An 80-year-old man from Taichung took a train to Tainan at noon on the 7th. After searching online, he found that there was a hiking trail in Beiling Mountain, Yujing, that only took 40 minutes, so he rented a motorcycle and headed to Yujing for the hike. However, what was supposed to be a 40-minute trek ended up taking over four hours, and the elderly man became lost. His family, upon learning of the situation, quickly reported it to the authorities. Fortunately, when firefighters found him, he was unharmed apart from slight hypothermia, bringing an end to the scare.
According to reports, the elderly man took a train from Taichung to Tainan at noon to go sightseeing. Having prior experience hiking alone, he searched on Google and found the hiking trail in Beiling Mountain, Yujing, which he believed would take just 40 minutes to reach the summit trig point. Confident, he rented a scooter, rode for over an hour to Yujing, and began his solo hike.
The elderly man began climbing at around 12:30 pm on the 7th, but the mountain area was overgrown with weeds. By 5:30 pm, he still hadn’t found the trig point. Not having brought any hiking gear or food, and not wanting to worry his family, he called home to explain the situation. He had initially planned to spend the night on the mountain and descend the next day, but his family, alarmed by the call, quickly reported him missing and sought help.
After receiving the report, the Tainan City Fire Bureau dispatched 36 officers and volunteers, including the Yujing Fire Station, Special Search Unit, Yujing Volunteer Firefighters, Yujing Volunteer Mountain Rescue Team, and others, to search for the elderly man in the Beiling Mountain area. They spent about two hours calling out for him before finally locating him. He was found with stable vital signs, no injuries, and only slight hypothermia. After administering appropriate care, they contacted his family to pick him up.
Liao Ding-jun, captain of the Yujing Fire Station, said that the Beiling Mountain hiking trail had not been maintained for years and was overgrown with vegetation. Just six months ago, another young person also got lost in the mountains while using Google for hiking. Fortunately, that person also managed to get down safely. Liao urged that those who are not locals should avoid hiking alone on lesser-known trails.
(China Times)