According to the Taichung City Fire Bureau’s Second Search and Rescue Team, frontline rescuers learned from the two rescued hikers, Chen Youzhu and Zhang Yunqian, that they had planned a day trip between Black Forest and 369 Mountain Hut on December 31 of last year. As such, they only brought warm clothing, two Mentos (candies), a lighter, a map, a GPS device, a mobile phone, and a small amount of drinking water.
After entering Black Forest, the two hikers strayed from the main trail and lost their way. When they tried to call for help, they found that both their GPS and mobile phone batteries were drained. They spent the night in a cirque area on January 1; on January 2, they walked along Qijiawan Stream. Based on their watch’s altitude function, they were at 2,700 meters. The pair judged that they had walked too far along the valley and decided to head vertically uphill. Fortunately, they chose the right direction. On January 3, the weather cleared up with clouds and fog dissipating, allowing them to get back on the correct path. At 14:13, they returned to 369 Mountain Hut.
During their time lost, the two heard helicopters flying overhead and even tried to signal their location by starting a fire, but they did not notice any rescue operations taking place.
(China Times)