With all the new forms of communication we have now, it's nice to know some old ones still work . . .
A guy in California named Curtis Whitson recently went on a multi-day camping trip with his girlfriend and 13-year-old son. And they hiked across a river, then couldn't get back.
The water rose faster than they expected, so they had no way out. And there was no cell service. So they had to resort to putting a MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE, and sending it over a WATERFALL in hopes someone would find it.
They took a green water bottle and scratched the word "HELP" on it. Then they put a note inside that said, "We are stuck. We're at the waterfall. Get help, please."
Two hikers found the bottle about a quarter-mile downstream and called for help. Then a rescue helicopter spotted them around midnight, but had to wait until morning to air-lift them out.
None of them were hurt, and they're all fine. Curtis's son Hunter says he couldn't believe the message-in-a-bottle idea actually worked.
(ABC News / Fox News) (Here are photos of the bottle and the note.) Image © 2019 Getty Images