That is awesome! Praise God!

Amazing news, look forward to hearing the story so we can all learn something from this incident. Praying he continues to do well!

Absolutely wonderful news.

Praise God! God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.

Great news! Answered prayer!

canadianAg said:

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I was going to hold off until we better understand medical condition from his dehydration but yes they found him and he's responsive and at the hospital.

God is so good and thank you for the prayers.

I'll follow up eventually with details of everything but going to spend time with my dad for now.

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Life is precious. Amazing to hear and very happy your dad is in good care. Here's to a speedy recovery!

Glad you found your pops.. Hope he recovers quickly. When you are able, we'd like to hear an update.

Great news. God hears and answers prayers!

milner79 said:

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Prayers this noon (11 a.m. park time?) that searchers find Richard healthy and ready to go home with their assistance. Praying for good news within the hour.

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You were close!

Praise the Lord for this miracle and answered prayer!


Continuing to pray for his recovery, and that there are no long lasting effects.

Let us know if you need any help moving forward.

So often there isn't a good outcome from these missing person events. Glad that wasn't the case. Look forward to the story when you have time.

Glory be to God!

Praise God, and thanks for the power of prayer.

Just saw this.

Praise the Lord!

Power of prayer and the Lord! Outstanding news!

God is good and prayers work!
So happy to read this.

there are some additional details about what happened and how he got lost posted on another forum. These were posted by a park volunteer. Mostly about what happened, where he ended up, and who found him. Nothing I think anyone would get upset about, but out of respect for the family I won't copy/paste unless OP is ok with it..

That's awesome.

Can't wait to hear his story. Must have been a wild one.

I've always wondered if folks who have to be rescued are expected or billed for all or part of the cost of the rescue? I hope I never have to personally find out.

Praise God for the expertise and diligence of the rescue team.

harrierdoc said:

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I've always wondered if folks who have to be rescued are expected or billed for all or part of the cost of the rescue? I hope I never have to personally find out.

Praise God for the expertise and diligence of the rescue team.

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I believe that being billed is a possibility in the case of a rescue. I think most states have laws on the books that allow rescued people to be billed/sued for the cost of search and rescue. However, I also think they only do this if the person was being a complete idiot and their recklessness caused the state/public to incur those costs.

That's just what I think. I could be wrong.

I don't know much about SAR, but I believe for the Garmin InReach that if you call for an evac with it, you're fronting the cost for it

In most national parks, if your rescue is due to your own negligence, they can bill you.
I was hiking Old Rag one time here in VA, which is a legit hike and one I have done a few times. But I ran out of water on the way back this trip and was really struggling, but remembered seeing the sign that said I could I be charged (and I am sure bringing insufficient water is my own negligence), it helped spur me to make it back. Weird too because I brought the same amount I always bring, just that day my body reacted funny. You never know.

Praise the Lord! This is incredible news! Your dad is one tough hombre!

Praise God he was found in time. Reading OP's update yesterday was the highlight of my day.

I will say that based on the new information Aggie00 alludes to, and looking on GoogleMaps StreetView, I can see how the trail marker orientation could cause confusion and possibly lead a hiker off course, especially for someone maybe already dealing with the effects of dehydration. Shade is scare in that part of the route.

God is good! So thankful everything turned out ok.

One other good tip if you are hiking in unfamiliar territory, most iPhones have long and lat down to the second on the compass app. And that works regardless of cell signal.
Every time you start a trek and turn onto a new trail you can do a screen capture of the coordinates, or write a memo of them with a note in which way your turned. It's your own bread crumb trail home if you get lost, you can retrace much easier.

All these suggestions I throw out there are hard won, I have made every mistake imaginable over time and have put myself in some tough positions. Including breaking and dislocating my elbow on a hike in July by myself with no one else on the trail. You haven't lived until you hike back over a mile with that going on, and then almost an hour and a half drive back to civilization. Had that been my leg and not my arm though I would have been screwed. So all these precautions matter even for the best and most experienced hikers.

But enough of that, again happy he is safe, probably came in just under the wire on finding him given his dehydration, so a true miracle.

I alway download an offline map of the entire area in Google maps. Since gps works still even without cell signal, if you have the offline map, you can easily find your way.

Learned that the hardway when i got lost out hunting on a day hunt and couldn't pull up a map due to no cell signal and had a nice extra 1-2 mile trip back to camp hiking lol

Like everyone else here I was following this and hoping and praying for you all. I grew up at Fort Stockton so I've spent a lot of time out in big country. I actually know two people who got turned around and lost on the ranches they grew up on in Pecos and Brewster Counties. Vastness can be very disorienting.

Prayers answered.

P.H. Dexippus said:

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Praise God he was found in time. Reading OP's update yesterday was the highlight of my day.

I will say that based on the new information Aggie00 alludes to, and looking on GoogleMaps StreetView, I can see how the trail marker orientation could cause confusion and possibly lead a hiker off course, especially for someone maybe already dealing with the effects of dehydration. Shade is scare in that part of the route.

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That, and the area of those trail junctions can be overgrown. I've been out there a couple times, and its easy to miss that specific junction, even if you are "fresh."

Wooohoo!!!

So happy to hear this happened. What a miracle. Bumping for others who may have been following this last week and came back today like me wondering what happened.

https://outdoors.com/how-a-missing-hiker-survived-for-5-days-in-guadalupe-mountains-national-park/?fbclid=IwAR0LL2rglSvVDyMaF8tRPRecIlLIArWckzhSl3F0GKfSdwoMGwOv0Q0e2UA

Thank God he was found and sounds like he is recovering well.

oragator said:

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In most national parks, if your rescue is due to your own negligence, they can bill you.
I was hiking Old Rag one time here in VA, which is a legit hike and one I have done a few times. But I ran out of water on the way back this trip and was really struggling.

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Crazy how things can go sideways even on a well trafficked trail in a populated section of the country. On one weekend at Old Rag we saw two helicopter evacs (one from the top) and two other search and rescue teams out in the space of ~ 12 hours. I've heard the local rescue squad doesn't have any sympathy about these things.

I'd hope the OP's dad is not hit with a bill. I'm ok with my tax dollars rescuing him.