A Central New York man who spent five days lost in the Colorado wilderness has been found alive, according to reports.
Bryan Skilinski was discovered in “relatively good health” after enduring some 120 hours lost in deep snow after becoming disoriented on Feb. 11 while hiking through The Great Sand Dunes Park in Southwestern Colorado, Syracuse.com reported.
The 40-year-old Phoenix, NY, man wandered in circles with little gear after losing track of his car, which rangers found in the park’s horse trailer lot. He hadn’t planned to stay overnight in the park, his mom Maxine told the site.
Skilinksi told his mom he spent one night in a snow bank, and could hear wolves howling nearby, she said.
“It’s just a total relief,” Maxine Skilinski told the paper. “I hadn’t slept.”
The rangers deployed a search party of nearly 30 to locate Skilinski–who they found some 1.5 miles from the visitor center by following his footprints through the freshly fallen snow.
The National Park Service said Skilinski was found in “relatively good health considering he had spent five nights out in the elements with little winter gear.”
Apart from being dehydrated, the hiker was well enough that he declined medical care and was instead recuperating in a motel, his mom said.
The mother said her son as expected to fly back to New York Sunday.
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