Utah hikers saved by an abandoned object: “My God, it’s my son’s backpack”

What was supposed to be a placid trek for a father and his 12-year-old son in the Red Mountain trail in southern Utah turned into a nightmare after the GPS system on the father’s mobile phone led the pair off the recommended track.

As a rescue team searched in vain for the pair, the duo stumbled across an abandoned rucksack that inadvertently turned out to be something of a lifesaver.

The bag contained emergency blankets, water, snacks, a small tent and other supplies and had been left behind by a teen hiker who had to be rescued more than a month earlier after getting lost near the same location.

“I can’t say 100% that it saved their lives because they may have survived, but they were on that ledge for at least 13 hours before we were able to get them off, and had they not had that bag, they definitely would have had some pretty severe cold-related symptoms,” claimed the local sheriff’s office.

A day later, the harrowing experience came to an end as a rescue helicopter from Salt Lake City spotted the pair on then narrow ledge.

“They were just lucky that they found this old backpack from another hiker who had tried to be prepared and that helped them survive, they are lucky to be alive" claimed Travis Keggie a former public risk management specialist for the National Park Service.

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