24 June 2024 , 08:55
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A semi-naked hiker managed to survive for 10 days stranded in the mountains of northern California before being found alive this week.
Lukas McClish, 34, from Boulder Creek, California, set off on a three-hour trek through the Big Basin Redwoods State Park after hearing about a nearby granite outcropping on June 11.
He only took a few supplies with him and didn't tell anyone where he was going. He revealed: "I left with a pair of pants, and my hiking shoes and a hat. I had a flashlight and a pair of folding scissors, like a Leatherman tool - and that was about it."
McClish survived by foraging for food for 10 days and sleeping on damp leaves. He ate wild berries and drank water from the creek. Despite being a skilled hiker who works as a landscaper in areas devastated by wildfires, McClish was surprised to find himself lost.
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Lukas has revealed how he survived (KSBW/SLV Steve)McClish, an experienced hiker who works as a landscaper in areas ravaged by wildfires, expressed his shock at getting lost. He noted that the area he was hiking in "looks completely different from all of the other terrain" due to the damage caused by the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fire.
"That's one thing I didn't take into consideration - when the fire comes through like that and decimates it, it turns into the desert and you're unable to find your bearings."
The usual indicators of direction, such as hiking tracks or deer trails, were no longer present. McClish saw his predicament as a chance to test his outdoor prowess initially. "I go out for a night or two is not out of the norm for me because I'm an avid backpacker," he shared with the New York Times.
The 34-year-old in an undated photo (Santa Cruz county sheriffs office)Yet, his primitive camp and fire-making attempts were thwarted by damp vegetation that first cold evening. He trekked through a canyon seeking shelter and the next day aimed to find a creek he thought was near. "So I just kind of hiked," McClish recounted.
"Each day I go up a canyon, down a canyon, to the next waterfall, drank water out of my boot. I felt comfortable every time I was out there. I wasn't worried about it."
Describing an eerie encounter, McClish said: "I had a mountain lion that was following me, but it was cool. It kept its distance. I think it was just somebody watching over me."
But when day five rolled around, anxiety crept in, and McClish sought a way back to civilisation. He mused, "I knew I would eventually reach the ocean if I continued to follow the sun, but I had no idea how far I was from the ocean."