GARFIELD COUNTY, Colo. — A mother and her teenage son were rescued after spending a night in the Flat Tops Wilderness Area of Garfield County.
On Thursday just after 11 p.m., the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office's Emergency Operations Division learned that two overdue hikers — a mother and her 14-year-old son — were lost in the wilderness between Trappers Lake and Stillwater Reservoir.
The woman's husband set out to find them, joined by two other hikers he met on the trail. The trio searched on foot, according to the sheriff's office.
At 5 a.m., Garfield County Search and Rescue sent an alert to its members asking for anybody available to meet in Rifle. '
They were able to receive a ping from one of the lost hikers' cell phones, which provided SAR with their approximate coordinates, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Routt County Sheriff’s Office and their Search and Rescue Team were also called in to help with the search. Care flight was also brought in to provide any necessary medical support and transport for when the hikers were found, according to the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office.
Garfield County authorities started searching at Trappers Lake and Routt County authorities started farther east from Stillwater Reservoir.
Shortly before 7 a.m., the father sent a message to authorities saying he could see his wife and son.
Within half an hour, the crew on the Care flight said they could see the two hikers as well, plus the father and two hikers he was searching with.
The helicopter landed and transported the mother, who had hypothermia and was dehydrated, to Trappers Lake. One of the hikers who had helped the father had twisted a knee during the search and was also airlifted to Trappers Lake, according to the sheriff's office. Garfield Search and Rescue then transported the two injured hikers to Stillwater Reservoir, which was about a two-hour drive.
The father, other hiker who helped him, and teenager walked out to Stillwater Reservoir.
All five hikers were reunited at the reservoir.