An Oregon hiker who was rescued after being lost in a California nature preserve for three days is speaking out about his harrowing experience.
Roger Dannen, 75, of Oregon, was last seen by his friend, Gordon, 65, on January 10 at 6pm while the two were hiking the Jo Pond Trail, a remote section of the Indian Canyon Trails in Palm Springs, California.
The two men were attempting the trail for the first time and – despite Dannen’s more than 30 years of hiking experience – got lost in the snow and then came upon a cliff.
Hike Roger Dannen, 75 (left), and his friend Gordon, 65, were out hiking a remote trail in Palm Springs, California when they got separated after Dannen slid down a cliff on January 10
Dannen lost contact with his friend and decided to follow a stream in an effort to get to safety. Instead, he hit a drop off and fractured his shoulder and spent a sleepless night on the trail
Dannen said that he slipped and then started sliding down the cliff ‘on my butt,’ only stopping when his leg got caught in a crack.
‘I was in the middle of this rock with no way to get off of it,’ Dannen told KCRA, adding that he had to remove his shoes in order to continue his descent. As a result, he received cuts to his feet and legs.
Although George attempted to descend to where Dannen was, the two wound up getting separated and losing contact with each other. With the sun setting, Dannen decided to follow a stream – only to wind up fracturing his shoulder after hitting an unexpected drop off.
Dannen said that the first night of his ordeal was a sleepless night. By the second night, he said he was hallucinating.
‘I thought I saw a van with a guy opening the back of it,’ Dannen said. ‘It turned out to be a rock.’
Dannen and Gordon were hiking in a remote section of Palm Springs’ Indian Canyon Trails
By Day 3 of his ordeal, Dannen said that he was giving up hope of being rescue
Dannen was finally rescued on the evening of January 12 – three days after he went missing on the trail – when he managed to flag down a search helicopter
Despite his injuries, including cuts on his legs and feet from descending the cliff, and harrowing ordeal, Dannen said that he intends to continue hiking
Police and rescue teams had begun searching the area for Dannen immediately on January 10, after Dannen’s friend Gordon told them what happened on the trail. Part of the search efforts involved California Highway Patrol’s aircraft resources, Patch reported.
On the second night that he was out, lost on the trail, Dannen told KCRA he heard the search helicopters, but was unable to signal his location to them because he didn’t have a light with him.
On Day 3 – Friday – Dannen said he began to think that he ‘might not make it out at all.’ He’d already been out of food and water for a day and a half.
By that point, authorities had been searching for him for three days and were calling him a ‘critical missing person’s case,’ in part due to Dannen’s age, low overnight temperatures and the fact that he wasn’t carrying the supplies necessary to be out in the wilderness for so long.
Luck was on his side, though.
At about 7:30pm on Friday, Dannen heard the rescue helicopters again.
This time, ‘I said, “You’ve got to pull yourself up.” I got up, pulled myself up, and the light shined on me and I said, “Oh my God, they found me!,”‘ Dennan told CBS Los Angeles.
Dannen is well on the road to recovery and doesn’t plan to give up hiking any time in the near future.
He said he will, however, be sure to bring a solar-powered light with him the next time he hits the trails.