Backcountry Heroes Always Try to Bring Us Back

When I was leading groups into the Wyoming wilderness in the 1990s, once we left a trailhead we were on our own.

If somebody got hurt, we could walk or carry the injured person out or send runners to the road to call for support. In the case of a life- or limb-threatening emergency, we could use a transponder to try to send a coded message to a passing aircraft, pleading for help.

Things have definitely changed.

“People expect to be rescued,” said Tod Schimelfenig, who has been on the search and rescue team for Fremont County, Wyoming, since the 1970s. “Maybe it’s that a whole generation has g...