RE: Without my Slow Stick tonight...
Been there buddy. Not as bad, but I lost a slope soarer with a PCM receiver and two nice metal gear servos.
I went to a gardening store and got a bunch of bamboo poles, strapped 3 or four together with duct tape, and just kept strapping more on as I pushed each 8-ish foot pole further up the tree. I managed to get up to the plane and poke it around a fair bit, but it eventually got dark and I left it there for the night. The next afternoon it had gone (probably some kid used my poles to dislodge it and went home with my plane :/ )
But yeah, try bamboo poles or some other long, light pole and strap a bunch together =)