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KANAB — Search and rescuers say it’s a miracle that a lost hiker was found in southern Utah. The man had been missing two nights when a Kane County searcher found him a remote area near The Wave hiking trail.
From all over the world, people travel to a remote area at the Utah-Arizona border in hopes of hiking one nature’s most beautiful geological wonders.
On The Wave, located roughly 40 miles east of Kanab, hikers are treated to miles of multi-colored sandstone swirling into a sight of pure beauty.
A daily lottery picks the lucky 20 people who will walk The Wave; but for one winner, 62-year-old Richard Ong of California, his real luck was found in Kane County search and rescue team member John Holland.
Two days past due, Holland and a group of search and rescue volunteers found Ong's car still parked at the Wirepass Trailhead. Crews set out; Holland took the unlikely trail.
“I wasn’t going to go very far but there were a set of boot tracks looking fairly fresh, and they were going in but they weren’t going out,” Holland said. So, I just kept following that to see where it went. … I kept thinking I’ve probably gone far enough, but I kept going a little farther and a little farther.”
Holland followed the trail for three hours, all the way to its end, and then a hunch told him to keep going.
“I climbed up a little ways into the rocks and happened to look over my shoulder and found somebody laying in a bush,” Holland said.
Holland said Ong was moaning a bit, but clearly wasn’t able to respond to Holland.
“He was alive, and I needed to get help on the way,” Holland said. “It really was a miracle that I happened to look over and see where he had fallen.”
“The gentleman was way out of the normal area where we wouldn’t even think to look on a normal search,” said Kane County Sheriff’s Sgt. Alan Alldredge. “It was a lot of luck, a lot of perfect timing for this gentleman to be found.”
While luck may have walked alongside Richard Ong that day, that's not the journey for every missing hiker. Last summer, three hikers died from heat stress on The Wave.
“As simple as people’s choice of clothing can make a big difference,” Alldredge said. “Bright oranges, blues, greens: bright colors. Wear those.”
For Ong, it was a pink ribbon tied to his backpack that caught Holland’s eye. The ribbon is required to be displayed by all who hike The Wave.
Rescuers later learned that Ong had gone the wrong way, had fallen and was knocked unconscious. He treated for dehydration and kidney failure and was listed in fair condition in a Flagstaff hospital Wednesday night.
The good news: Ong is expected to make a full recovery.
Contributing: Jordan Ormond and Mary Richards
