FORKS — Will Newman is the first to admit that he should have known better.
The 36-year-old Chicago man spent about seven hours Wednesday with his fishing buddy, Michael Warneck, lost in the woods while trying to find the Bogachiel River.
Newman said they were simply too excited about the day of fishing ahead of them, and perhaps a bit arrogant, to think about bringing a map or compass when they left their car alongside state Highway 110 and walked south in the general direction of the river.
“We were just being stupid, man,” he said. “If anything, I’m not going back out without a compass again.”
Newman and Warneck, also 36 and from Chicago, reached the river four hours later but decided it was too risky to try to find their car again before dark.
Instead of casting a line, they opted to start walking back and call for help.
Sgt. Brian King with the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said he received the call at about 1:30 p.m. and found them tired and wet on a logging road about 40 minutes later.
“They were going in the right direction when they left their car,” he said. “But when they left the road and hit the tree line is when they got turned around.”
King said he found Warneck and Newman about a mile away from their car and used the sirens on his patrol car to help guide them in the right direction.
Newman said he was simply relieved to be found.
“We did the right thing” by calling for help, he said. “If I was younger, I would never have done that.”
Newman said they hiked about 15 miles.
“Me and my buddy walked ourselves to exhaustion,” he said.
But in all, Newman said, it added a bit of adventure to the trip, and they both plan to take another shot at fishing the Bogachiel today.
“Even with what happened today, it’s part of the fun,” he said.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
