[pct-l] End of PCT Hike

[aslive at charter.net]

WOW! Now that's an adventure. One needs to be careful when crossing
streams. He did not say if he was using trekking poles to steady
himself when crossing or if he had his body turned toward the current
so that one leg blocked the current from the other, although at waist
deep the water was likely too much for him anyway. Hes is one lucky
guy.

	-----------------------------------------From: "Scott Diamond" 
To: 
Cc: "pct-l at backcountry.net"
Sent: 10-Jun-2017 13:52:56 +0000
Subject: [pct-l] End of PCT Hike

 A friend forwarded this to me by e-mail

 - Rover

 My friend hiking the Pacific Crest Trail ended his hike in dramatic
fashion.

 I pulled his near-death story from Facebook ….

 For those of you that have been following along, unfortunately my
Pacific
 Crest Trail journey has come to an abrupt and very dangerous end,
where I
 can say I am truly lucky and grateful to be alive. Here’s what
happened.

 At about 1,000 miles into my hike I was hiking alone in the Sierra
Nevada
 Mountains when I came across a particularly treacherous river
crossing. The
 flow was strong and the water was past my waist. As I was fording the
river
 my footing gave way under a lose rock and I was swept into the
current. I
 began rushing towards a waterfall and couldn’t swim out with my 60
lb pack
 on so I ditched the pack and was able to swim out of the river before
I hit
 the waterfall and rocks. Unfortunately my pack and all of my
belongings are
 lost forever in the river and probably washed up somewhere in
Southern
 California now, but I didn’t drown so it was worth it. The
realization of
 being stranded in the middle of nowhere, alone, in snow covered
mountains
 with nothing but the clothes I was wearing on my back quickly settled
in.

 Given no one knew I was in trouble, and there was so much snow this
year
 there was no trail to follow, the only way I would survive was by
 backtracking my own footprints in the snow for 15 miles to try and
get to a
 remote shelter I stayed at the night before, where I could wait and
hope
 for the slim chance someone would come by in the next few days. I
made it
 back 7 of the 15 miles before nightfall, which brought sub-freezing
temps,
 while I had no shelter and wet, cold clothes. It was cold enough
where if I
 fell asleep I probably wouldn’t wake back up, so I had to do
jumping jacks
 and run in circles all night to keep from freezing to death.

 Once the sun came up I started tracking my day old prints again.
 Unfortunately if I were to lose my tracks, or if a snow storm were to
roll
 in, I would lose all chances being able to navigate back and of
survival.
 Twice I did lose those tracks however, and leaving it up to fate I
decided
 to follow some deer and coyote tracks I came across, which
miraculously
 lead me straight to my tracks both times. Luckily the weather was
clear,
 and even though I had lost my glasses in the river, I was able to
track
 myself back 14 of the 15 miles I had done the day before. At this
point the
 sun had melted away the rest of my prints. I knew I was within a mile
or
 two of the shelter I hoped to find, but I had no idea which direction
to
 go, and no tools to help navigate (My map, compass, phone, etc. were
all
 lost to the river). After climbing up 3 different mountains that I
thought
 may be the right way, I came back down to the last track I could find
and
 began losing hope, realizing that I was probably going to die out
there. I
 wouldn’t be able to last another night in the freezing weather
without food
 or sleep, and no one knew I was in trouble - there would be no rescue
or
 rangers looking for me - I was officially lost in the mountains
without any
 leads.

 Then I got lucky. As I came to terms with my probable death by
freezing or
 eventual starvation, I heard the humming of machinery. Then the
classic
 backup beeping noise you hear from big vehicles! There was people
somewhere
 here in the middle of nowhere! My heart jumped and adrenaline shot
through
 my veins. That day, at that hour happened to be the time that the
state
 decided to send some giant bulldozers to start plowing the back
country
 road that runs through the mountains and near where I was, although
it was
 covered by 10 ft of snow and still was closed. I saw the trucks
emerging
 out of a valley miles away across a snow plain and past the Tuolumne
River.
 I needed to get over to them and make sure they saw me before they
left. I
 sprinted across the plain and dove into the giant river and began
swimming
 across. Somehow I swam through the current and got to the other side.
The
 water was freezing, I definitely had hypothermia. I ran up to the
 bulldozer, finally realizing I wasn’t going to die at 25 in the
middle of
 nowhere in the mountains! I got a ride in the giant bulldozer for
miles out
 of the mountains and got to a ranger station. I made friends with the
 Yosemite Rangers and ended up staying with them that night where we
 celebrated the weekend and my unlikely survival.

 Thank you Emily Noyd  [1] for
 the hospitality and kindness, what a great way to end a day that
started
 quite differently! Although I wasn’t in life threatening danger
anymore, I
 was still in Yosemite National Park with no ID, money, or belongings.
 Within an hour after calling them,Joseph
  [2] and Chelsea McCoy
 hopped in their car and drove 11 hours from Portland down to where I
was to
 come get me, then turned around and drove back. They are truly the
best
 friends any one could have and went above and beyond the duties of
 friendship. I’m safe and sound now, and so happy to be alive.
Everything
 tastes a little sweeter after having an experience like that, and I
can’t
 begin to explain how grateful I am to still be here. I made some good
 decisions out there and gave myself the best chance of survival by
refusing
 to stop fighting for my life, but honestly, none of that would have
 mattered if I didn’t get as lucky as I did or didn’t receive the
miracle
 which was those Bulldozers that just happened to be plowing a road in
the
 middle of a mountain range that day at that time. Happy to be here,
happy
 to be alive and I’m looking forward to seeing you all!
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Links:
------
[1] https://www.facebook.com/emilynoyd?fref=mentions>
[2] https://www.facebook.com/joe.mccoy.735?fref=mentions>