Missing hiker found near Estes Park

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 12:42 p.m., July 24, 2008
Updated 12:42 p.m., July 24, 2008

Rescuers found a Maryland man who went on a solo hike in Hell's Canyon, a steep terrain outside of Estes Park.

Patrick Higgins, 52, began hiking by himself about noon Tuesday, his colleagues in the Men's Leadership Alliance of Boulder, told police. He was supposed to return by 5 p.m.

When he still wasn't back the next morning, his fellow campers reported him missing, Eloise Campanella, spokeswoman for the Larimer County Sheriff's Department, said.

A Civil Air Patrol airplane crew spotted a dehydrated Higgins at 1 p.m. Thursday. A two-man rescue crew later hiked down the canyon and helped him get to a suitable helicopter landing area. He will be flown to the Command Center for a medical evaluation by a search-and-rescue physician.

• July 24, 2008

  3:03 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  colo_blonde writes:

  What is it with people hiking in unfamiliar territory by themselves? I suppose the tax payers or the non-profit groups will end up paying for all of this?

• July 24, 2008

  3:33 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Squatch writes:

  I hope this guy has to pay for his rescue fee. I think it ridicules that I have to pay a 25 cents for every fishing & hunting license I buy on a search and rescue fee so other people can get it for free since they are too dumb to hike without knowing the area. Everybody should have to pay that a fee when they enter these parks and wander around problem is they hear "park" and think they are going to be running into people all day out there.

• July 24, 2008

  4:17 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  BigSky182 writes:

  Perhaps I am being naive and maybe a bit insensitive... but how exactly does one get lost in a canyon?

• July 24, 2008

  6:45 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  popbutthead writes:

  Forrest Gump on a day hike? Directions given by Alfred E. Newman?
  Lunch by Alfurd Packer?
  Looks like all three were involved in this one. There ought to be a requirement for rookie hikers that they have to hire a guide and post a bond.
  Sorry Colorado taxpayers, your stuck again!

• July 24, 2008

  7:05 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Vector049 writes:

  Send him the rescue bill.

• July 24, 2008

  11:39 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  nonayerbsns writes:

  While the powers that be will NEVER issue this idiot a bill for services rendered, one can only assume that Mother Nature, in her divine wisdom, is trying to clean out the gene pool. May she prosper in another canyon in another state.

• July 25, 2008

  3:12 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  gtgirl writes:

  Excuse me but unless you know the facts of the search you shouldn't be talking. Patrick was just going for a hike and got confused about where he was. He did everything possible to be safe and help the rescuers. He feels bad enough and doesn't deserve to be called the things you did. Once he realized he was lost he acted correctly which saved his life. You might want to consider the fact that ANYONE can get lost in the mountians and maybe one day that person will be you. Are you gonna want to pay for the VOLUNTEERS that help come find you. Plus most people on the search do not charge the families because they are funded by the military.
  Next I just want to say the facts in this article are false. Patrick was not air lifted out. He hiked with a LARGE group of rescuers to a vehicle which drove him back. I know this because I was on the team that hiked him to safety.
  You have no right to be critizing a man you have never met.

• July 25, 2008

  3:37 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  gtgirl2 writes:

  We can not start charging innocent people for searches. If we do, more people will start dying in our beautiful state because they will be afraid of the bill. I am a trained SAR team member who does this voluntarily because I care about the people who come to our mountains to enjoy the beauty which we tend to take for granted.