Lost teen hiker weathers night alone on Mount Charleston
A teenager hiked to safety while police scoured Mount Charleston after he and his father were separated during a Sunday hike.
The 14-year-old boy and his father went up for a day hike to Mummy Mountain, the second-highest peak in the Spring Mountains with an elevation of 11,530 feet. That afternoon, the pair got split up.
Metro’s Search and Rescue unit began searching the mountain with ground crews and a helicopter, but with little success, and eventually called off the search about 1 a.m. Monday morning, Metro Search and Rescue Lt. Jack Clements said.
In late October, temperatures on the mountain begin to drop rapidly when the sun sets. Early Monday morning, it was just below freezing, according to the National Weather Service.
The teenager, though, was prepared for an emergency.
He had his own tent, sleeping bag and plenty of food and water, Clements said.
So, the teen camped out on the mountain alone during the chilly night.
He woke up at first light and made his way across the peak and popped out at a campground near the ski area in Lee Canyon near state Route 156.
The teen actually walked past a few campers, but didn’t stop for help because he didn’t want to wake them up, Clements said.
About the same time the boy started hiking down, search and rescue crews resumed their search.
But in the end, the resourceful teen made his own way to safety. He found a spot on state Route 156 where he got cellphone service and called his dad just before noon, Clements said, and a Metro officer eventually met him and drove him back to his father.
“The father had done a good job preparing the kid,” Clements said.
Contact reporter Colton Lochhead at 702-383-4638 or clochhead@reviewjournal.com. Find him on Twitter @ColtonLochhead.