Lake Country Search & Rescue shared a story last week about a hiker that went missing on Colorado’s highest peak- Mount Elbert.
The hiker was reported overdue by a friend when they didn’t return by 8:00PM on October 18th. The hiker had set out on Mount Elbert at 9:00AM earlier that morning.
Lake County Search & Rescue called the hiker’s phone multiple times, but they didn’t answer because the calls were coming from an unknown number. The hiker eventually found their way back to their car after hiking/being lost for almost 24 hours.
The hiker reportedly didn’t know that Search and Rescue crews were even out searching for them. Check out the full story below:
I have a couple of thoughts on this story… as you might expect.
For one, can we please establish some blame on the telemarketing companies for shit like this? I’m sure it seemed mostly harmless 20 years ago when every company and pyramid scheme artist was setting up their automatic robocall systems, but looks what it’s done. It’s gotten to the point where none of us even answer the phone unless we know who is calling. Crazy, right?
Also, if this hiker had enough cellphone service that these calls were coming through shouldn’t he or she have contacted whoever reported them overdue? Seems odds that they established a set hiking plan with a buddy, got lost, and didn’t call or text when they clearly had cell reception at some point during the hike…
Seems like a lot of things could have been done differently, and I’m ultimately just glad that the hiker made it back safe after what was probably a cold and scary night up on Mount Elbert.
Biggest takeaway from this story: Answer your phone if you’re ever lost when out on a hike, climb, backcountry ski trip, or whatever. It could be a search and rescue crew trying to locate you!
Featured Image Credit: Hogs555 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
