A hiker on Colorado’s Mount Elbert, overdue on his itinerary and out of touch with friends and family missed several opportunities to be rescued when he rejected calls from an unknown number, thinking they were spam calls. As it happened, they were from the Lake County Search and Rescue Team.
The team took up the search on October 18 after the man was reported missing by the lodging he was staying at. In addition to the calls, they left texts and voice messages.
Mount Elbert, at 14,440 feet, is the highest peak in Colorado. After searching through the night, team members took on a new search in the morning, but the ‘missing’ hiker turned up on his own a couple of hours later.
He told authorities that he had been wandering on various paths looking for the trailhead before finally reaching his car; he said he had ‘no idea’ anyone was out looking for him. Duh.
Image: Mt Elbert, Colorado (Hogs555/Wikimedia)
