Boy Scouts recovered from wasteway unharmed

Seattle-area group aided by search and rescue

GRANT COUNTY — A visiting Boy Scout troop saw a little more of the Winchester Wasteway than they planned this past weekend, and found their way home with a little help from members of Grant County Search and Rescue.

The six Boy Scouts and two adult leaders from the Seattle-area had been canoeing the wasteway when they discovered they didn't know where they were late Sunday afternoon, according to Grant County Search and Rescue team leader Marv Maslen.

"Out there in the Winchester, it's just a maze of waterways," Maslen said. "Anyone can get lost out there, anytime, even in good weather."

A five-member search and rescue team with two ultralight aircraft went in to look for the group, and Maslen said they were advised to "stay put" Sunday night. The search and rescue team was able to paddle up 2 miles into the wasteway Monday morning, and with the help of the aircraft, escorted the group out of the wasteway.

The scouts had four canoes full of equipment with them, and Maslen said the group was prepared to spend another night in the area if they had to.

The volunteer unit put in about 35 man hours and approximately three hours of flight time finding the group in the wasteway area between Dodson Road and the O'Sullivan Reservoir.

"It just meanders all over the place," Maslen said of the wasteway, "it's a pretty easy place to get lost in."

This was the first time Grant County Search and Rescue team was able to coordinate an air and ground search using the ultralight Challenger Two planes, Maslen said.

He said 70 percent of calls to search and rescue are water related.