Dehydrated hiker rescued, airlifted from Boulder County lake
An 18-year-old female was airlifted from near Jasper Lake in Boulder County around 10:15 a.m. Sunday, Boulder County Sheriff’s Office officials said.
The Boulder County Communications Center was notified of a backpacker who was nauseated, vomiting, and dehydrated near the lake, which is west of Eldora, Colorado and has access from the Hessie Trailhead.
The woman was on an overnight backpacking trip with her mother and their dog when she began to experience abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting, the agency said. Additionally, the dog had sustained an injury to its leg.
As a result of her illness and the injured dog, the hikers said they did not believe they could make it back to the trailhead and activated the SOS function on their GPS unit, which resulted in rescuers being called to assist.
A helicopter from Flight for Life Colorado was used to fly rescuers and paramedics from Rocky Mountain Rescue Group to Jasper Lake in order to locate and assess the sick hiker. In addition to the few rescuers flown in by helicopter, rescuers from Nederland Fire Protection District, U.S. Forest Service, and Rocky Mountain Rescue Group drove part of the way in towards Jasper Lake with Utility Terrain Vehicles (UTV’s) and then began hiking the remaining distance in case an evacuation was needed.
Rescuers located the family and provided care in the field, and were able to assist the hikers and the dog with walking down the trail to the UTV’s. The hikers were then loaded into the UTV and driven out to their vehicle. The family declined further medical care.
Jasper Lake is approximately five miles from the Hessie Trailhead parking area via the Devil’s Thumb trail, and sits at 10,814 feet in elevation.

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