An ill-prepared hiker who attempted to bushwhack to the summit of a 13er in Chaffee County on Nov. 8 was located and brought down safely by Chaffee County Search and Rescue North after nearly 10 hours, according to a Facebook post. The individual had been caught in inclement weather and was hypothermic when found by search and rescue.
Per the post, the individual found themselves out of water with no food and was only wearing a cotton hoodie with no other way to warm themselves. As darkness set in, they chose to traverse down an avalanche chute to try to get to a road rather than hiking down the same way they had come up.
The individual was able to contact search and rescue at about 7 p.m., but their phone’s GPS was unable to provide an exact location, according to the post. The response team made up of about 25 search and rescue members was sent out to search for the individual, and at approximately 12:42 a.m. on Nov. 9, they found footprints in six to eight inches of fresh snow as they descended into the gully.
At about 2 a.m., the team came across an odd-looking rock, only to discover that it was the individual — alive, but hypothermic — curled up in the fetal position and covered with snow. After warming the individual up for three hours, the team began extracting them around 5 a.m. They were being evaluated in an ambulance by 7 a.m.
“CCSAR-N and CCSAR-S would like to remind everyone that the 10 essentials are ‘Essential’ for a reason,” the search and rescue group posted on Facebook. “While you may not plan to be out in inclement weather the 10 essentials are essential in helping to keep you alive. … It is also always a good idea to look up the weather before your hike and prepare accordingly.”
