[pct-l] End of PCT Hike

[James Vesely]

I read this as well.  I wonder what river he was crossing?  It sounds like
he was in Lyell Canyon. He did not mention going over Donohue.

Jim

On Jun 10, 2017 6:52 AM, "Scott Diamond" <scott.diamond.mail at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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 <https://www.facebook.com/emilynoyd?fref=mentions>
> 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
> <https://www.facebook.com/joe.mccoy.735?fref=mentions> 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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