DENVER — Search-and-rescue crews last week recovered the body of a hiker who died in a fall off Blanca Peak near the Alamosa-Huerfano County line.
Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue and the man’s siblings identified him on social media as Justin Seagren, a Wisconsin man whose siblings said had been on a year-long road trip exploring the country and hiking. His Instagram posts showed he had visited several national parks and climbed several Colorado 14ers over the past year.
Seagren had fallen while descending Blanca Peak on Wednesday, which is when Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue was activated, the group said in a post Sunday.
Flight For Life crew spotted his body on Wednesday, and search-and-rescue crews were inserted near one of the Blue lakes.
They moved their gear to the saddle between Blanca Peak and Ellingwood Point nd spent the night. The next morning, Cañon City Helitack was called in to the scene. Crews reached Seagren’s body, hauled him up to the ridge line, and the helitack crew extricated his body with a long line, AVSAR said in a release. The crews were out of the field by 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
“AVSAR would like to extend their most sincere condolences to everyone who loved and knew Justin. We cannot thank the reporting parties enough who stayed on scene for several hours after the accident, triggered their SOS immediately, and assisted the helicopter in locating him,” Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue said in a post.
Seagren’s siblings said his funeral would be held in Sheboygan, Wisc., on Sept. 17 at 11 a.m.
