Hiking in the mountains can be a peaceful adventure. For millions of travelers, all the peace and quiet away from the hustle and bustle of city life is like a salve on their souls. However, every year hundreds if not thousands of outdoors adventure-seekers find themselves getting lost. More often than not, they are either found or find their way back to civilization. However, there are occasions when they are not so fortunate.
Unsplash/Clément M.
In Colorado, a hiker found himself lost on a mountain range for 24 hours. However, according to authorities, he chose to ignore numerous calls from rescue workers.
The reason?
He later explained that he didn’t answer their calls because he did not recognize the number his rescuers were calling from!
Pexels/Kamaji Ogino
Lake County Search and Rescue reports that the hiker started from South Trailhead on a trail going up Mount Elbert around 9 am on October 18. However, the man was not back where he was expected to be by 8 pm. After the man ignored repeated calls, authorities dispatched a five-person rescue team to search the area. However, after five hours, they were unsuccessful.
The next morning a three-member team began to search for the missing hikers. They were two hours and thirty minutes into the search before they learned that their “lost” hiker had returned on his own back to his accommodations, reports the New York Post.
Park officials released this statement via Facebook:
As you would expect, folks on social media ate this one up.
However, not many folks were very critical of the hiker. In fact, many said they understood exactly where he was coming from.
Many commenters blamed spammers and scammers for creating an atmosphere where many folks simply do not answer their phones anymore.
Here’s a video with more on this crazy story.
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