I left my truck at Mt. Evans campground at 1145 with the intention of going on a small 2 hour hike. I have done this particular hike at least 25 times in the past 5 years. It is not a difficult hike. I have always been a solo hiker and have done 3 14ers completely alone...Everyone has always warned me that something would happen..I have never paid it any mind until yesterday. I am a very safe hiker. I had contacted my best friend Bret Defnet the night before to tell him 4 oclock was when to look for my phone call. After 6 was the trouble zone.Same as well had always done. Around 1 pm I arrived at a small bend in the trail and there was no clear cut path..this was new and there was large grass that had overgrown everywhere. I decided to go left and if it was wrong I would retrace my steps. After around 100 yards the trail simply ended in fallen trees. I began to make my way back to the original trail when suddenly my own trail dissapeared it was gone like it had never exsisted. Panicked I found a large group of boulders that over looked the area. I climbed to the top and it was clear that I was lost. It had begun to rain rather steadily and I was not prepared for this type of rainfall but I did have a dry sweatshirt in my camel pack. I had to make a decision on what to do and where to go. I had plenty of water, some food and it was 2pm I decided to head all the way down to a river I had seen many times. My thought process being that I would then take the river downstream until I found a bigger body of water or if lucky a group of white water rafters would spot me. It took 1 hour and 45 minutes to get to the bottom falling very often and sliding on my rear and occasionally having to jump small ledges. Once I hit the river it was fast and loud! The first major obstacle was the trecherous terrain surrounding it. Fallen trees everywhere and I would at least once a hour fall into the river trying to cross from one side to the other to avoid boulders. The sky would not let up and the light rain was now a downpour. I felt I was making no progress and I was beyond frustrated. Wet, hungry and very much aware that I could die. I would basically find a 50-100 yard clearance among the trees and fallen debris and run. My shoes had become as wet as the ground and I would fall very often. I knew around 430 I was fighting for my life. 2 hours would go by and that was my give up time and seek higher shelter time. I began calling 911 with no signal at 425 and every 1000 steps I would stop dry the phone off and call. I am not religious but I prayed many times yesterday. At 630 I had no choice I had to get as high as I could. I had a hour of daylight and it was pouring harder than I had ever seen. I had seen a boulder wall with many hiking crevices and decided that would take more than a hour but it was very tall and that would be my best chance.. My shoes were very slick and I would have to rest a bunch as my body wanted to give up but I finally reached the top at 735 it was getting dark very rapidly. I had one bar of service! I dialed 911 and although we continued to break up we spoke for over 20 minutes. A search team was on the way! However I had to stay in one place. It wasnt until then that I became aware of how cold I was. My teeth were chattering and I couldnt stop shaking, my whole body would just convolt. At 830 I lost my phone signal and had to get to dryer ground. I hiked up hill falling every 10-20 steps I would imagine as I had become, weak and very dissoriented. I had been full of adrenaline and now it was just escaping me. I got a signal and called 911 it was pitch black and I was very panicked. The 911 operator explained that I should hear some sirens and stayed on the phone with me.. After 10 minutes I heard one very faint siren she said get to that siren! I had very little life on my phone and the it was soaked but I ran towards the siren and it would be gone just like that. It was like it was playing tricks on me. I would hear air sirens, police sirens and loud horns and they would just fade away as soon as I would get close. I was supposed to scream every 5 minutes for 1 minutes no matter what. My voice was growing faint. I found a tree that was huge and looked to be dry underneath I crawled underneath and my mind was telling me that this was it. It was now 1020 pm I had been lost for 9 hours no rain gear, Almost no water left and completely soaked and being able to see my breath. I now know that I had hypothermia and it is common when having it that it tells your body to give up basically. I had accepted defeat I believe around this point.. Around 15 minutes later I heard Eddie!? Very faint and I yelled back and then I heard it again, it was real and I stood up and kept yelling for I was told later for 15 minutes straight. I finally shut up long enough for the man to say stay right there. He had to hike 2 miles straight up a rock canyon to get to me. I was so delusional that I honestly thought it wasnt real, it couldnt be real. After 20 minutes of us yelling back and forth and guiding him into my voice..I had no flashlight left. He grabbed me by the arm and said are you hurt, I said I dont know and he said well we gotta go then. He never said much and we walked for a hour in almost complete silence and darkness. His flashlight wasnt high tech he just had been doing this so long he didnt really need it he explained later. It took us one hour from where he found me to get to his truck to road and then one hour 15 minutes from road to my truck. I had hiked 19.5 miies from my truck. There was no way that I would have survived the night. Possibly not more than 2 hours. My life was absolutely saved and I cannot give enough thanks to the men and women that did so.. I owe my life to Alpine Search and rescue. They do this every day of their lives and do it for free, It is non profit, I told a man in the group of 15-20 that were searching for me that he saved my life that I couldnt thank him enough. He said people like you have been saving mine forever now. Alpine rescue teams do not take money from the found and lucky ones like myself. They just ask that I write everyone and warn them about my experience and warn them that no matter how experienced of a hiker you might be anyone can get lost. Mount Evans has lost 3 people very recently and it takes one or two steps to becoming completely lost. Ill never hike alone again and after yesterday I had a lot of time to think of everyone I know and care about. I love all of you and thank you for loving me as well. I am pretty beat up physically and my toes will never be the same. I have never felt more blessed. Thank you, Eddie
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 19:35:55 +0000