A lost hiker has been found alive in the Canadian wilderness after surviving more than five weeks as snow fell and temperatures plunged below -20C.
Sam Benastick, 20, was reported missing after failing to return home from a 10-day camping trip in Redfern-Keily Park in the northern Rocky Mountains on October 17.
An official search effort to find the young adventurer was called off 11 days later as peaks and rivers had been searched to try and trace his steps.
Out of the blue on Tuesday two people heading to the Redfern Lake trail for work, saw a man walking toward them and recognised him as the missing hiker.
He had been found on a service road supporting himself with walking sticks with his cut-up sleeping bag wrapped around his legs for warmth.
Mr Benastick had last been seen at the trailhead of the Redfern Lake trail, where he was riding a red Honda dirt bike weeks earlier.
In total, including the time on his planned trip, he spent 50 days in the wilderness and had been reported missing for more than five weeks, CBC News reported.
The 20-year-old eventually told police that he stayed in his car for a couple of days and then walked to a creek, mountain side where he camped out for 10-15 days.
The hiker then moved down the valley and built a camp and shelter in a dried-out creek bed.
He later made his way to where he flagged down the two men and was taken to safety.
Shortly after his rescue, Mr Benastick’s mother posted a photo of him with his thumbs up in a hospital bed.
She wrote: “Complained that he hasn't caught one fish. He will make recovery just needs some time."
The adventurer’s parents had stayed in the area where he went missing for over 20 days in October while they searched for their son.
In an interview on CBC, Sam Benastick’s uncle described how his nephew was suffering from “frostbite and some smoke inhalation” after his adventures.
Al Benastick said: "It's kind of unbelievable. Imagine being out there, being that cold, for that long."
More than 120 volunteers were involved in a major search effort in difficult conditions, as were RCMP canine units and aerial support.
There was no potable drinking water and few shelters in the remote in Redfern-Keily Park, and dangers included rapidly changing temperatures and grizzly and black bears.
Mr Benastick's rescuers told a manager at a nearby inn that the 20-year-old had nearly collapsed of weakness when he was put into an ambulance.
"Finding Sam alive is the absolute best outcome," said Cpl Madonna Saunderson, from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “After all the time he was missing, it was feared that this would not be the outcome.”
Eileen Stevens, Mr Benastick's "Nana" described how he had been well prepared for the trip and done lots of research in advance, before joking that she would get him a GPS for Christmas.
She told CBC: "Sam is a guy who knows the woods. He's been raised — he's a hiker. He's a passionate fisherman."
"I don't know his story, but I'm sure it's going to be friggin' amazing," she said.
