Most of us can only imagine how frightening it would be to be lost in the wilderness and have to spend the night without knowing whether you would live through it. That is what one hiker in Colorado experienced after he was lost for 24 hours.
The hiker, who has remained anonymous, was missing for all that time, but they were trying to contact him. In fact, he had ignored repeated phone calls from rescuers, and the reason why he ignored those phone calls was what was getting the most attention.
The explorer was lost in the woods and when people were calling him to find his location, he ignored the calls because they were from an unknown number. Rather than picking up the phone and seeing who was on the other end, he decided to ignore the calls altogether.
This all happened on October 18, 2021, when he was reported missing after not coming back in after an expedition. They were attempting to hike up Mount Elbert, which is the highest peak in Colorado.
According to Lake County Search and Rescue, they were having a difficult time finding the hiker on the following day, as it seemed as if he had wandered off of the trail. They were even attempting to find him as the sun was going down.
They did find a trail and made it to the car eventually, and they had no idea there was a search team out looking for them. According to the Lake County Search and Rescue: “Multiple attempts to contact the subject via their cell phone were unsuccessful.
“The subject stated they’d lost the trail around nightfall and spent the night searching for the trail, and once on the trail, bounced around onto different trails trying to locate the proper trailhead, finally reaching their car the next morning, approximately 24 hours after they’d started their hike. They had no idea that SAR was out looking for them.
“One notable take-away is that the subject ignored repeated phone calls from us because they didn’t recognize the number. If you’re overdue according to your itinerary, and you start getting repeated calls from an unknown number, please answer the phone; it may be a SAR team trying to confirm you’re safe!
“Finally, to Mount Elbert hikers, please remember that the trail is obscured by snow above treeline, and will be in that condition now through probably late June. Please don’t count on following your ascent tracks to descend the mountain, as wind will often cover your tracks.”
They were nice enough to say that it may seem like common sense now but it may not be so obvious when you are in a stressful situation.