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.
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Comments
Rough crowd in this hall. [and I agree - kudos to the SAR team for job well done]
I have been reading NPT for 3 or 4 years, and this is the most outlandish comment I have yet seen. I participated in dozens of SAR operations and I don't remember doing one of them so that I could dominate my co-workers in other decisions or to justify my division''s share of the budget. Most of these operations were hard work, often done under adverse weather conditions and at some or a lot of risk to the participants. And, I am not sure how that ties into increased travel budgets for superinntendents and division chiefs if the protection division--opps, excuse me, the ranger command and control division--is spending all the money on SAR operations. Maybe anon will enlghten us.
Rick
I'm glad they were able to pull him out of there, and I'm trying hard not to wish that whoever left the first comment someday makes a mistake and needs someone to help save their lives. I'm not going to do that, because I'm fairly certain they're not worth the effort.
As for SAR, the RMNP folks are as good as they get.
[The code for Rocky Mountain National Park is ROMO. Ed.]
People are not perfect. They make mistakes and get into trouble in the backcountry due to a variety of reasons, including inexperience, poor judgement, carelessness, injury, weather, or wild animals. This applies to everyone who goes into the backcountry regardless of the amount of experience they have. Even the most experienced hikers get into trouble.
For you to slam this guy so hard for costing us taxpayers money shows a complete lack of understanding of backcountry travel, not to mention a Libertarian style selfishness. It also shows a complete lack of understanding of why we as a society consent to provide the NPS with search and rescue capability.
Most of us know that we can get into trouble at any time and may need help. We want there to be capable, efficient, and publically funded search and rescue teams. Success stories like this make me proud of the people who do SAR, whether they are on the NPS payroll, or volunteers. It gives me some satisfaction to know that there are still some things that our society can do right, something that works for the benefit of all backcountry users, and that we all pay into in the form of taxes to make it work. I’m glad my tax money contributed to getting this guy home, that’s what I pay taxes for. For you to say that the NPS has a maintenance backlog due to spending money on SAR is complete garbage. Ask your Republican member of congress why they don’t believe the NPS should get the money it needs.
This guy may have made some mistakes. He’s a young guy with maybe only a few trips under his belt. I remember some close calls I’ve had over the years, and can look back on some really dumb things I did in the backcountry because I largely didn’t know any better. After 25 years, I like to think I’m a little smarter. Luckily, I’ve never needed help, but, that may not always be true. Anyone, from a drunken redneck to the most experienced climber can break a bone in a fall, and need a medivac.
Someone once asked Daniel Boone if he had ever been lost. Boone is said to have thought for a moment and then replied, "No, but I sure was bewildered a few times."
To continue with Lee's post just our interest in getting out into the wilds where we CAN'T (or may not) have all the answers to every situation and are challenged to deal with things is surely part of the allure and the rewards. There are places that humble EVERYONE and that in itself is a pretty good payoff, well, if you survive:).
Bravo to all additional memos and god bless all whom serve. Safe traveling to all, MOVING ON.Back to the trail.
Hold on a minute to all those who said some variation of "mistakes" happen. I think the first comentor was exactly right re: "breaking every rule of backcountry/hiking..." This is not a case of someone who slipped on a trail and turned an ankle or got lost on a wrong trail. This indivisual headed into ROMO at the end of October armed with a whistle, a tarp, a sleeping bag and presumably a jacket...no water, food, fire making...., nothing else. At this time of year snow and extreme cold are what normally happens-had he prepared himself and studied the environment he was entering just by surfing the park's page he would have known that. Again, this person was unprepared for conditions that were highly likely to be met given the season and altitude and as a result it cost serious resources to find him. that is not what bothers me. It bugs me fiercely that National Park emergency responders, staff, and volunteers have to risk their lives everytime for a thoughtless guy like this. These issues appear to be cropping up more and more as inexperienced folks wander off into the backcountry with no experience or education. I hate to say it, but I bet this young man would have spent more time studying the maps to rides for Disney than he did preparing for a potentially life threatening situation in the backcountry. They should fine him and use the money to set up an educational film as part of the permitting process like Denali does for all those who attempt the backcountry.