Della Falls view, it's like a three-tiered waterfall, highly recommend it," Beaumier said.
"Some of my ancestors carried wagons across the plains from Missouri to Utah, and so I gained a true appreciation for how much work that took. I was taught strength and a little bit more humility from that experience."
But he feels deeply sorry for the mess he left behind.
"I do want to apologize to the public for leaving my vehicle up there. I hate littering, but it belongs to the mountain now."
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With files from Claire Palmer