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Nishi Gupta reportingA man separated from his hiking group near Cascade Springs yesterday, was found this morning by the Wasatch County Search and Rescue team.
Moments after he was brought back to safety, he told KSL how he lost his way.
While lost, 20-year old Nathan Wright says he felt dehydrated, nauseous and cold. He says he tried hard to stay calm, because he's prone to seizures and didn't have his medication.
Surprisingly, he still called this experience "fun."
Nathan says he and four friends were hiking when they came upon private property. Two of them turned back, he continued to hike with the others. They soon realized they didn't have any water. The two that left did. So Nathan went after them, but was not able to catch up. That's where he says he got confused.
Nathan Wright, Hiker: "I started hiking in a direction I thought was towards camp, I was wrong, so I ended up going 3-4 miles up, got lost completely. I went up and down the mountains quite a few times."
He says he eventually found his way to a meadow, and was able to get water from a creek. He fell asleep and tried to stay warm by covering himself up with leaves.
Search and rescue crews looked for hours last night, but darkness and the terrain made it difficult to continue.
This morning, a search and rescue member on horseback saw him. The Department of Public Safety helicopter was able to pick him up and bring him back to safety. Waiting to greet him was Nathan's family.
Nathan says on future hikes, he will take a cell phone and a lighter. He says he enjoyed the helicopter ride. It was his first.
