Lost Colorado Hiker Ignored Rescuers, and the Reason Is Honestly So Relatable

According to CNN, a lost hiker on Mount Elbert was unable to be contacted by rescue crews because they thought the rescuers' calls from an unknown number were spam. And if that's not the most relatable thing I've heard this week.

In a Facebook post from Lake County Search and Rescue, the October 18 incident occurred after a hiker, who began their trek on the fourteener at 9 a.m., had not returned by 8 p.m. Five Lake County Search and Rescue members searched for the hiker between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. and made several attempts to contact the missing hiker via cellphone, which didn't work.

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Fortunately, the hiker found their own way back to their car by about 9 a.m. the next day and was unaware search and rescue crews were looking for them.

'One notable take-away is that the subject ignored repeated phone calls from us because they didn’t recognize the number,' the Facebook post said. 'If you’re overdue according to your itinerary, and you start getting repeated calls from an unknown number, please answer the phone; it may be a SAR team trying to confirm you’re safe!'

Based on the post from Lake County Search and Rescue, it sounds like the hiker, who was able to self-rescue, was OK, and also tired of spam calls like the rest of us. (According to Patch, 'Coloradans received as many as 1.5 million robocalls' in the early months of 2021 alone.)

'Please remember that what seems like common sense in hindsight is not obvious to a subject at the moment when they are lost and panicking,' Lake County Search and Rescue added in a comment, which is a good reminder that this could happen to any of us who enjoy the great outdoors in Colorado.

But, there are a few unanswered questions here, like why couldn't the phone location be pinged if there was service? And if the phone was usable, couldn't they have called out for help?

Regardless, now you know: If you're lost and an unknown number is calling you, hopefully, it's someone checking up on you, and not spam.