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OGDEN, Utah (AP) -- Ogden Boy Scout Zachary Jones, lost for 19 hours in the Green River Lakes area of Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest, had caught a fish and was cleaning it when he was found.
Zachary, 14, said Thursday that he, four other Scouts and three leaders of Ogden's Troop 253 were preparing to move camp at 2 p.m. Tuesday, when he went into the forest to go to the bathroom and became disoriented in the thick lodgepole pine.
"I thought I knew where I was going, but then I realized that I couldn't find camp," Zachary told the Standard-Examiner. "When you're up in the mountains you can't see anything, you can't tell where you are."
Shortly before he left the group, Zachary had changed from shorts to long pants, and put a leather jacket over his T-shirt to protect himself from mosquitoes. The jacket and pants would later help stave off the cold when temperatures dropped to 27 degrees Tuesday night.
He also had a small bag with matches, a water bottle and a collapsible fishing kit with him.
Once he knew he was lost, he headed uphill to a rock mound where he thought he could spot the camp. On his way up, he fell in a stream, soaking his clothes. Exhausted, wet and unable to see over the forest, he spent the night in a clearing. Wednesday morning, he walked another half mile to Shirley Lake.
By the time a rescuer found Zachary at 9 a.m. Wednesday, the Scout had warmed himself around a fire and was gutting a brook trout he caught.
Zachary also gathered and ate boysenberries along his trek, which he said Scout leaders had pointed out to him earlier.
"He's a really bright, really smart kid," father David Jones said. "His Scout leaders trained him very well and he was able to use those skills."
The troop leaders and nearby campers had been searching since Tuesday afternoon for the lost Scout, and the Sublette County Search and Rescue Team was called out at 10 p.m., Zachary's mother, Staci Jones, said.
Zachary was found by camper John Scherer of Kansas City, Mo., who told the family that he was once a ranger in the area.
"I was just sitting there, and I heard someone yell that they were with Search and Rescue, and ask if there was anyone here," Zachary said. "I thought that I was hallucinating, but when I heard it again I yelled back and told him where I was."
David said he and Staci were informed that Zachary was missing at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. The couple and four of their other seven children packed enough clothes for a week of searching. They arrived at the rescue base at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday, just 15 minutes before Zachary was found.
Zachary experienced slight hypothermia, but he was otherwise unharmed by his experience, Staci said.
"He just looked really tired, and we just held him and hugged him as tight as we could," Staci said. "Nineteen hours was so long for us, but we know it could have been much, much worse."
Staci said that she doesn't think Scout leaders were negligent in any way, and plans to allow Zachary to camp with his troop in the future.
Lost hikers are rare in the Green River Lakes area, Mary Cernicek, public affairs specialist for the Bridger-Teton National Forest, said. The area is heavily trafficked and has clearly marked trails, Cernicek said.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
