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Amanda Butterfield ReportingThe Midvale man who was missing for almost a day in the mountains near Heber is back home and safe tonight.
Gary Bjarnson was hunting with his son when the two split up and Bjarnson disappeared. A rescue plane spotted him this morning and searchers got him out. Bjarnson was exhausted, but not seriously hurt.
Gary Bjarnson, Rescued Hunter: “I told my doctor up here I wanted to one more time hike Mt. Olympus, she said, ‘No you’re not!’”
Bjarnson has Parkinson's Disease and a heart murmur, but checked out OK. This mission is the kind rescuers like, one with a happy ending.
Gary Bjarnsen will be the first to tell you, he's grateful for all those who looked for him and tools they used to find him. Home with his family is where this great-grandfather would rather be any day. It sure beats being lost high in the mountains near Heber.
Steve Rugg is the pilot who plucked Bjarnson off the mountain.
Steve Rugg, Utah Highway Patrol Aero Bureau: "As we came in he took his hat off, and gave us a little wave."
Rugg was happy give him a ride; he'd been out looking for the 76 year old since Monday night, mainly using an infrared camera. The infrared camera senses heat differentials, so if you are lost at night and hear a helicopter, go to an open space and move.
But Bjarnson admits he didn't do that.
Gary Bjarnson: "I secluded myself in place where couldnt' see me."
Rugg says in the four years Utah Highway Patrol has owned the A-star, they've rescued hundreds of stranded or lost people, and they use more then just infrared. Rugg says about 80 percent of people lost are found using night vision goggles. And if that lost person makes a fire, it makes them even more visible...
Which is what Bjarnson said he was planning on doing, but then he was spotted. Then Rugg picked him up and took him to the hospital.
Steve Rugg: "He said thank you, he was very grateful."
Rugg says that chopper has been used to save about 200 people, most of which have been mountain rescues.
