A father and son who got lost in the Utah desert narrowly escaped death thanks to finding a fully-stocked backpack that another hiker mistakenly left behind more than a month earlier.
Julian Hernandez and his son found themselves completely disoriented while hiking recently in the Red Mountain Trail area of the Dammeron Valley in southwestern Utah.
Without any phone signal or supplies, the duo thought they would perish in the desert – until they miraculously stumbled across a bag brimming with snacks and emergency supplies.
The lifeline came thanks to 15-year-old Levi Dittman, who mistakenly left the pack behind when he got trapped while trying to hike a treacherous part of the trail 45 days earlier.
‘Looking at the map, it seems flat, which it’s not,’ Dittman told ABC 4 as he described the trail. ‘So, anyone else, do not try this.’
Dittman climbed a steep ravine on the route, where he got stuck. While stranded on a ledge overnight, he tossed his bag to the side.
A search and rescue team eventually brought him to safety – but he accidentally left his expensive backpack behind.
‘I kinda just had to leave it there, which was a bit frustrating because I think at the time it was 200 to 300 bucks worth of stuff,’ he told ABC 4.
Julian Hernandez and his son found themselves completely disoriented while hiking in the Red Mountain Trail area of Dammeron Valley in southwestern Utah
Their lifeline came thanks to 15-year-old Levi Dittman (pictured), who mistakenly left a backpack behind when he got trapped in the same place 45 days before
Dittman thought the bag was gone forever, until he received a call from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office on Monday.
Officials told him the bag had been recovered by Hernandez and his son – and that it likely saved their lives.
‘We ended up getting trapped in the same place where, a month ago, that 15-year-old got stuck,’ Hernandez told ABC 4.
‘We didn’t have the proper things,’ he recalled the day they got lost. ‘The first thing that came to my mind was to find shelter.’
Hernandez said they ventured to another spot on the trail, where they waited for help to arrive. It was there that they uncovered Dittman’s backpack.
‘The moment we found the backpack – it was lovely,’ Hernandez said.
The bag was filled with Pop-Tarts, Clif Bars, bandages, and even an emergency tent.
‘We found some food in there so that kept us pretty well. Also, he had a water jug,’ the dad said. ‘It kept us pretty well into the morning.’
Dittman thought the bag was gone, until he received a call from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office this week. He had been rescued from the area 45 days earlier, as shown above
The bag was filled with Pop-Tarts, Clif bars, bandages, and even an emergency tent
‘Looking at the map, it seems flat, which it’s not,’ Dittman said, describing the trail. ‘So, anyone else, do not try this’
Ditmman said he was ‘glad’ the bag could ‘help someone,’ while his mother Gretchen described the incident as a gift from god
‘It was just such a moment of miracle,’ she told ABC 4. ‘It was just like a miracle had happened.’
‘You really have to have faith that God’s working,’ she added.
‘Sometimes he’s using a backpack that sat for a month and a half for some guy that needed help in that moment – in the dark and cold.
‘This is a God… fingerprint, you know? It was just really cool.’
