Larimer County Search and Rescue
Mission Reports 2012

05:11 8-10 searchers and dogs requested to look for a female subject that walked away from a vehicle. The search area has some open land and some small clusters of residences so a reverse 911 was activated. Shortly after teams were deployed, dispatch called to advise the subject had been picked up by motorist on Owl Canyon road, quite a distance from the last seen point. The subject was OK and reunited with family. All units were clear at 07:28.

12 – Searchers
32 – Volunteer hours
1 – ES Specialist – Simons
1 – SAR Manager – Sheets

Red Line

Friday, December 14, 2012: Grey Rock - Overdue Hikers

19:00 - Searchers requested to respond to Grey Rock re: two male hikers who were lost and called a friend who contacted the Sheriff on their behalf. Data gathered during periodic contact between SAR and LCSO the subjects determined that 1.) there cell phone was not providing E911 GPS coordinates due to it's age and 2.) the GPS App that the subject had loaded was missing updates that would allow it work in the field. It was determined that the cell calls were connecting through the Carr, CO cell site. With that information, all resources were assigned to search to the East of Grey Rock. Subjects were located at 22:00, in the drainage that is directly East of the section of the Grey Rock trail that continues North from the bench to the summit. Subjects were walked out to the trail head and all units were clear at 23:50.

12 - Searchers
60 - Volunteer hours
1 – ES Specialist – Mosier
1 – SAR Manager – Sheets

Red Line

Saturday, December 8, 2012: Red Feather - Overdue Christmas Tree Hunter

13:07 page requesting searchers to help locate an overdue Christmas tree hunter in the Forest Service Christmas tree sale are south of Red feather. He was last seen 2 hours ago and the forest service was up in the area looking for him. We gathered searchers, trackers and dogs to respond. Everyone was on their way up when the subject ended up walking out to a road after wondering around for 4 or 5 miles. He got a ride to the sale area and was reunited with family. That was a good thing because it had just started snowing very hard and he wasn't prepared for the weather.

10 - Searchers
100 - Volunteer hours
1 - ES Specialist Johnston
1 - SAR manager Hake

Red Line

Saturday, December 1, 2012: RMNP Assist - Fern Lake Fire

15:04 RMNP has requested that one medical qualified team member be staged at operations for the duration of the Fern Lake Fire in order to assist in the evacuation of any possible injuries to fire fighters that may occur. SAR team members will be covering the twelve hour night shift beginning Saturday December 1, 2011, with shifts continuing most likely through the end of the week.

Duration: Ongoing 12 hours shifts for the first week of December.
Miles to Location: 53
ITC: Mike F.
1 Larimer Emergency Services: Tony S.
1 LCSAR SAR manager: Robin A.

Once the request has been completed a finial Mission Report will be posted.

Red Line

Thursday, November 29, 2012: Red Feather - Missing Child

10:51 SAR team was paged for a direct response to the Red Feather Fire Station to assist in the search for a missing child. Child was located in good condition at 11:01 and the team was stood-down while en route.

Duration: 10 minutes
Miles to Location: 44
SAR miles: 0
12 LCSAR members
ITC: None
1 Larimer Emergency Services: Dave M.
1 LCSAR SAR manager: Robin A

Red Line

Thursday, November 27, 2012: Cheley Camp Estes Park - Lost Hunters

Thursday 22 November 2012 – south of Cheley Camp in Estes Park – 18:59 the duty SAR Manager (George Janson) paged to call Dave Mosier. Three hikers (from Memphis, TN) had called 911 (went to RMNP dispatch) to report they were lost possibly off of Fish Creek Road near Cheley Camp heading for the Homer Rouse Trail to Twin Sisters. Just before the battery died on their cell phone Dispatch was able to ping it and get phase two coordinates: 40.311788 -105.511558 [or in UTM: 13T 456534.26E 4462488.41N], which put them about ½ mile SSE of the Cheley Camp (and about 1.8 miles northeast of Twin Sisters). Dave and I agreed upon 6-8 searchers and a dog team, to stage at 21:30 at the Mary's Lake turnoff on Hwy 7. Eight Team members plus Dave and George were en-route to Estes while ITC Jim Mines made intermittent calls/texts to the RP's cell phone. Jim succeeded in making contact with the RP, who told him that the trio was at a water tower and volleyball court, where they had found a way to recharge their cell phone. Jim had them call 911/Dispatch so we could get another set of coordinates. While Jim was relaying this info to me Dispatch was on the phone with the RP and relaying their location to Estes deputy F49 and to Dave Mosier. F49 subsequently located the trio, determined they were all OK and not in need of any medical attention, and took them back to their vehicle. SAR and ES were then stood down at 20:26.

LCSAR members: 10
LCSAR member hours: 20
LCSAR member miles: 600
ES specialist: 1
LCSO Deputy: 1

Red Line

Saturday, October 27, 2012: Pinewood Springs - PLB Activation

14:30 ES contacted SAR manager reference an activation of a personal locater beacon (PLB) in the Pinewood Springs area. The coordinates for the activation matched a residence. A deputy was dispatched to that location and made contact with the owner of the PLB. No need for SAR team recourses team was stood down at 15:11.

Duration: 41 minute.
Miles to Location: 0
SAR miles: 0
0 LCSAR members (members already at the cache)
ITC: None
1 Larimer Emergency Services: Dave M.
1 LCSAR SAR manager: Robin A.

Red Line

Wednesday, October 24, 2012: Glacier View - Overdue Hunter

About 19:00 while members were arriving at the cache for a meeting and/or standing down from the previous mission SAR team members were requested to respond to Glacier view to search for an overdue hunter. The hunter had left the residence that he was visiting around 16:00. The reporting party believed the overdue hunter might be hunting the area toward Hewlett Gulch and one of the residents had observed the hunter crossing over a ridge through binoculars. Weather at 16:00 was raining but the rains later changed to snow. There was about 4 inches of snow on the ground, with mud underneath, when the SAR team arrived at the residence. Teams fielded at 21:30 and located the overdue hunter about thirty mins later. The hunter had gotten turned around in the snow storm but was making his way back toward the residence.

Duration: 5 hour 43 minute.
Miles to Location: 47.8
SAR miles: 764.8
12 LCSAR members (members already at the cache)
ITC: None
1 Larimer Emergency Services: S-17
1 LCSAR SAR manager: Robin A.

Red Line

Saturday, October 13, 2012: Crown Point - Lost Hunter(s)

20:16 Team page for Searchers, Trackers, and Dogs needed for lost hunter in Pingree Park area. Report is there's a lost hunter in the Crown Point area. He was last seen early Saturday morning near the intersection of Old Flowers and Zimmerman trails. The subject was able to report himself lost by using an FRS radio (walkie-talkie). It happened to be a Larimer County Sheriff's Deputy that heard the call. The odd thing about that is he was in Wellington, CO. That's about 35 miles away by straight line of sight.

Larimer County Search and Rescue arrived on scene at the Zimmerman trail head to find 6-8 inches of fresh snow, winds blowing 10mph and gusting to 25 or 30mph above timberline, with light snow falling. We are also informed by some hunters in the area that they are missing two from their party also. They are reported to be in the same general area. Now we've got two searches at the same time.

8 SAR members are deployed in two person teams to begin the search. The lost individual called in that he is just below timberline with a fire going to keep warm. We search above the tree line in hopes of seeing his fire or smelling some smoke despite the conditions. As teams check in throughout the night anyone who ventures above timberline reports ground blizzard conditions. The wind is blowing so hard it's picking up snow off the ground and causing very limited visibility. The search continues all night with no significant clues.

Early Sunday additional resources are requested for a second operational period. By 08:45 the first groups of replacement searchers have entered the field with more on the way. Including Search and Rescue teams coming from the Arapaho Rescue Patrol and Douglas County Search and Rescue. Just in time, because the overnight crew is spent!

At 10:49 the lost father and son team have been located. They are cold and tired but in good general health. At 11:42 a search team confirms direct radio contact with the lost individual. Shortly after that, CAP (Civil Air Patrol) has arrived in the area and begins their aerial search. Within moments of each other CAP and the ground search team have visual contact with the subject. By 12:37 the ground team has made contact with the subject and begins their medical evaluation. He is cold, hungry, and tired. And as most found subjects are, he is happy to see us. And about 14:30 everyone is out of the field.

We would like to thank all of the organizations that came together for this mission. Colorado has a great network of volunteers and professionals willing to help out in any weather and at any time.

LCSAR SARM: Weaver
LCSAR SMIT: Giesey
ITC: Fink LCSAR Volunteers: 23
Emergency Services: O5
ES Support Group: 2
Civil Air Patrol
Arapahoe Rescue Patrol: 10
Douglas County SAR: 5
Larimer County Mounted Posse: 4+?
TEMS: 2
Estimated Volunteer Miles: 2024
Estimated Volunteer Hours: 305

Red Line

Sunday, September 30, 2012: Hewlett Gulch - Possible Injured Hiker

10:58 page to respond to Hewlett Gulch for possible injured hiker. Reports from someone on the trail said they heard a female voice calling for help about a mile up the trail to the east. There were several reports of the voice. We had 9 people respond and covered the trail and a team of 2 on the Grey Rock meadows trail in case they were closer to the top of the ridge. We logged all the vehicles in the parking lot at the time of arrival and started checking them off when hikers returned to them. By 14:00, the final vehicle was checked off. After repeated attempts to raise the subject and hearing other reports that the subject had yell 'No' when asked if she needed help, we decided to call the search off for now until more information comes in.

LCSAR volunteers: 9
Emergency Services: 1
Total volunteer miles: 180
Total volunteer hours: 45

Red Line

Saturday, September 29, 2012: RMNP Deer Mountain - Recovery Assist

23:15 page for request from RMNP to assist in recovery operation on Deer Mountain in the morning. 4 members were requested and that's what we sent. They responded in the morning and assisted with part of the evacuation and returned home by 16:24 on the 30th.

LCSAR volunteers: 4
Volunteer miles: 50
Volunteer hours: 36

Red Line

Saturday, September 29, 2012: Adriel Hills - Missing Male With Dementia

06:25, page for missing male with dementia in Adriel Hills area. The subject was visiting his kids and was missing from his bedroom when they woke up. The subject was located before we were able to get the team paged. He was located and okay.

Red Line

Friday, September 28, 2012: Old Man Mountain - 27 YOA Male Stuck in Crack

22:12, Page to respond to Old Man near Estes Park for a male subject trapped in the cave. Oh how familiar we are with this request... I think this is number 8 for me. Same mountain, same cave, same team work of Estes Park Fire, RMNP Rangers and LCSAR team members working together in a very efficient manner to get this person pulled out. 2 hours from time of call out and when he was free from his trap point. He was lucky and was able to walk out. Normally it takes many more hours to rig and free them from this point and by then the subject needs to be carried out, but everyone is beginning to have the system down. It would be nice if something could be done about this place, but it's on private land and there's nothing anyone can do.... they've tried. Everyone was home by 03:24

LCSAR volunteers: 14
Estes Park Fire: 10+?
Emergency Services: 1
Estimated volunteer miles: 1,300
Estimated volunteer hours: 120

Red Line

Tuesday, September 25, 2012: Greyrock Mountain - Four Missing Hikers

17:28 SAR requested to respond to Greyrock to search for four hikers missing from a group of hikers. The group had flagged down a passing motorist and asked him to contact 911from Ted Place. Dispatch notified ES. The SAR Team members who were en route to the Lilly Mt. call were rerouted to the Greyrock call (Lilly Mt. had been stood-down). The rest of the SAR team was placed on stand-by pending more information. O-5 responded from Fort Collins. Arriving at the trailhead SAR members and O-5 made contact with the group of hikers who were busy loading in their vehicles to leave the area. The four missing hikers had accidently gotten onto the Wintersteen trail arriving at Gateway Park instead of the Greyrock TH. A ranger drove them back to the Greyrock TH. SAR team was stood down at 18:35.

Duration: 1 hour 07 minute.
Miles to Location: 16.7
SAR miles: 261
3 LCSAR members
LCSAR ITC: Jake U.
Larimer Emergency Services: O-5
LCSAR SAR manager: Robin A.

Red Line

Tuesday, September 25, 2012: Lilly Mountain - Hiker Off Trail

15:28 SAR Manager requested to contact O-3 reference a hiker that had gotten off trail while hiking the Lilly Mt. trail. The hiker called for assistance from her cell phone which provided GPS coordinates to the dispatcher. A page seeking for 4 SAR members in the Estes area was sent to the SAR team, with 3 team members available. These three members responded direct and joined with Estes Fire crews to hike the trail and locate the hiker. A page for additional SAR team members to stage in Loveland and respond at 17:00 was sent. However, fire crews and the first group of SAR team members located the hiker at 17:27 and the additional team members were stood down in route to Lilly Mt. and rerouted to Greyrock reference a group of hikers that were unable to locate 4 of their members.

Duration: 1 hour 59 minute.
Miles to Location: 47.8
SAR miles: 132
6 LCSAR members
Estes Park PD
Estes Park Fire
LCSAR ITC: Jake U.
Larimer Emergency Services: O-3
LCSAR SAR manager: Robin A.

Red Line

September 12, 2012 (Wednesday) North Poudre Resevoir #15- Missing 52 YOA Male

At 20:14 page for Duty SAR Manager to call ES Specialist Tony Simons. Missing 52 YOA male, reported by family in Weld County on Tuesday 4 September, vehicle towed on Sunday 9 September from entrance gate at North Poudre Reservoir #15 where it was blocking owner's access. LCSO Investigations took case on Wednesday 12 September, processed the vehicle and then began preliminary search at the gate. Later in the afternoon they decided they needed to activate ES and SAR. Due to impending darkness, rainfall and the length of time since the subject was reported missing, Tony and SARM George Janson decided to deploy a single dog team to determine if the subject might be close by. Fortunately Denise and Kebo were available, and Kebo showed no interest in an expanded perimeter around the vehicle location. Afterward, at 23:35 the page went out for searchers and trackers for Thursday morning (09:00 at the Cache) to search for the subject. Eight folks responded, Denise with Kebo returned; ES Specialist Dave Mosier was now on duty, LCSO Investigator Ben Hess joined in, and we had eight members of the Posse, a Support Group member with the ATV's and also two LCSO Victim's Advocates on scene to be with the family. Interviews were conducted with family. By 10:15 all teams were assigned to the various drainages around the reservoir, with the tracking team cutting for sign along the road. The trackers found evidence of someone possibly crossing the fence on the south side of the road and worked the drainages south of the road. Ultimately at 11:42 they discovered clothing at the side of a junction of an active stream and an empty supply canal. Shortly after this clue was found we redeployed resources to leap‐frog along the various water courses and reservoirs downstream, and Dave Mosier requested that the WAPA helicopter respond. Meanwhile, the tracker team had split up and followed both the stream and the dry canal, ultimately finding the subject lodged against a weir in the dry canal, deceased. At the same time Dave Hake was calling in the find at 13:29, the WAPA helicopter was landing. After a brief exchange over the radio with Investigator Ben to confirm as much as possible (without entering or disturbing the scene) that this was indeed our subject, Dave Mosier released the helicopter, the Investigator requested that the Coroner respond, and all field teams were recalled to base. Because of the lengthy time before the Coroner would arrive, Investigator notified the family. There wasn't much to debrief, so we released all resources at 15:43, with only a few of us remaining to assist the Coroner. By 17:35 the scene had been processed, the subject transferred to the Coroner's truck, and all remaining resources departed the area.

LKP (vehicle): 40.772830 ‐105.125065 UTM: 13T 0489446 4513547 (WGS84)
Clothing: 40.770698 ‐105.129692 UTM: 13T 0489055 4513311 (WGS84)
Find: 40.757578 ‐105.119728 UTM: 13T 0489894 4511854 (WGS84)

How did the body get from the site of the clothes to be lodged against the concrete weir? During his investigation, the Investigator had learned from one of the landowners that it was not unusual for intense brief rain showers to produce a flash flood in the drainage. There had been a period of heavy rain in Fort Collins and surrounding area overnight on 12‐13 September. CSU's CoCoRaHS precipitation network showed total rainfall amounts in proximity to this area averaged about 0.5 inch (see map), probably enough to provide a flash flood.

LCSAR volunteers: 11
LCSAR volunteer hours: 113
LCSAR volunteer miles: 550
ES specialist: 2
LCSO Posse: 8
LCSO Support Group: 1
Other agencies: LCSO Investigations, LCSO Deputies, LCSO Evidence Tech, LCSO Coroner, LCSO Victim's Advocates, WAPA helicopter

Sunday, September 9, 2012: Crozier Mountain - Carryout Assist, Injured Mtn. Biker

1323 hours: Dispatch paged on call SAR manager to contact S17 re a carryout at Crosier Mountain. S17 advised of a mountain biker accident on Crosier. However, it was unknown which trailhead was closer, or the nature of the injuries. It was believed the biker was about 4 miles up the trail. S17 request that LCSAR respond direct and non-emergent to the trailhead to assist other agencies responding.

LCSAR had a good response from team members. Team members staged at the East trailhead for Crosier, waiting for further direction on which trail to use, and what equipment/gear would be needed. Numerous other agencies were on scene, and medical evac helicopter enroute. Ultimately, the helicopter was able to land close to the subject. LCSAR members were not fielded, and cleared the scene about 1520 hours.

Statistics:
LCSAR volunteers: 17
ES specialist: 1 (S17)
Other agencies: several, including but not limited to Big Thompson VFD, Big Thompson EMS
LCSAR volunteer hours: 45
LCSAR volunteer miles: 750

Red Line

Sunday, September 8, 2012: Seaman Resevoir - Lost Sublect

SEAMAN RESEVOIR – "BILLY"

2218 hours: Page from dispatch for on call SAR manager to contact S17 re lost subject. S17 advised that 9 people, who were staying in a hotel in Lucern, CO, had gone to Seaman's Reservoir for cliff diving. The group had been drinking. Before reaching the diving site, they noticed that one of their friends was missing. The subject was last seen about 1930 hours. The rest of the party continued swimming/diving. At approximately 2200 hours (2 ½ hours after the subject was missing) the rest of the party drove to town to a restaurant, and contacted the sheriff about the missing subject. The reporting parties had cell phones which were apparently dead. Therefore, the only contact dispatch had with them was when they were using the business phone to contact the sheriff.

Due to the delayed reporting, ES requested a direct response by SAR to the search area. The description of the subject was aired over the radio and paged to the team members. Two of the SAR members contacted the SAR manager while enroute to the search, and advised they believe they saw the subject earlier in the evening (about 1820 hours), walking down the highway near Picnic Rock. The timing and description was consistent with that of the subject and when he might have been walking toward town from Gateway Park.

Teams were inserted into the field at Gateway Park. At same time, S17 requested Weld County deputies check on the hotel rooms in Lucern. No one was answering the phones at the hotel desk. Deputies were unable to get into the hotel to confirm whether the subject or any of the others in the party, were back at the hotel. Messages were left for the reporting parties to check the subject's room and contact dispatch again. Even 4 hours into the operational period, details about the subject were very limited. Due to the lack of a last seen point, inability to talk to the reporting parties, and possible sighting of the subject leaving the area, S17 agreed to suspend the search after teams covered their initial search areas. Weather was not a factor; although it was cool, it was a clear mild night. Extra SAR members released about 0140 hours. Fielded teams released about 0300 hours.

Later in the morning, about 0900 hours, a parks ranger saw the subject walking on the Highway 14 near Ted's Place. Subject was scratched up, muddy, cold and shivering. He was taken to the fire station for medical assessment, and he called his mother to come pick him up. Subject was uncooperative with ES and medical personnel, and therefore, only limited information was obtained from him. But apparently, he spent the night "on a hill" near Gateway Park. It is unknown whether that hill was in the actual park, or anywhere close to the search area. And it is unknown why he spent the night on the hill, as opposed to finding a ride or finding a phone. As for how he got there, he simply said that his party "had left him"---without explanation as to where, when, or why.

Statistics
LCSAR members: 12
ES specialist: 1
FC City Ranger: 1
Volunteer hours: 65
Volunteer miles: 400

Red Line

Friday, September 7, 2012: Sand Creek - Overdue Hunter

0834 hours, Sept. 7, 2012: ES paged the on call SAR manager. O3 advised of an overdue hunter, supposedly in the Sand Creek/Deadman area. Subject was a 65 year old male. Subject had left on his hunting trip the day prior. Per previous plans with his wife, he was suppose to call in each night to let her know he was ok. He did not call the previous night (Sept 6). Wife called the sheriff the following morning to report him overdue.

Subject was driving a large Ford truck, pulling a 3 horse trailer. He used the trailer to sleep in. He supposedly had a mule, which he would have been riding. The truck and trailer had not yet been located. Subject did not have any current known medical conditions.

ES asked that LCSAR be on standby. O3 was going to drive to the area to try to find the vehicle, before having SAR resources stage.

1226 hours: O3 advised that the subject had been located and was ok. No SAR resources were needed.

Red Line

Monday, September 3, 2012: Horsetooth Falls - Carryout Assist with PFA

15:30 Page out to assist PFA in a possible carryout of a 70 YOA female near Horsetooth falls area. Rangers were on scene before we arrived and updated the medical. It was determined that they would do a litter carry a short distance up hill to one of the ranger vehicles then drive the subject down. They needed a litter, wheel and manpower to do this. Eight LCSAR members were driven up to the sight and 6 others that arrived later were staged at the parking lot in case they needed other equipment or a different route we established. All members were clear of the park at18:08

11 LCSAR members
1 Sarmanager
1 Emergency Services Specialist
5 Larimer Couty Parks Rangers
11 PFA firefighters
4 PVH Ambulance attendants
36 Volunteer hours
63 paid hours

Red Line

Monday, August 27, 2012: Boulder County Camp Dick - Lost Hiker Search Assist

This mission is in progress and info will be posted as it becomes available. (8/27/12 6am)...

Red Line

Sunday, August 26, 2012: Zimmerman Trail - Lost Hikers

14:00 page for overdue hikers in the Zimmerman Trail Head area at the end of Crown Point Road. 2 hikers in their 50's were reported overdue by their daughter after they failed to return from day hike yesterday evening. She last heard from them via a text message saying they were at the trail head and starting their hike at 12:00 noon yesterday 8-25. They were planning to bushwhack to Grass Lake from the Zimmerman Trail head. They hadn't been heard from since. We planned to get a team to come in from the Big South trail in case they dropped into that drainage and the rest were going to be deployed in the main search area. We had one trailing dog team fielded (Alvord and Kibo, Westfall). One more dog team (Reynolds) was waiting for a support at the trail head when the subjects returned to their car. The rest of the team was almost to the trail head when they returned. Everyone was stood down 17:18 and returned to home. The subjects had spent the night after getting lost and never made it to Grass Lake. Eventually they heard gun shots by someone target practicing and worked their way towards them.

21 LCSAR members
1 Sarmanager
1 Emergency Services Specialist
126 Volunteer hours

Red Line

Sunday, August 26, 2012: Horsetooth Mountain Park - Injured Hiker Carry Out

13:16 page to respond to Horsetooth Mt. Park for a carry out of a 53 YOA hiker. We were already in the process of coordinating a search for 2 overdue hikers in the Zimmerman Trail area off of Crown Point road. We had one of our rescue leaders head up this mission with multiple responders and they assisted in a 100 yard carry out to vehicle they were able to get close to the scene. Mission was completed around 14:40 and those who were available responded to the search.

Red Line

Sunday, August 26, 2012: Arthur's Rock - PFA Assist for Numerous Injured Triatheletes

09:48 Page to assist PFA in carry out of person with possible hip injury. By the time the truck was en route, there was radio traffic about a second subject so we were thinking about bringing up the second wheel... then a third subject... and a fourth! We decided to roll Truck 11 as well for the extra equipment. That's when we realized the injuries were coming from a triathlon race being held in Lory State Park and Horsetooth Mountain Park. PFA was already on scene and taking command. By the time we were on scene they had 3 other subjects. Yes, a total of 7 subjects in 7 different locations were reported with injuries. The location of all of these subjects were still trying to be confirmed. Ended up most were close to roads where PFA could respond to or the subjects were brought to them via an ATV from the race officials or assisted by other racers. We only assisted one from the ATV to the Ambulance in the parking lot and had one searcher on the back of the ATV to look for the last one. All subjects were finally accounted and taken care of and we were stood down at 10:58. Thanks everyone for responding and standing by in case we were needed.

15 LCSAR members
1 Sarmanager
1 Emergency Services Specialist
Multiple PFA firefighters and engines
Multiple Park Rangers
40 Volunteer hours

Red Line

Friday, August 24, 2012: Twin Sisters - Lost Hiker

At 18:24 page for search of lost 24 year-old female hiker on Twin Sisters. She called 911 and they had a location from her phone and in good phone contact. She was in the trees and said she was going to get above tree line to see if she could figure it out. Rocky Mountain National Park at the time didn't have any Rangers available to hasty up to see if they could make contact with her. Called for 6 to 8 searchers to hasty up and make contact with her. While en route, the Park came up with 2 Rangers to send up. By the time the team reached Estes Park, the Rangers made contact with the subject and were hiking her down. Team was stood down at 20:39 and everyone back in Ft. Collins by 22:00

8 LCSAR members
1 Sarmanager
1 Emergency Services Specialist
2 RMNP Rangers
320 Volunteer miles
27 Volunteer hours

Red Line

Tuesday, August 14, 2012: MM17 Hwy 14 Poudre Canyon - Dive Assist

1607 hours, Aug. 14, 2012: page from SO dispatch for LCSAR to "respond non-emergent direct to MM 77 W. Hwy 14 for rope assist for dive call. Subject on other side of river."

1617 hours: page from SO dispatch to stand down. From that page it appears the subject was a child, but got back to the correct side of the river and was ok.

Stats:
LCSAR members: 7
ES specialist: 1
Other agencies: unknown
Volunteer hours: 1.1 hours
Volunteer miles: 0

Red Line

Tuesday, August 14, 2012: Soderberg Trail/Minuteman Drive - Stuck Kids & Dog

1104 hours: page from SO dispatch for the team to respond to Minuteman Dr/Soderberg trail "for rescue of 2 young kids and a dog that are stuck on a rock ledge." Per ES, this was an emergent response.

1112 hours: page from SO dispatch, standing down the SAR team. Dispatch advises the youths were rescued by park rangers." No further information was provided.

Stats:
LCSAR team members: 14
ES specialist: 1
Park rangers: unknown
Volunteer hours: 1.7 hours
Volunteer miles: 25

Red Line

Sunday, August 12, 2012: Jack's Gulch Area - Lost Hiker

Paged 20:44 for a possible search for a lost hiker in the Jacks Gulch area. Subject was on a hike from the camp ground and was on a trail but not certain as to where he was because he thought he would have been back to camp by now. He called 911 and the cell phone ping put him about 5 miles west of the campground. Of course they were unable to raise him again to get more information. More attempts to call him and a text was sent to him in hopes of getting him to call 911 back to get more information. For the readers, if you are ever in this situation and need to call for help, don't waste battery life by phoning a friend. Call 911 to assure that dispatch can possibly get a hit on your location and you stand a better chance of getting through on a busy cell tower if you call 911 vs. any other number. Dispatch can call your family and friends to update them on your situation. If dispatch or Emergency Services text you, it's in hopes of you getting the information when you come back into cell coverage and save your battery life.

14 searchers, dogs and trackers were assembled to head up to the campground. In order to get someone to the plotted location as quick as possible, It was decided en route to send one team to insert directly to the north of it off of the Crown Point road. One team was selected over the radio and they had radios and maps that they could work with so they could bypass Incident Base to speed things up. 4 other teams were made up when we arrived at the campground. One Dog team was to insert in the same location as team 1, a tracking team inserted in at the where he started his hike, another dog team inserted in at the end of a forest service road that took them as close as possible to the phone hit and one more hasty team was to cover the wrong trail he was thought to have taken a wrong turn at. We had one more team to go back to camp to determine the sole pattern of his hiking boots. The camp was such that it was very difficult to sort out his pattern from the rest, but the question was asked if they had taken any pictures of the subject throughout the weekend and they did. After reviewing the photos on their cameras, we found a couple photos that showed parts of this sole on his boots. That information was relayed to the teams and the tacking team started to pick up his prints along the trail. This was a back up plan for if the cell phone hits were wrong.

All teams were fielded or en route to their assignment when at 00:25, team one was in contact with the subject and he was in fact right were the plot put him. The cell phone hit saved hours of searching and possibly hours off of the time it would have taken for him to be reported overdue. Of course in the mountains, you can't rely on your cell phone having coverage, in fact it's very rare.

All teams were back and base and en route home around 03:00

Resources:
LCSAR volunteers: 16 including search manager
ES: 1
Volunteer hours: 112 hours

Red Line

Sunday, August 12, 2012: Killpecker Area - Missing 6 YOA Female

16:37 Team was paged for a missing 6 year-old female in the Killpecker area which is West of Red Feather on the Deadman road. Emergency Services Specialist Kevin Johnston was in the area already because of a smoke report so he was heading that way. Subject was last seen walking down a trail with a dog. The dog returned but she didn't. We had 25 plus members en route when the subject was located in good condition. The team was stood down at 17:31

Resources:
LCSAR volunteers: 25+ (including SAR manager, ITC)
ES: 1
TEMS unit: 1
Volunteer hours: 40 hours
Volunteer miles: 250 miles

Red Line

Sunday, August 5, 2012: Bobcat Ridge Natural Area - Lost Hiker

1022 hours August 5, 2012: SAR manager page from dispatch to contact ES (O2). O2 advises a subject called in on his cell phone from Bobcat Ridge Natural Area, and said he was lost. He was still on a trail, but uncertain which way to go. The cell phone ping placed him at long/lat 105.259495/40.478300.

Due to the nature of the call (apparent known location, on a trail, no injuries or other emergent situation), only 6 SAR team members were requested to respond direct and non-emergent, to the natural area. In addition, a parks unit was dispatched earlier on an ATV. Shortly after all LCSAR members arrived on scene, and Team 1 had been fielded, the subject was located by the parks unit. 1143 hours, subject was located and LCSAR team stood down.

Resources:
LCSAR volunteers: 7 (including SAR manager)
ES: 1
Parks unit: 1
Volunteer hours: 14 hours
Volunteer miles: 210 miles

Anastasia stayed at Bobcat till the hiker was brought out. Thought the trackers who were there would want to see that the sole pattern matched what was found at the car. Those who weren't there, the car was parked next to the concrete sidewalk and it was assumed that no prints would show... but you never know until you look... there was about 12" of gravel between the car and the sidewalk and this is what we found. -Dave H.

Red Line

Thursday, August 2, 2012: Peterson Lake near Long Draw - Female That Fell

1130 hours on August 2, 2012; page from dispatch, requesting a direct emergent response to Peterson Lake, off of Long Draw Road, for a "female that fell, is 50-60 feet down a 50-60 degree slope." Within 5 minutes, dispatch sent another page, requesting the SAR manager contact one of the ES units regarding a 2nd mission which was occurring simultaneously. (See separate mission report regarding that search on this same date.) Initially, it was determined that the ITC would coordinate the resources for the search, and the SAR manager (thru dispatch) would coordinate the resources for the rescue at Peterson. Report via radio indicated the subject had a broken ankle, but otherwise stable.

Other resources (Poudre Canyon Rescue, deputy, and park ranger) reached the subject, and were able to carry her out the short distance to the road, before most LCSAR resources got on scene.

1300 hours, LCSAR was stood down, while most members were still enroute.

Stats:
LCSAR members - 12 (including SAR manager)
ES units - 2
Poudre Canyon Rescue - 2??
PVH ambulance - unknown
TEMS - unknown
SO - one mountain deputy??
RMNP - one ranger??
LCSAR hours: 32 hours
LCSAR miles driven: 300 miles

Red Line

Sunday, July 29, 2012: Boxer Ranch Road - Carry Out of Injured ATV'ers

ORIGINAL PAGE: PRI !LCSAR From L02050:SAR TEAM, WE NEED A DIRECT RESPONSE TO STAGE AT CR82E/CR80C LIVERMORE FOR A CARRYOUT OF TWO PATIENTS INVOLVED IN AN ATV ACCIDENT...

A husband and wife rolled their ATV on top of them which injured both of them. Livermore QRT and Poudre Valley Ambulance were on scene first. They hiked to the scene of the crash and packaged both patients on backboards and waited for SAR to arrive with litter and gear. Airlink-2 from MCR also responded and landed in a field about a mile from the scene and shut down. The two medics from Airlink-2 also went to the scene to assist with patient care.

The female was the worst injured so it was decided to evacuate her first to the ground ambulance where they then transported her to Airlink-2. The ambulance returned to staging to receive the male patient. Both scree-evac's were about 300 yards in length and went pretty quick.

While returning to town, SAR manager, Mark Sheets who was driving Truck-10 smacked a deer near the intersection of Hwy-287 and Hwy-14 at approx. 55-MPH. Note to T-10 drivers, if you are forced to hit a dear or other animal, best to take it dead-center of the truck as the winch mount is very beefy and will take the punishment. In this case, the only damage was a bent front license plate however the winch looks like it is growing deer hair from all the cracks and seams now.

LCSAR Members: 14
LCSO 1-ES, 1-Patrol Deputy
Livermore QRT – 2
PVH Ambulance-2, TEMS-1
Total duration: 5-hrs

Red Line

Thursday, July 26, 2012: Cirque Lake - Dog Rescue

1729 hours - Page from dispatch for SAR manager to contact O5 with ES. O5 advised there was report of hikers at Cirque Lake, near Pingree Park, that were hiking near a snowfield. Their dog ran off into the snowfield and got injured. The dog, a Blue Heeler, would not walk out. The reporting party (RP) was at Pingree Park waiting for help, to take them back to his friend who stayed with the dog.

1759 hours - after determining who was going to act as the SAR manager and ITC for the incident, a page went out to the team for 10 members to respond, with crampons or micro-spikes. 6 members were able to respond. 5 responded initially to the cache for staging. Another member responded at a later time, to accompany a veterinarian to the mission. The vet was called, in anticipation we may need to sedate the dog for the carryout.

2040 hours - the initial response team arrived at Pingree Park, and met with O5 and the RP. The RP then provided more information, which indicated the dog and his owner were both "trapped" above a snowfield, which was too steep and icy for them to safely cross. The 5 SAR team members (Team 1) went into the field, with limited gear, not knowing if they would have to carryout the dog or not.

0002 hours (July 27) - Team 1 reaches Cirque Lake and can see subject. 0149 hours, Team 1 is at bottom of snowfield. 0300 hours, at least one SAR member is now with the subject and the dog. Via radio communications between Team 1 and the vet at ICP, it was determined the dog is probably in stable condition, and appears mobile. However, neither the dog or the owner are able to cross the snowfield. UTM of the subject and dog is 0443390/4487373. Over the next 3 hours Team 1 rigs rescue systems to extract the dog and owner from the snowfield. Both are safely across the snowfield by 0600 hours. 4 more hours pass, as they cross the boulder field, and walk the trail back with the subject and the dog. All parties and all SAR members are safely back at ICP at 1020 hours July 27.

Resources:
LCSAR members: 7 members (including SAR manager)
ES: 1 specialist (O5)
Third party resources: 1 veterinarian from Emergency Veterinary Hospital (816 S. Lemay, FC)
hours: 140 hours
miles: 180 miles

Red Line

Saturday, July 14, 2012: Mount Margaret - Overdue Camper

22:38 SAR team requested to respond to the Mt. Margret trail and search for a group of teenage campers. The group went camping earlier in the day however one teen decided to return home and called a family member to meet at the trail. The family member arrived at the trailhead but the teen was not there. Not having any flashlights the family member called additional family members to bring flashlights and begin searching on their own. ES asked for all family members to remain at the parking area and the SAR Team was requested to respond to locate the teen as well as the campsite of the other teens. The nearest dog team was dispatched to respond direct and a page for additional searchers was sent to the team. The missing teen arrived at the trailhead a short time later and all SAR resources were stood down. The location of camp was now known and a Sheriff's deputy would make a courtesy check on the welfare of the campers.

Duration: 3 hour 01 minute.
Miles to Location: 43.2
SAR miles: 300
10 LCSAR members
Larimer Sheriff personnel
ITC: John L.
1 Larimer Emergency Services: S-17
1 LCSAR SAR manager: Robin A.

Red Line

Tuesday, July 10, 2012: Horsetooth Mountain Park - Injured Mountain Biker

Page at 0634 for fallen Mt. Biker mile and a half up Horsetooth Mountain Trail. PFA and ES Sam 17 were on scene. It was determined that the subject was a couple hundred yards from the road so transporting the subject via a parks truck would work but they needed the wheel and sar members to assist with the carry out to the road. Life Link out of MCR was flown into the parking lot and subject was down to the Landing Zone around 0740.

Resources:
6 LCSAR members
2 ES members
12+? PFA members
Air Link flight and crew
PVH ambulance and crew

Red Line

Sunday, July 8, 2012: Buckhorn Canyon - Lost Dirt Bikers

19:52 hour: - SAR manager paged to contact O2. O2 reports there are two overdue dirt bikers in the Buckhorn canyon. When they didn't show up for a family event in the afternoon the reporting party called them in as lost. The initial report puts them somewhere near the Buckhorn ranger station. O3 will head up to locate their vehicle.

Concurrently the SAR team is paged to stand by for a search. Searchers and trackers are requested. Due to the recent rain storms and the proximity to the fire burn area, 4 wheel drive vehicles are requested.

At 20:56 the SAR team received the stand down page. The subjects have cellular contact with the family, and are fine.

Resources:
ES: O2
LCSAR: 16 members (including ITC, SAR manager, SAR manager in training)
hours: 5

Red Line

Thursday, July 6, 2012: Boulder County Assist - Lost Hiker

- There were 22 searchers total; 9 from LCSAR.
- Folks were divided into two main groups, "Dogs" and "Groundpounders".
- The "Groundpounders were divided into two groups, "high elevation group" and "low elevation group".
- Because common sense prevailed, I became the only "Low Group", and Eddy was gracious enough to join me.
- Teams headed into the field around 0915.
- Most dog teams supported the "high group". One dog team worked the low areas along the Middle St. Vrain River.
- A Blackhawk and a Chinook supported the "high elevation group".
- The "High group" was driven up the very, very rough boulder-strewn 4 mi. Middle Saint Vrain Road to the bridge (LKP) crossing the Middle St. Vrain river. From there they hiked up the Buchanan Pass Trail, OR were flown part way (not sure).
- The "high group" searched all over the high elevation. (Sandy was with them and can describe that portion.).
- The "Low Group (Eddy, Norland, and a lady from RMR) hiked up the very rough 4 mi. Middle St. Vrain Road and across the bridge (LKP). At that point the RMR lady joined up with the dog team as support person. Eddy and I hiked about 3 mi. up (NW) the St. Vrain Glacier Trail searching from the steep northern limits to portions of the river to the south of the trail. The forest is so thick that we could only infrequently reach the river.
- The lower dog team reported alerts along the river up and down stream from the bridge.
- No clues or tracks were found.
- There were other hiking parties in the area, and all were aware of the subject and the search.
- At about 1245 thunder storms started, and at 1315 Eddy and I began hiking out, as did the "high elevation group".
- By the time we returned to the parking area we had been in rain and hail for a significant time.
- All team members debriefed and checked out.

Norland

Activities as I know them -- Patricia (missing subject) was last known (for sure) at the bridge across the Middle St. Vrain at about 1145 Tuesday (7/3), where she chose to remain after hiking partners returned via the trail to the parking area (4 mi.). It is reported that she is a strong hiker and has some degree of dementia. A hiking party reported seeing her and talking with her on the trail near the east side of Buchanan Pass at about 1430. She may have indicated that she was hiking west as far as her legs could take her (second hand comment.). RMRG and Boulder ES searched the east side of Buchanan Pass area and along the bridge area with dogs that evening. Grand County EMS and SAR searched the west side of Buchanan Pass. Wednesday (7/4), Boulder ES, RMR, LCSAR, and others with dogs searched the east side of Buchanan Pass and bridge and river area. Thursday, Boulder ES, RMR, and LCSAR with dogs searched east side of Buchanan Pass, bridge area, Middle St. Vrain River, St Vrain Glacier Trail, and others. No clues or tracks were identified. -- Norland

Red Line

Monday, July 2, 2012: Twin Sisters - Lost Boys

1923 Hours: SAR manager page to contact O3. O3 advises there is a lost party on Twin Sisters. Father and 4 boys (2 were his sons) were hiking the Twin Sisters trail. Father and one boy made it back to the trailhead, but other 3 boys (ages 10, 14, 15) did not return. Subjects were last seen about at tree line on the trail, going down the trail, after they had summited. The oldest boy called 911 from his cell phone, and advised they were off the trail and lost. No further information was obtained from the boys before the phone went dead. However, dispatch was able to ping the cell phone signal with probable coordinates of 560/602, which were consistent with the search area.

Some lightening and rain was in the area. Boys were in shorts and t-shirts, with sweatshirts and ball caps. But none of them were equipped with headlamps, or rain gear. ES requested a direct non-emergent response of 12-15 SAR members, including dog teams, trackers, and foot searchers.

The father and boys were part of a family reunion in the area. The father was the reporting party, and had contacted the RMNP rangers when he reached the trailhead. Therefore, a ranger was with the father, as well as other family members and arrived at the trailhead shortly after our team's arrival.

Six teams went into the field starting approximately 2100 hours. All 3 boys were located, cold, wet, shivering, but otherwise in good condition, approximately 2400 hours. After warming the boys up, the boys were evaculated by two teams. Evacuation took about 2 ½ hours. All teams and the boys were at the trailhead by 0226 hours, and met by a group of happy family members.

SIDE NOTE: In addition to the mission above, LCSAR members were also tasked to assist RMNP on a rescue carry out. After the team arrived at Twin Sisters, the park rangers asked if we could provide some member to assist the rangers with a carry out from Mills Creek. Two LCSAR members responded with the rangers for that mission.

Resources:
ES – 1 specialialist
RMNP rangers – 2+
LCSAR team members: 19 (includes ITC, SAR manager, SAR managers in training)
hours: 140 hours
miles: 1050 miles

...All

I want to convey the thanks of one mom who said over and over" thank you" for finding her 10 year old son N. on the rain soaked slopes of the east side of Twin Sisters in the early morning hours last week. I was not at the trail head when the boys came down with the teams that found them but I'm sure it was a great scene. -- David Francis, LCSAR

The Lost Boys - a personal account from a Search Leader...

I am just one person on a team of over 100. I cannot begin to tell all the stories that are intertwined throughout every rescue and every search. This is my story from that night...

Beep Beep Beep, Here we go... Usually the pager has no regard for what I'm doing. Tonight, it actually was timed fairly well. I had just finished dinner and a movie and was getting ready to relax for a while. There is still that initial excitement of the unknown. Is it a rescue, could it be a search, maybe another county is requesting help from us. A quick call to the on duty manager reveals it's a search. A search for three lost teenage boys just outside Rocky Mountain National Park. Being a father of a teenager myself, there is no question. I'm going!!!

Shortly after entering the canyon on my drive to Estes, the rain starts. It just keeps coming down harder and harder as I go. And the daylight gets dimmer and dimmer. I love night hiking, but hate the rain. As we are getting ourselves together at the trail head, the teams are assigned. Jeff and I (Team 1) are to proceed to where the boys made their 911 call. (Most modern cell phones today can transmit approximate GPS coordinates. This can be very helpful in locating lost individuals because the search area is greatly reduced.) It seems like it should be a fairly easy search tonight. But I know better. We are also informed that a member of the general public is out there somewhere looking for the boys. This is BAD. Now we may have to divert resources to look for him also. After a quick pack and radio check we are off on our assignment.

We are probably 20 feet from the vehicles when we run into the person who was looking for the boys. He is soaking wet and appears cold. No jacket, no flashlight, no backpack, nothing. He did the right thing by coming back. And we're off again. Along the way Jeff is blowing his rescue horn in case the boys are in range and can call back to us. It's kind of cool at night to hear these horns when you're out hiking. They are loud and the sound carries a long way. It can also make you feel a little more comfortable knowing you are not the only one out there. About the time we reach the saddle at over 11,000 ft, the rain has stopped. This is when our work begins. We have been traveling on an established trail up to this point. Now we need to head off into the woods "bush whacking" our way to the location we believe the boys to be at.

Using a GPS and the coordinates given to us by the operations manager, we work our way to the destination. It's about one quarter of a mile down the back side of the mountain. The travel is difficult. There are downed trees we have to climb over and go around. There are wet rocks that you can't see under bushes and shrubs. Inevitably I will slip on one of them. Almost certainly I will be snagged by a tree branch that I didn't notice that will try to throw me to the ground. All along the way we are calling to the boys with no response. We are starting to get worried. Where are they? My GPS beeps notifying me that we are arriving at the coordinates. Still no "Lost Boys". Lots of horn blowing and calling yields no response. What now?

A quick radio call to operations gets us a new assignment. Continue further down into the draw looking for the boys. I don't know about Jeff, but I'm starting to wonder if they are here. Maybe they have gone way down into the forest. Maybe they are over by the Crags. Maybe my mind is wandering because it's late and I'm wet, cold, and tired. They should be able to hear us! The forest is starting to get thick. Straight line travel is absolutely impossible. Over logs, under branches, around bushes, the terrain hazards never end. Why would they be down here? Sure enough, about ten minutes after we began our second assignment, we think we hear a response to our calls. We try not to get excited because the terrain we are in has been echoing our calls for the past hour. There are cliff bands and rock outcroppings all around and above us. It could be another team calling or it could be the boys. Jeff gestures the direction he thinks the voices came from and I do the same. We both have outstretched fingers pointing in the same general direction. A minute or so later we stop to call again. Same thing, voices. This time we both think we hear the word "Help". Our faces light up with excitement. Just then Team 3 calls us on the radio. They also think they heard voices. I've been listening to Team 3's conversation with operations for the past hour (it's good to know where other teams are in your area). They are over one half mile away and above us on the ridge. Maybe we didn't really hear the boys. Maybe it was just an echo. Oh, well. We decide to continue in the direction we think they are. With three teams in the general area it's hard to tell whose voice we are hearing. Team 3 calls out on the radio that they will be the only team to blow their signal horn. Everyone will listen for a response. BINGO. We got the boys. This time we hear clearly "We're over here!". "Stay there!" is my response to them. "We're coming". Now my brain is running. Who knows what the situation will be when we get there. My number one concern is injuries. What happened to them that made them leave their location of the 911 call? Will we have one injury or maybe all three of them? What resources will we need to get them out? Jeff and I are probably 20 yards away when they say they can see our headlamps. It's go time.

For us what we see isn't bad at all. Three cold and wet boys huddled together in the dark forest. No injuries. For them, it isn't good at all. One of them is shivering a lot. He can't stop. All three are soaking wet. Everyone has cotton clothing on (BAD). No hiking boots, no rain jackets, no headlamps or flashlights, and a dead cell phone. Jeff and I brought enough extra dry clothes with us that we are able to get them out of their wet tops and into something warm and dry. We also feed them some high energy snacks and get some fluids into them. With no injuries and just being tired and cold we decided to get moving. After a quick double check that we have everything, and everyone is ready, we headed out. It is almost three quarters of a mile back up to the saddle where we can get on the trail. Team 3 is going to wait there for us as a support crew. We tell the boys we'll just take our time and hike up and out of here. There are quite a few comments made about how cold they are. We assure them that it won't be long before they are warm again. It is no more than five minutes after we started and they all agree that they are warm again. Talking to them, we find out that being cold is why they were not at the spot where they made the 911 call from. It was open and exposed up there and they decided to head into the trees to get out of the wind. Rule number one when you're lost, STAY PUT!

The hike up and out is actually kind of fun. The boys are quite chatty. And they certainly have lots of questions for Jeff and I. How long have you guys been doing this? What was the longest mission you've ever been on? What would you have done if one of us was hurt? How much do you guys get paid for this? I think it really gets them thinking about things when we tell them we are s. Our conversations range from snowboarding to hunting deer to basketball to American history plus a lot more. Before we know it we are at the saddle where Team 3 is waiting. Some more snacks and drinks await them plus some of the same lectures about "stay put" and other things to bring with you on every hike. After our 15 minute pit stop and photo op, we continued on down the trail. It seems easier now yet harder because everyone is tired. Team members are tired from carrying our heavy search packs. The boys are tired because of their ordeal. We all press on. As do the conversations. Again, before we know it, we are at the trail head. It is now 2:34AM. The three boys pile into one of our team member's vehicle and drive down to the parking lot. The three of us walk the quarter mile down the road to meet them at our staging area. I can only imagine the reunion that took place when the family saw them get out of the vehicle. I've had family and friends of subjects waiting for me to arrive before but this is different. Everyone is one hundred percent genuine and appreciative of our efforts. But it was the hug from a crying mom that hits me the hardest. What an awesome feeling. I 'am driving down the canyon about 3am when it hit me. This is why I do this. So that others may live… - - Russell

Red Line

Sunday, July 1, 2012: Signal Mountain - Lost Hikers

15:52 Hours: ES pages SAR manager. Team is requested to assist with a search for three lost hikers near Signal Mountain. The subjects called in using a cell phone to report they were lost. Their approximate location was acquired through the cellular signal.

Two team members, who were Estes Park, responded directly to the trail head. They were sent into the field as a hasty team by the initial ES person. Shortly after they left, the remainder of the responding SAR members, two dog teams as well as multiple search teams, were fielded. Searches were initiated in both valleys either side of the Bulwark Ridge trail as well as multiple teams on the main trail.

At approximately 19:15 the first verbal contact was made with the subjects. They were located some distance off the trail and down a significant vertical amount. After assessing their condition the hasty team assisted them back up to the trail. Shortly after beginning to hike down the trail, they joined up with two other teams that were heading up. Everyone was back at the trail head by 21:57

Resources:
ES: O5,O3
LCSAR: 15 SAR members, SAR manager, and ITC
miles: approximately 230 miles
hours: 120

Red Line

Saturday, June 2, 2012: Gateway Park - Overdue Hiker

1925 hours: ES pages on call SAR manager. Report of an overdue hiker in Gateway Park area. Subject is a 76 yoa male, who was hiking with the RP. They started hiking together on the Wintersteen Trail from Seaman's Reservoir at 1330 hours. About 1545 hours they separated, and agreed to meet again at 1800 hours ¾ mile West of the Reservoir. However the subject failed to show up at the designated time and place. RP went to the ranger station to report the subject lost.

SAR team responded directly (non-emergent) to Gateway Park with searchers, dog teams, and trackers. Shortly after staging at Gateway Park, the subject self recovered and located the park ranger. Subject was uninjured. 2104 hours: SAR team was stood down.

Resources:
Park ranger: 1
ES: O3
LCSAR: 22 SAR members plus SAR manager and ITC
TEMS units: called ITC and were on standby
miles: approximate 300 miles
hours: 40 hours

Red Line

Saturday, June 2, 2012: Moody Hill - Carryout ATV Accident

1331 hours: page from dispatch for the SAR team to respond non-emergent direct to Lower Moody Hill, CR44H/Buckhorn Canyon near MM22 for a carry out of a female subject of an ATV accident. Radio traffic indicated there were two subjects involved in the ATV accident, both with injuries. However, it was reported that both subjects left the area by personal vehicle. Rist Canyon was responding, and confirmed both subject had already left.

1447 hours: SAR team was stood down while enroute.

Resources:
SO: E19 was enroute with ATV
ES: O3 was enroute
LCSAR: approximately 10 members were responding plus SAR manager and ITC
Other agencies: Rist Canyon responded (unknown numbers)
miles driven: approximately 30 miles
hours: 2 hours

Red Line

Friday, June 1, 2012: Storm Mountain - Stranded Hiker

1536 hours: ES paged on call SAR manager. O5 advised of a report that a female subject was lost and stranded in hazardous terrain. The reporting party advised that the woman could be seen by others, but they were unable to reach her, and she was unable to self recover from where she was. Although she was not injured, she was not prepared for the weather (wearing only a t-shirt and jeans), was frightened, and it was starting to rain.

SAR team was paged, and staged at two locations. One team was sent up the Masonville road to access the area from the back, while the remaining members were going to respond to the subjects residence near Storm Mountain. Subject was apparently able to contact her husband via text. Husband reached the subject and helped her self recover.

SAR team was stood down while enroute, at 1648 hours.

Resources:
SO: one or more deputies responded
ES: 1 specialist
LCSAR: 10 members plus SAR manager and ITC
TEMS: on standby for response
miles: approximately 60 miles
hours: 12 hours

Red Line

Saturday, May 26, 2012: Garden Gate Trailhead, Glen Haven - Injured Hiker

At 15:28 the team received a page to respond to Garden Gate Trail Head for a carry out of an injured hiker that twisted an ankle at the top of Crosier Mountain. The team responded with 15 member and several of them were our new members who just completed their new member training. This was their first call!

2 members were on scene early with Emergency Services Specialist (O-5) and started up the trail to connect with the party. They met up with them only about ½ hour up the trail so the subject had hiked out quite a ways on the ankle. She said she could make it out after they stabilized it, but it was decided to send the rest of the crew up with a litter and wheel to give her a ride down. Besides, the new members were ready to do it! Everyone connected up and loaded her into the litter and wheeled her down.

On a side note, the hiking partner is a former LCSAR member from 1998. He was glad to see us.

Duration: 4 hours.
SAR miles: 450
15 LCSAR Resources
1 Larimer Emergency Services: O-5
1 LCSAR SAR manager: Dave Hake

Red Line

Wednesday, May 16, 2012: Mount McConnel - Overdue Hiker

15:20 L1 received a call from Emergency Services Specialist (O-2) saying they have a report of a 21 year old female overdue hiker on Mt. McConnel. It was a group of hikers that all met up top and one hiker was last seen walking off the top to find the trail. After many attempts to call for her, they decided to get some help.

The team was assembled and headed up to Mountain Park which is at the base of Mt. McConnel and where the group started from. We had hasty teams, dog teams and tracking teams heading up multiple trails that she could be on in hopes of her eventually finding a trail and heading down. A hasty team located her about ½ hour up the trail. She had eventually found a trail and started walking down. She had never been in the mountains before. The whole group was from Chicago and many didn't realized how fast someone could go missing in these mountains.

Duration: 4 hours.
SAR miles: 300
14 LCSAR Resources
1 Larimer Emergency Services: O-2
1 LCSAR SAR manager: Dave Hake

Red Line

Tuesday, May 15, 2012: Storm Mountain - Lost Subject

At 22:15 Just when we thought we had our mission for the day, L1 received a call from a fellow team member stating that he heard from a coworker about another coworker that called him saying he was lost in the mountains near Storm Mountain. The subject was hunting for antlers and got turned around and became lost. He came to a 4wd road that was numbered 345 and described the area but cell service was lost and that's the last they heard from him. It was determined if he was in fact where he described, he was a long way from his vehicle and it was decided to get a group together to run some of the roads in that area. A total of five 4wd vehicles including one Emergency Service Specialist (O-2) grouped up at Masonville to get a plan together. The location we thought he was at was plotted on the map and everyone headed to that area. If he wasn't located there, then the plan was to spread out and cover the roads that branched off of that area.

The subject was told to "Stay on the road" which was a good thing because we went to the location plotted and he was in fact waiting there for us. It was a warm night and he probably could have spent the night out without too many problems, but he was out of water so it was a good thing we decided to go up that night.

Duration: 3 hours.
SAR miles: 225
9 LCSAR Resources
1 Larimer Emergency Services: O-2
1 LCSAR SAR manager: Dave Hake

Red Line

Tuesday, May 15, 2012: Hewlett Gulch Fire Area - Stuck Climber

16:33, the Team received the page: "RESPOND EMERGENT AT THIS TIME TO HWY 14. CLIMBER IS FREE CLIMBING WITH NO EQUIPMENT. HE IS GETTING EXHAUSTED"

The team responded to the area and on the way we could see the large clouds of smoke from the Hewlett Gulch Fire that had been burning for a few days now. A few members and Emergency Services were on site quickly along with some of the Poudre Canyon Fire department as they were stationed ½ mile away on standby for the fire. The subject was stranded about 60' up a cliff where he was scrambling to try to "Get a better view of the fire". The early responders started scouting out routes to get above him quickly so we could anchor a rope and rappel down and secure him. Several routes were scoped out and one member started to lead climb up and over the top of his location. The fire crew had access to a 30' ladder and decided to see if it would reach for a simple approach while others continued their routes. The ladder was too short so the alternate routes were continued.

A route to the top was established and a rope secured and thrown down to our lead climber to give her a safer approach at the subject. She worked her way over to the subject and secured him onto her rope. Once the subject was secured, a second rope was lowered down to them for a belay and a pick off was executed lowering him down to the ladder and down to safety.

Plan "A", "B" and "C" were all executed and used in conjunction to quickly get the subject to safety and all groups worked well together.

Duration: 3 hours.
SAR miles: 250
13 LCSAR Resources
1 Larimer Emergency Services: O-2
1 Forrest Service: Forrest 15
TEMS: 2
Poudre Canyon QRTs: 4
1 LCSAR SAR manager: Dave Hake

Red Line

Tuesday, May 8, 2012: West Horsetooth Road Fort Collins - Missing Youth

16:36 SAR team was initially requested to respond to the park area off the west end of Horsetooth Road to assist in the search for a missing youth. The youth had left school approximately 3 hours earlier, walking, but had not yet made it to home. Fort Collins PD was also searching for the youth. While the SAR manager and S-17 were talking on the phone a PD officer saw the youth at the old drive-in theater and tried to make contact but the youth ran, fearing being in trouble for trespassing. Officers eventually made contact with the youth, who was returned home. SAR team was not needed. A SAR manager Stand down page was sent at 16:54.

Duration: 20 minutes.
Miles to Location: 6.3
SAR miles: 0
0 LCSAR Resources
1 Larimer Emergency Services: S17
1 LCSAR SAR manager: Robin A.

Red Line

Sunday, May 6, 2012: Dunraven Area - Two Missing Hikers

16:54 SAR manager received request to contact O-3 ref. two missing hikers in the Dunraven area. The two hikers were part of a group hike that hiked the Bulwark Ridge Trial. The group summited and began the hike back to the trailhead about 12:30. When the group's trail sweeps arrived back at the trailhead it was realized that two of the hikers had not made it back. SAR team was requesting. Weather was rain and light winds. Hikers were described as wearing only light clothing. The first of the missing hikers returned the trailhead about 17:57 and the other about 10 mins later. SAR team was stood down enroute at 18:10.

Duration: 1 hour 16 minute.
Miles to Location: 36.8
SAR miles: 25.0
18 LCSAR Resources
1 Larimer Emergency Services: O-3
ITC: Jake U.
TEMS: Requested, would be on standby in Loveland
1 LCSAR SAR manager: Robin A.

Red Line

Saturday, May 5, 2012: Lost Lake near Red Feather - Lost Hiker

10:05 SAR manager received request to contact O-3 ref. a hiker in the Lost Lake area that called in stating that he wasn't sure where he was. The hiker had gone out with a group early in the morning but became separated from the group. Hiker was in contact with dispatch and told to remain where he was. SAR team was requested to respond while Forrest 15 would go to the camp location and make contact with the other campers from the group. Emergency services did have GPS coordinates from the hiker's cell phone. Hiker returned to camp, on his own, and SAR team was stood down at 11:06.

Duration: 1 hour 1 minute.
Miles to Location: 37.5
SAR miles: 25.0
12 LCSAR Resources
1 Larimer Emergency Services: O-3
1 Forrest Service: Forrest 15
TEMS: Response not required
1 LCSAR SAR manager: Robin A.

Red Line

Saturday, April 28, 2012: Twin Sisters - Two Lost Hikers

21:26 SAR manager received request to contact S-17 and have the SAR team respond direct to search for two hikers, lost on Twin Sisters. The hikers self-reported, via a 911 call from their cell phone, that they were unable to descend alone in the dark. The hikers, visiting the area from out of state, recognized the city lights of Estes and were able to adequately describe other lighted features below them. Several SAR team members responded but only a few of those members were fielded to locate the two hikers. The other SAR members remained in staging in case anyone in the fielded teams became injured or needed other assistance quickly. One of the teams made contact with the hikers about 02:30 in the morning. The hikers were very cold, each dressed in jeans and t-shirts with only one bottle of water. The lost hikers were assisted back to the Twin Sisters Trailhead by team members, arriving about 05:50. All SAR members returned home about 08:30

Duration: 12 hour 04 minute.
Miles to Location: 50.4
SAR miles: 300
9 LCSAR members
Rocky Mountain National Park personnel
Estes Park PD personnel
ITC: Sandy J.
1 Larimer Emergency Services: S-17
1 LCSAR SAR manager: Robin A.

Red Line

Sunday, April 22, 2012: Devil's Backbone - Missing Hiker

1425 hours: LCSAR team paged by SO dispatch to respond non-emergent, but directly to Devils Backbone trailhead for a missing hiker.

While enroute, subject was located by a SO investigator at 1500 hours. SAR team was stood down, and no members fielded.

LCSAR members responding: 15
ES service personnel: 1
Other agencies involved: unknown
hours: 8 hours est.
miles: 200 miles

Red Line

Saturday, April 21, 2012: Grey Rock - 3 Lost Males

0436 hours: ES advises that a reporting party received e-mail from husband that he and 2 other males were hiking Greyrock the previous day, and got lost. E-mail was received the previous night with no further contact from the husband. As of the next morning, they had not returned.

LCSAR members responded direct to the Greyrock trailhead, arriving within an hour of the report. At 0712 hours, members of one of the hasty teams met up with all 3 subject, who had self-recovered to the trail and were headed down the trail. Subjects were located on the summit trail near the upper junction. Subject reported they had summited the night before, but went the wrong direction off the summit and spent the night in a cave.

All subjects were back at the trail head by 0809 hours, and SAR members were out of the field by 0920.

LCSAR members responding: 15
ES service personnel: 1
SO support group: 4?? (unknown)
TEMS personnel: 2
hours: 71 hours
miles: 400

Red Line

Friday, March 16, 2012: Eagle's Nest(near Livermore) - Missing Hiker

"Missing from the Nest"

March 16, 2012, 2100 hours: ES paged on-call SAR manager to contact S17 (emergency services) reference "an overdue hiker at Eagle's Nest". S17 advised the SAR manager that a 53 year old male was reported missing. Subject had left home with his dog, to go hiking at 0930 that morning, and had not returned. It was reported he was going to Eagle's Nest near Livermore.

2116 hours: SAR team was paged for searchers, trackers and search dogs to stage at 2200 hours for the search. While the team was staging, S17 drove to Eagle's Nest to locate the vehicle. In fact, S17 advised that the vehicle was not at Eagle's Nest. S17 had visited with the subject's wife, and had a good description of the subject, his dog, and the gear the subject might have with him. However, without a last known point for the subject, it was not practical to field the SAR team.

By the time it was discovered that the vehicle was not at the trailhead, most SAR members had arrived at the SAR cache and ready for deployment. SAR members were divided into teams, and contrary to standard procedures, teams were sent to various trailheads along various roads, to look for the subject's vehicle. Teams cleared the parking areas at Ted's Place, Picnic Rock, Gateway Park, Greyrock, Hewlett Gulch, Young's Gulch, the Mishiwaka, Bonner Peak, Eagle's Nest, Lone Pine, Elkhorn, Shambala Center, Mount Margaret, Lady Moon, Red Mountain, and Soapstone. Teams returned to the cache around 0100 hours, and the search was suspended due to lack of any additional information (which would give the SAR team a place to start their ground search).

Mid-to-late morning the following day (March 17), the subject self recovered. It is reported that the subject had been in the Middle Cherokee Park area, got separated from his car and could not locate it after dark. Subject spent the night out, and was able to find his vehicle the following morning, in the light. Friends and family were conducting a search for his vehicle on Saturday morning. The friends spotted subjects vehicle on CR 80C, as he was driving out of the area. Subject and his dog were fine.

Resouces:
LCSAR team members: 13
ES specialist: 1
miles driven: appox 300 miles
hours: 52 hours

Red Line

Saturday, March 10, 2012: Horsetooth Mountain Park/Bear Lake - Fallen Dog

Appoximately 1300 hrs a dog fell off the back side of Horsetooth Rock, reported fall was ~50 feet. Two guys climbed down to assist the dog. Somewhere around 1530 hrs LCSAR was asked to respond to Horsetooth Mtn Park so that PFA could use our wheel and litter. L66 and L90 responded with Truck 10 to the the parking lot. In total there were ~27 people involved in the call.. of which only 2 were LCSAR, the rest were PFA and Parks. Not sure of any rescue specifics because LCSAR did not leave the parking lot....

On scene...
2 PFA Engines
1 PFA Ladder
1 PFA Battalion Chief
2 PFA Brush engines
2 PFA Pickups
4-5 Parks units
Ocean 3
1 PVH Medic unit (left soon after Truck 10 arrived) and 2 medics
1 PVH TEMs unit with 2 medics
Truck 10
L66 and L90

The dog was cute and appeared happy... and looked to only have minor injuries

Lee Lang
Larimer 66, SL, R1, R2, Snow Leader

Red Line

Sunday, February 19, 2012: Rocky Mountain National Park/Bear Lake - Overdue Hiker

0647 - SAR Manager page requesting 20 searchers to assist RMNP by 1100 for a search at Bear Lake.

0712 - Page to SAR Team asking for 10-12 Searchers. Reported 3 1/2 ft of snow. Searchers to stage at Loveland Safeway 0830.

11 total LCSAR Members responding, 3 responding direct from Estes, the rest staged at Loveland left at ~0830.

Upon arriving at RMNP SAR Cache, Park Rangers were establishing ICP, 2 teams of 2 Rangers had fielded at ~0630 to start searching 2 prime areas. IC requested that a tracking dog and support field ASAP. 3 LCSAR Members were to hike out to Odessa Gorge and possibly be ready to spend the night. The other 6 LCSAR members were to provide a trail block and talk with people coming out of the 5 trail heads along Bear Lake Rd.

As LCSAR Members were preparing to field, a report from Rangers in the field indicated finding the subject and that a medical evac should be inititiated. LCSAR was reassigned from search to litter team, and transport of all medical materials to the scene. As LCSAR was packing, RMNP successfully had the high altitude medical ship from Denver launched with an ETA of 30 mins.

The plan rapidly evolved to Plan A - medical evac by helicopter and Plan B - evac by LCSAR. The subjects location was such that the 2 rangers on scene could rapidly move the subject to an impromptu LZ less than 100 yds from the patient. Winds held low, and helicopter made a successful evac. No LCSAR members actually fielded.

LCSAR members were released from RMNP ~1213.

--Lee Lang, L66, SL, R1, R2, Snow Leader

from The Coloradoan...

Estes Park woman found alive but unconscious near Odessa Lake in RMNP

A 54-year-old Estes Park woman was found alive but unconscious and unresponsive this morning near Odessa Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.

The woman, who park rangers did not identify Sunday, was reported overdue by family members late Saturday evening.

According to a RMNP press release, a family member had found the woman's car at the Bear Lake parking lot but did not know where she may have hiked or snowshoed to. Rangers and family members stayed in the Bear Lake are until after midnight.

The woman was found roughly three miles up the summer trail to Odessa Lake, on the north side of Flattop Mountain, after rangers searched the Nymph, Dream and Emerald Lake areas and trails leading to Odessa Lake.

Rangers said she was breathing but unconscious and unresponsive when St. Anthony Flight for Life landed and transported here to St. Anthony Central at approximately 11 a.m. today.

Red Line

Saturday, January 21, 2012: Montgomery Pass - Overdue Skiers

2039 hours. Team was paged to search for 2 overdue skiers from the Montgomery Pass area. A hasty response was organized because of the inclement weather and time of night. It was determined that the subjects had a ham radio and we gathered their frequencies. We were also informed that two people went up to look for them but they did not have any way of contacting them. This lead to a second search to make sure that second group were safe.

On the way up to the subject's car, the overdue skiers were able to hear our radio traffic on our SAR frequencies. It appeared that they preloaded their radio with all the SAR frequencies they could find for Colorado. They started talking with one of our responders (Denise Alvord). Denise, having worked many years as a county dispatcher knew the information to ask our subjects. They had a detailed map with them and had a general idea of where they were. They were also able to hear our sirens as we drove up so we knew they were somewhat close to the road. They were cold, tired and hungry but otherwise ok.

We were on scene at 2248 and teams in the field by 2259. We split up into two different divisions to run both searches at the same time. The highest priority was for the overdue skiers. We were told the second group had good experience and prepared for the weather. The weather was cold, windy and snowing. It snowed approximately 6 inches while we were on scene. The snow conditions were very avalanche prone so our teams had to be aware of where they were searching. Reports of "Whoomphing" sounds came from all teams. This sound comes from unstable layers in the snow pack that collapse under the weight of searchers and large areas of snow pack drop. They were in the trees and low angle slopes so the risk of avalanche was low but with the conditions this year, we're expecting to see slides even in the trees. A lot of the snow pack was snow the consistency of sugar and very difficult to travel in with skis or snowshoes. Our subjects said they were 'post holing' even with skis the whole way and that's why they ran out of energy and decided to build a little snow cave and start a fire to stay warm. We used search horns in each team and the subjects were able to tell us which teams were closer. This saved us a lot of time but even having good communications with the subjects, it was difficult to locate them because of the snow terrain and trees dampening and bouncing the sounds.

The second group that went up on their own to search were located at 2309 and were informed that we had communications with the first group. This second group was brought back to Incident Command. It should be noted that while they had good intentions, it adds to our job when we can't communicate with other searchers. Because of the avalanche conditions, we have to divert resources to find them in case they ran into trouble.

Back on the original search, we had 3 teams coming in from 3 different directions towards the area we thought they were. It was 0024 when a team finally made voice contact with our subjects. It was still very difficult to travel and pin point the voices. The subjects' ski tracks were finally located by team 1 and they followed them into the subjects. It was 0140 by the time the team was able to get to their location. The subjects were warmed up and fed while team 4 came into their location from the road to make a ski path in hopes of making it easier for the subjects to ski out.

It was 0350 before everyone was back safe at the road. Everyone was out of Incident Command around 0430 and back in town at 0700.

Resources:
TEMS: 2
ES specialist: 1
LCSAR personnel: 17 (including SAR manager and ITC)

Red Line

Sunday, January 15, 2012: Lory State Park, Fall From Horse

1709 hours. LCSAR team was paged to respond direct/emergent to Lory State Park on a report of a subject who fell from a horse and was injured. LCSAR responded along with O3, PFA, PVH ambulance, park ranger, and TEMS team. PFA soon cleared the scene, and LCSAR, PVH and TEMS completed a carryout of the subject on icy trails. Carryout was completed and subject transported via ambulance at 2350 hours.

Resources:
PFA personnel: 9
PVH ambulance: 2
TEMS: 1
State Park Ranger: 1
ES specialist: 1
LCSAR personnel: 20 (including SAR manager and ITC)

Red Line

Larimer County Search and Rescue Mission Reports 2012

Mission Reports by Year

MOST RECENT MISSIONS ARE AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE

Sunday, December 16, 2012: CR15/CR60 - Missing Female

Friday, December 14, 2012: Grey Rock - Overdue Hikers

Saturday, December 8, 2012: Red Feather - Overdue Christmas Tree Hunter

September 12, 2012 (Wednesday) North Poudre Resevoir #15- Missing 52 YOA Male

The Lost Boys - a personal account from a Search Leader...

Larimer County Search and Rescue
Mission Reports 2012

Mission Reports
by Year