Wolf Wilds › Signals and Rescue
Photo Daniel-tbs, CC BY-SA 4.0
Leaving a trip plan
The piece of paper that starts the search before anybody misses you.
What you need
- One person who will actually call it in
- Your route and your turnaround point
- Your vehicle and where it will be parked
- What you are wearing and what colour it is
- The time you will be back and the time they call for help
How
- Write it down and hand it over. A text they will scroll past is not a plan.
- Give a hard overdue time, not a soft one. Say: if you have not heard from me by nine, call the RCMP.
- Name the trailhead, the pond, the cabin or the road, and the way in and the way out if they differ.
- Say who is with you and what shape they are in.
- Call in when you are out. An unclosed plan sends people looking for somebody sat home on the couch.
Watch for
Danger
- Do not change the route once the plan is out unless you can tell somebody.
- Do not lean on the phone. A plan works where there are no bars.
- Leave a note on the dash with the same detail. The vehicle is what gets found first.
Notes
Searchers spend the first hours working out where you are not. A trip plan hands them that for nothing and moves the search to where you actually are.
Updated 2026-09-05
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