Montrose Search and Rescue – Successful Rescues

I’m aware that I tend to gravitate to the “if it bleeds, it leads” philosophy of journalism. Stories of violence and gore are just more dramatic than stories of goodness and grace. Also, as a historian I’m aware that we’ve heard all the stories of good deeds by our forefathers in “the good old days.” I think we need to balance those with stories of the harsh reality of the past. Think of it as an historical affirmative action program, to give all the stories of murder and mayhem their time in the spotlight.

Many of the tales from the MSAR team that I write about here have disastrous outcomes. But I didn’t want you to think that the MSAR is on a constant search for dead bodies. More often, the people they rescue are fine, perhaps just a little cold and hungry after a night in the woods. Here are three stories of successful rescues from the summer of 1991.

In July, a 27-year-old man went on an afternoon hike with several friends. He separated from his group with a promise to meet them in a couple hours at their starting point at Red Box. When their friend didn’t show up at nightfall, the rest of the group called the MSAR. Meanwhile out on the trail, the young man, trying to find his way back, took a series of wrong turns as the darkness grew. He did the right thing; he found a high point clear of trees and sat down and waited. Within three hours the MSAR team found him in the dark and hiked with him back to Red Box.

A group of deer hunters parked at Chilao Ranger Station at 8 a.m. and fanned out into the woods. The plan was to meet back there at noon. Everyone found their way back except for one 18-year-old hunter. The group waited but, as evening closed in, they called for help. The MSAR hit the trails around Chilao just after sundown and searched all night in the darkness. At first light a helicopter joined the search. At 8 a.m., 24 hours after first setting out, the lost hunter was spotted from the air, about 10 miles from Chilao, and walking toward the rescue team. After an anxiety-filled night in the open, the hunter was fine, just hungry and tired.

Another rescue in July of that year: A middle-aged man, Raymond, and a friend decided to hike a trail they had hiked five years previously. The trail ran between Buckhorn Campground and Sulpher Springs Campground, a distance of about 12 miles. They left a car at Sulphur Springs then got a ride from Raymond’s wife to the trailhead in Buckhorn. They started out strong at 10:30 a.m. expecting to reach Sulphur Springs at 6 p.m. What the pair didn’t know was that the trail they had hiked five years earlier had not been maintained, and was now overgrown and hard to follow, just a vague path through thick brush. They were in shorts, so bushwhacking was a slow and painful process.

When darkness began to close in and they were nowhere near their destination, they knew they would have to stay the night. Fortunately, they had brought water, food and a first-aid kit, and the night was warm. They did the right thing and found a flat open spot to try to sleep on rather than to continue to push on in the dark.

Meanwhile, Raymond’s wife waited anxiously for her husband to come home.

The MSAR received a middle-of-the-night callout, and reached the Sulphur Springs Campground at 4 in the morning where they headed up the trail that the hikers were expected to take. As daylight dawned a helicopter joined the search. Because the pair was in an open spot, the helicopter easily spotted them and airlifted them back to Sulphur Springs where they were treated for cuts and bruises.

Three callouts for the MSAR and three successful rescues, two of them because the lost parties did exactly what they should have done – found an open spot on the trail and stayed put.

  mike lawler