Archived News
Lost hikers home safe
A mother and son are back to safety after spending a night lost in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Christy Barns, 40, and her son Casey, 16, were visiting the park from Wisconsin and hiking the Forney Creek Trail. But near sunset on Sunday, June 7, Christy sent a text to family members saying they were lost and needed help. Rangers soon found the Barns’ vehicle at Clingmans Dome and launched a ground search Monday morning.
By 2 p.m., the pair had been found in good condition along the trail. The search involved 30 National Park Service employees, with 15 of those actively searching the field along trails where the two were believed most likely to be found.
