The local fire departments didn’t have helicopters designed to fly at high altitude or pilots who felt skilled enough to make the rescue. Eight hours after I pressed that SOS button, I was climbing into the helicopter and found myself being strapped in by one of the pilots. When I woke the next morning, not only had several inches of snow fallen, but I now found myself in the midst of a genuine blizzard!

And the entire time, the SAR Coordinator from the local sheriff’s office was incredibly responsive and clearly invested in getting me to safety. Then I pulled all the slack of the tent fabric taut and tucked under me it as tightly as possible to keep the strong wind from blowing me away. I needed to find somewhere out of the strong winds to protect myself from the continued onslaught of snow. With this hasty shelter in place, I was able to wrestle my sleeping bag out of my pack and wrap it around me like a cocoon inside this makeshift tent-bivy.

After reading everything I could get my hands on, and watching a bunch of YouTube videos, I learned there are two aspects to making this GPS satellite communicator work. Several FEET of snow fell during the next 12 hours, and the daytime temperature never rose above 15°F (with a windchill of 3°F). I could even make out the outline of the mountains across the lake instead of just a wall of white of snow blowing in front of me. After these two short adventures, I knew I really liked having the Garmin as an addition to my standard gear set-up. We attempted to put it up once, failed, was that frustrated with it that have never tried again since!

Then he slowly lowered the helicopter onto a flat area at the far end of the lake and landed about 300 meters from me. Steady 20 mph winds blew the snow into my tent and the wind continued to change direction and swirl around me. Having this little device on my adventures would provide a safety net that worked virtually anywhere.

Before I knew it, I was lying in a ER bed and being treated for hypothermia and the cold injuries to my hands and feet.

I took dozens of safety precautions on this trip, including checking the weather forecast just a matter of hours before this freak storm. But, I’m here to stomp on the illusion that you’re safe just because you’ve hiked thousands and thousands of miles.My situation went from bad to worse, as my tent continued to repeatedly collapse in the strong winds.

I had my headlamp on to pinpoint my location, and I was using the flashlight from my iPhone to wave back and forth so they could see me on the ground.One of the best aspects about this subscription service though is you can activate or suspend it on a monthly basis. This blizzard and high altitude was just as big of an obstacle for my rescuers trying to make their way into the backcountry as it was for me in getting out. So, I debated long and hard about this purchase while holed up during the early months of the pandemic.