Hiker Lukas McClish, a 34-year-old hiking enthusiast, was lost for ten days after setting out for a hike in Boulder Creek, California, on June 11. He then was, fortunately, found alive on Thursday, June 20. He was found yelling for help in a canyon in Big Basin State Park, with witnesses in the area hearing his desperate cries for help.
Posting about the rescue on Facebook on Friday, June 21, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said, “Yesterday around 3 in the afternoon, several witnesses reported hearing someone yelling for help in the area of Foreman Creek off of Big Basin Highway. Deputies responded with State Parks, Cal Fire and Boulder Creek Fire Department and were able to confirm it was Lukas McClish, who had been missing since Tuesday June 11th.”
Continuing, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said, “We utilized several of our drones to help determine Lukas’ exact location. State Parks rangers were first on scene with Lukas, and fire crews were able to assist in bringing him to safety. Lukas had no major injuries and was reunited with his family. Thank you to each agency and our dispatch for helping relay all of the information to necessary departments. This truly was a team effort with the best outcome we could have hoped for.”
In an earlier post asking the public for help finding Lukas, one that was later updated to reflect the fact that he had been found, the same sheriff’s office said, “Please be on the lookout for 34-year-old Lukas McClish. He was last known to be on foot on Saint Francis Drive, Boulder Creek the morning of 6/11/2024 and resides on the 13000 Blk of West Park Drive in Boulder Creek.”
Continuing, that post added, “He was last known to be wearing all black clothing, is approximately 6 ft and 190lbs with blue eyes and blonde hair. Our Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team is actively looking for him. If you have any information on his whereabouts, or if you have relevant information and have seen him after the morning of 6/11, please contact our Sheriff’s Office dispatch at 831-471-1121.”
ABC 7, adding more details on what happened, noted that Mr. McClish’s hike should have just been three hours, but he got lost because certain landmarks had been wiped away by wildfires. It then wasn’t until Sunday, June 16, that he was finally declared missing when he didn’t show up for a family Father’s Day dinner.
Speaking to the media about being rescued, Mr. McClish said, “I’m tired and a little sore, I lost my voice.” He added, speaking about what he had with him to survive in the wild, “I left with just a pair of pants, and my pair of hiking shoes, and a hat. I had a flashlight, and a pair of folding scissors, like a Leatherman tool. And that was about it.”
He added, speaking about how he stayed alive in the woods for so long, that he made sure to drink enough water to stay alive, but that by the end he was in desperate need of food. “I just make sure I drank a gallon of water every day, but then after, getting close to the end of it, my body needed food and some kind of sustenance,” Mr. McClish said.
Featured image credit: Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office
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