Who: 58-year-old Theodore Gilmore
Where: Mount Borah, Idaho
His mistake: It’s unknown
What happened: A hiker from Massachusetts was visiting Idaho and attempting to climb Mt. Borah. He informed the owners of his motel that he would be dayhiking and should return by night time.
The next morning, the hotel staff noticed the man’s clothes were still in the hotel room and they called authorities. Sheriffs found the man’s rental car at a trailhead and began a search using teams on foot and in the air. After three days of searching, the man was spotted by a chopper. He was dehydrated, had sore feet, but in otherwise spectacular condition for being out for so long.
The man was transported to a local hospital and released the same day. It is unclear how the man survived three days only having enough gear for a dayhike.
Read the story here.
Hey, it wasn't that bad. My error was on the last leg of the descent. I thought a fellow hiker who preceded me had pointed to an alternative route down past the infamous chicken-out-ridge to avoid the mosquito infested standard trail to the parking lot. I took the alternative trail only to find that it did not work, and was so full of steep scree that I could not get back. I eventually found a different route and was on my way (after 3 nights in the upper 30s) when I was spotted by a helicopter. Two other alternative trails had worked on that mountain, but #3 got me in trouble. There are no signs on this mountain and, apparently, I am not the only one who has made this error. The Bureau of Land Management needs to spring for a sign!!
- Ted Gilmore