A HIKER was reported missing on Mount Elbert in Colorado on October 18.
The individual entered the trail from the South Trailhead and the Lake County Search and Rescue was deployed at 8pm when they did not return.
The hiker set out on the South Elbert Trail on Mount Elbert at 9am on October 18, but by 8pm they had not returned to their lodge.
The Colorado hiker’s name has not been released at this time.
When the sun started to set, the hiker told Lake County Search and Rescue (LCSAR) they had stumbled off the trail and couldn’t find their way back in the dark.
They said they had searched for the trail through the night and finally found their way back in the early hours of the morning.
Mount Elbert is the highest peak in Colorado and the second highest in the lower 48 states.
The South Elbert Trail is the easier of the two trails, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
However, the Forest Service reminds hikers that the 10.4-mile trail still has an elevation gain of 4,800 feet.
The hiker was reported missing at 8pm and LCSAR set out immediately with a search party. Five LCSAR members looked in the areas where hikers typically go missing and called the hiker repeatedly.
Despite the LCSAR’s best efforts, the hiker did not answer the phone calls because they “didn’t recognize the number,” LCSAR said in a Facebook post.
Search and rescue said they did attempt texting and leaving voicemails for the hiker, but they didn’t receive a response.
They called off the search at 3am, but at 7am three members were once again sent out to search for the hiker.
According to LCSAR’s Facebook post on October 21, they received a call at 9:30am on October 19 from the party that reported the hiker missing.
They said the hiker had returned to their car about 24 hours after beginning the hike and had returned to their lodging.
LCSAR said the hiker did not know they had been searching for them as they didn’t pick up the calls.
LCSAR pleaded with Mount Elbert hikers in their Facebook post to pick up their phones for any incoming numbers, especially if they are out past the time they were scheduled to be on the trails.
The post said, “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!”
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