When the eight Boy Scouts and three leaders of a Boy Scout troop from Raleigh failed to return as scheduled from a hiking trip in the Pisgah NF on Sunday, a major search was begun that included five rangers from the park. The search, managed by Haywood County Emergency Services, was entirely outside of the park. They were found in good condition on Monday morning. According to CNN, the troop was on a weekend camping trip in the Black Balsam Gap area near the parkway in southern Haywood County. They veered off a hiking trail and got lost, so decided to camp out for an extra night rather than try to find their way out in the dark. Search teams combed the area on Sunday night, but found no sign of the scouts. A searcher located them Monday morning. Said a Boy Scout official: “As the Scout motto says, they were prepared, and they did just as they were supposed to."
