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Updated: Man Missing In Rocky Mountain National Park's Snowy Backcountry Found

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Deep snow in the "Chaos Canyon" area of Rocky Mountain National Park complicated a search for a missing Missouri man. NPS photos.

Editor's note: This updates with Mr. Lund being transported to a hospital in Estes Park.

A young Missouri man who became disoriented in the backcountry of Rocky Mountain National Park during an early season snowstorm was led out of the park Thursday by rangers and taken to an Estes Park, Colorado, medical center.

Rangers had reached Andrew Lund, 22, of Branson, Missouri, just after 11 a.m. MST Thursday.

"At 10:30 a.m. this morning verbal contact was made between a search team and Lund.   Due to no contact with Lund in the the Chaos Canyon area yesterday, search efforts were also made in the Dream Lake and Emerald Lake area today," Kyle Patterson, the park's spokeswoman, reported. "Lund was above Emerald Lake in the Tyndall Glacier area, not above Lake Haiyaha as he initially reported to park rangers.  A search team reached him at 11:06 a.m.  They are assessing his condition and determining the best way to assist him from the challenging terrain."

About 90 minutes later additional gear to warm up the backpacker was dropped by helicopter onto the west shore of Emerald Lake. Rescuers then led Mr. Lund around the lake on foot, and they reached the Bear Lake Trailhead at 2:30 p.m. From there he was taken to the Estes Park Medical Center, Ms. Patterson said.

Winter conditions -- deep snow and wind-chill temperatures below zero -- had hampered efforts to find the man. Adding to the concern for Mr. Lund was the possibility that he was not properly prepared for dealing with snow and cold.

Mr. Lund called the park's dispatch office Wednesday morning at 8:30 a.m. asking for help. He told the dispatchers that he thought he "was somewhere above Lake Haiyaha (elevation 10,220 feet) seeking shelter under a large boulder," Ms. Patterson said earlier today before the backpacker was reached.

The young man had hitchhiked to the park and was dropped off at the Bear Lake Trailhead on Tuesday at approximately 2 p.m. Overnight temperatures on Tuesday were less than 25 degrees and more than a foot of snow fell in the area by Wednesday morning. 

"He seems to be unprepared for the deep snow and winter conditions; however, he does have a sleeping bag, tarp and whistle," Ms. Patterson said in that first release. "He indicated he was wet, cold and had no water."

While rangers had made cellphone contact with Mr. Lund on Wednesday, after 3 p.m. they were no longer able to reach him. They tried to track the location of his cellphone, but it apparently did not have that feature.

An initial "hasty search" team reached the Lake Haiyaha area around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.  Lake Haiyaha is 2.1 miles from the popular Bear Lake Trailhead.  Additional  searchers reached the area at 3:15 p.m.  They searched the upper “Chaos Canyon” area, west of Lake Haiyaha and attempted to establish contact using air horns and whistles.

Chaos Canyon is appropriately named for its very large boulder fields that make walking difficult.  With more than 18 inches of new snow in this area, current conditions were challenging and hazardous, said Ms. Patterson. Additionally, temperatures Wednesday night into Thursday were forecasted to be 5 degrees with a wind chill of -5 degrees.

Comments

Lets first be thankful this young man is safe and surely he has learned a big lesson as those of us have through our lives. I also hope he continues his love of the outdoors and maybe follow a path of helping others as he recieved. at his age Im sure his pocket book isnt made of $ but if he should be encouraged to work or volonteer to help others in the same area. A young man of his age has such a large potencial for he future.
Help save our people,planet and environment, HELP SOMEONE IN NEED! 


Maybe we should help this young man and encourage him toward prepardness in the future instead of crushing his love of the outdoors. At 22 he has his whole life ahead of him and at his age Im sure hes not made of $ but should be encouraged to work towards helping others as he was rescued. He could work and volonteer in the same area helping others and contribute enormously to helping the environment and people , we surely need as much as we can get. Hope to see him on a USAR team someday. 


To Anonymous in the first post:
Good lord, have some compassion.   We are taliking about a human life.   I for one consider  emergency services something that I gladly pay my taxes for.   I suggest that if you ever get in over your head that you not call for assistance.  If you cannot get out on your broken leg then too bad, so sad.   If you get hopelessly lost, which anyone can do regardless of skills or experience, prepare to meet your maker.   I am sure as you layed there in pain as you slowly froze to death or slipped away from dehydration you would stick to your convictions.  It is hard for me to believe that the anti-government crowd even includes SAR as an unnecessary government function.  End of Rant.


Park Ranger command-control Divisions emphasize Search & Rescue
Operations at taxpayer expense so they, the Law Enforcement Division
may dominate all other park budgets thus justifying their existence and
demand more an ever-growing budget.  Oh, let's not place any responsibility
on the Idiot with a cell phone and Little Common "Horse Sense" and let's
not bill he/she for the rescue since the general taxpayer will bear the burden.
So, all it may mean as budgets shrink in future years, is fewer educational
programs, seasonal educators, and less maintenance while the superintendent's
and Division Chiefs' critical travel budget grows so he/she enjoys the
"good travel tourism life" at the indebted taxpayer's "red-ink".  Time to plan
for another NPS Superintendents' Vail Conference !
 


My goodness, Anonymous 11:25 and 4:10.  I truly hope if my granddaughters are ever stranded, for whatever reason, it won't be up to either of you to save them.  They'll die.  After all, it might have cost a pittance of your tax contribution.


Given the fact this individual reportedly failed to get a backcountry camping permit, he was very fortunate he was able to make cell phone contact. Lacking that, it's unlikely anyone would have known he was in the area and stranded. If he had just taken the time to request a permit, he could have been advised about the weather forecast.

One topic hasn't gotten much attention in the comments thus far, and that's kudos to the SAR team for a quick and successful conclusion of this situation under difficult circumstances: bad weather, very rough terrain in the search area, and a subject who wasn't even in the location he reported to searchers.

Nice work folks!


 As usual the SAR team responded as they always do, TOP NOTCH. Your the best. I can tell for those whom are worried over tax $ that many of these teams work as volunteers and love every minute of it in hopes that volunteering to help others will encourage others to do the same. I have and do work and volunteer as Paramedic, SWAT, tactical paramedic and scout leader for many years and the best that we hope for is people helping others regardless of $. Only wish I had more time to do more for our youth.


This story brought to my attention that there is a lot of snow already in the Colorado Rockies. Did you know that in Oregon it's dry as a bone. And, there are hundreds of jets hired by California, Nevada and Arizona water and power companies flying over OREGON CONSTANTLY. THEY ARE GEOENGINEERING, sending our storms to the Colorado River basin. How do they do this, you ask. They burn jet fuel mixed with aluminum oxide and then modulate the metal particles to change the course of the jet stream.
Im glad a hiker who got unsuspectingly caught in geoengineered weather escaped with his life. Sue the California water board for the rescue!


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