A hiker had to stick it out alone overnight on one of Colorado’s more technical fourteener climbs after getting stuck in steep terrain.

According to a report from Mountain Rescue Aspen, a satellite text message about an overdue hiker in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness was received at about 7:39 p.m. on July 16. The reporting party had been with another hiker, though the two split up near West Maroon Trail and about 1.5 miles from Crater Lake, with the overdue hiker aiming to continue onward to summit Maroon Peak while the reporting party headed back to a campsite near the lake.

While it was expected that the overdue hiker would return to the campsite around 2 p.m., this proved to not be the case and the reporting party decided to call for help.

Further investigation indicated that the missing individual’s last known location was near the 14,163-foot summit of Maroon Peak around 4:30 p.m., with a storm reportedly hitting the area shortly after that.

At about 11 p.m. and under the cover of night, Mountain Rescue Aspen deployed ground and drone teams into the area. A four-person team made contact with the reporting party at the Crater Lake campsite and two rescuers continued to make their way to the missing hiker’s last known location.

The search and rescue team requested assistance from Flight for Life Colorado, and as that helicopter was responding, the two rescuers who had continued toward the summit area were able to make visual and verbal contact with the rescue subject. The rescue subject was located in steep terrain on Maroon Peak and while uninjured, was unable to move out of the area.

It was determined that a helicopter hoist would be needed, with a request then put in to the Colorado Army National Guard’s High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site (HAATS). Once daylight broke on July 17, the HAATS helicopter responded and was able to successfully hoist the rescue subject off of the peak at about 7:09 a.m.

This situation highlights a couple common pitfalls that seem to happen each year on Colorado’s highest peaks.

First, the hikers decided to split up, which generally isn’t a great idea. It’s typically better to stick to the plan or abort and come back another day if the plan significantly changes – though, because details regarding why the separation occurred aren’t included in the report, the exact circumstances aren’t known. Second, it sounds like the climber who continued onward ended up off-route, seemingly providing a good example of how important it is to be highly familiar with an alpine route prior to leaving the trailhead behind. Maroon Peak’s standard climb is rated as class three, with route-finding factors described as ‘extreme’ on 14ers.com.

It’s also worth noting that while the two hikers split up, they did come up with a new plan and timeline that allowed for the hiker at the campsite to call for help when the other hiker was overdue. This hiker was also prepared with a satellite messaging device to use in the event of an emergency situation.

The key takeaway from this one seems to be that things don’t always go as planned, making it important to be prepared for worst case scenarios and to know how you’ll be getting a call for help out to rescue personnel ahead of time. Always remember to bring the 10 essentials in your pack, as items on this list can help in a big way when it comes to waiting for rescue overnight.

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