Hiker who was found alive after 10 days lost in mountains shares horrifying new details about fight for survival
Topics: News, California, US News
Kit Roberts
Featured Image Credit: CNN / KSBW/SLV Steve
Topics: News, California, US News
A hiker who went missing in California has shared harrowing new information about his ordeal after being rescued.
When Lukas McClish set off on a hike in the Santa Cruz Mountains on June 11, it was just like any other hike he'd prepared for. So routine, he didn't even wear a shirt.
McClish had expected that the hike would take around three hours, but lost his way in the mountains.
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He was reported as a missing person six days after he set out on the hike when he failed to show up for a father's day dinner, and was rescued four days later.
The landscaper explained to ABC 7 LA that he had found it difficult to navigate as a number of landmarks had been destroyed by recent wildfires in California.
He said: “That’s one thing that 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.”
But while McClish was able to find a reliable supply of water, dehydration was not the only potential killer he had to deal with.
He revealed that while he was stranded out in the wilderness he spotted a mountain lion stalking him.
Fortunately though, the mountain lion didn't get too close to McClish.
Recalling the encounter, McClish said: “He kept his distance, he was a pretty cool lion, I guess."
While lost, McClish told he had also had to ensure he had adequate shelter from the sun due to his albinism.
And although he had found a source of water, food was another matter entirely with the 34-year-old sharing that he had to eat wild berries for some sustenance.
All the while he was craving something a lot more hearty.
Describing how he called for help, he said: “Just ‘Help, help. I’m over here.’
“Or ‘Is anybody out there? I want a burrito and a taco bowl,’ that’s what I thought about every day when after the first five days, when I started to kind of realize that I might be in over my head.”
He added: “Every day I hoped they would find me before 8 p.m. so I could get a burrito and taco bowl."
McClish was rescued following a multi-agency search, and after being checked out at the hospital he finally got to tuck in to the burrito and taco bowl he'd been yearning for.
That must have been the best burrito and taco bowl ever.