(Smith County Insider Press) Carthage, Tenn. – On Tuesday, September 1, the Smith County Sheriff’s Department dispatcher received a call reporting that a 27 year old male was lost on Bearwaller Gap Trail.
The male individual had started hiking the trail from the Turkey Creek side. Not knowing how long the trail was, the man was too far in to make it back to his vehicle before the sun went down. He was stranded on the trail and he had no form of light to be able to find his way out. The man was in contact with his girl friend via cell phone, and she called the sheriff’s Department to receive help.
The Smith County Rescue Squad search and rescue team was called in to help locate the lost man. Three teams of rescuers searched the trail. One team started hiking the trail at each end, and there was a third team in a rescue boat.
The man continued walking in the dark for hours, then he eventually started seeing headlights of vehicles passing by on a roadway in the distance. He made is way to the roadway, where he was met by a rescue squad member that was passing by at that time. The man was found around 9:30 p.m., and he had been in the woods for over 6 hours.
The 6 mile long Bearwaller Gap trail is located between the Scenic Overlook on Turkey Creek Highway (Tater Knobb) and the parking lot at the Picnic Shelter at Defeated Creek Campground.
The name of the man has not been released at this time.
