PASS LAKE, Summit County — The family of a Utah County Boy Scout missing for a week in the High Uintas won't give up, not yet, not until their hearts tell them they should search no longer.
"We'll just keep going," said Gary Hansen, who is spearheading the search coordinated by Garrett Bardsley's family. "We'll just keep looking,"
The boy's parents, Kevin and Heidi Bardsley, took a break Friday to seek spiritual comfort at a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The couple planned to rejoin the search today.
As the effort to find Garrett Bardsley continues this weekend, officials urge volunteers to come properly prepared for the rugged conditions.
While child volunteers are adorable — like the 3-year-old girl who rode her Shetland pony alongside her mother and father at the search this week — a volunteer who can't keep up or who misses an assigned search section can compromise the integrity of the entire effort, Hansen said.
"Stay in tight lines no more than five steps apart, key off your partner. If you separate and miss a spot, it could be that's the spot Garrett is at," Hansen said.
About 70 volunteer searchers headed out from the family's camp Friday morning to the Weber River Basin area.
Nearly 50 trained searchers took off from the county sheriff's command site with dogs, horses and mules to assist in searching the same area.
Hundreds more volunteers are expected for the weekend effort, some from as far away as California.
Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds said he has no problem with the family-coordinated search effort that may seem to be duplicating his search for the boy.
"The family is going through a process none of us can understand," Edmunds said earlier this week. "We have to respect that."
Edmunds said the two camps coordinate efforts and share data. And he doesn't feel like it's a waste of time to search one area more than once — it ensures all surrounding areas are thoroughly searched by several pairs of eyes.
The sheriff, however, did caution that volunteers need to be careful and avoid getting lost or hurting themselves.
Edmunds said the search area is roughly 36 square miles. It's marked with heavy timber, boulder fields and rock chutes.
Garrett Bardsley could be under a ledge, lodged in a crevice or hidden in a cave. He may have been attacked and dragged off by a bear or a mountain lion, though that's unlikely, Edmunds said.
While searchers combed the mountainside, classes at Spanish Fork Middle School began Wednesday without Garrett Bardsley, who is enrolled in the sixth grade.
Principal Steve Dudley said the impact to the student body was minimized because Garrett Bardsley was new to the school. He attended Salem Elementary last year, and 40 to 50 students from Salem are at Spanish Fork Middle School this year.
"The teachers had not met him," said Dudley, although many know his older siblings.
One boy who began school this week knew Garrett Bardsley well. He was on the camp trip with him when he disappeared. Another boy at the school was among those who have spent time at the search.
"I've talked with the boys involved," Dudley said. "None of the students have talked with grief counselors who are available, but one of the mothers did."
Garrett Bardsley apparently became disoriented Aug. 20 as he headed back to camp to change out of wet clothes. He had been fishing with his father about 150 yards from the camp site.
The pair were participating in a three-day camping trip with a Scout troop.
Kevin Bardsley believes his son Garrett must have panicked when he became disoriented and likely ran in the wrong direction looking for help.
Garrett was carrying a short, chrome and black ice-fishing pole and wearing a hooded black sweatshirt, reversible red and black sweatpants, and white Converse tennis shoes when he was last seen.
Ed Bonner, who is helping search for the missing boy, has taken numerous groups of boys on hikes through the area.
"When I come, I make a couple of them go ahead and be out front. They ask me, 'Where do we go? ' and I make them think about what they're doing. Boys that age, they don't think," Bonner said. "They just go."
Requirements to be on Bradley search teams
Those searching with the Bardsley family teams can be amateurs but must be in good health and able to search without supervision.
Those searching with the Summit County sheriff's teams must be certified in rescue and recovery operations.
The command center is at mile marker 32 on U-150 just south of Mirror Lake in the Wasatch National Forest.
Searcher checklist
Dress in layers for all-seasons weather
Wear warm gloves and sturdy hiking shoes
Bring a GPS monitor or a hand-held radio if possible
Bring a helmet for steep terrain searches
Check in — and out — with search organizers
Have water with you and food for the day
Don't pick up anything you find, call it in to the command center.
Contributing: Tad Walch; E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com