Chaffee County Times, 12-Aug-14
Kishore Joshi, 46, Houston, Texas, the subject of weekend search efforts by Chaffee County Search and Rescue, returned to safety early Sunday evening, according to a Monday release from the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office.
The search and rescue mission started shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday when the sheriff’s office reported receiving a call from a man who said his friend, Joshi, had separated from their hiking party after summiting Mount Harvard, the release stated.
Joshi and another hiker decided to traverse the ridge to the summit of Mount Columbia, about 2 miles southeast from the Harvard summit.
On the descent from Columbia, Joshi became separated from his climbing companion and sent a text message to his friends, who had now returned to the trailhead, stating that he had become disoriented and was unsure of his location.
At 11 p.m. Saturday, a Search and Rescue member spoke with Joshi by cellphone and tried to give him directions, but Joshi continued to move and could not give an accurate location. At one point, he told the volunteer that he had contacted some other hikers and would spend the night on the mountain in their camp.
Search and Rescue launched a mission early Sunday. Despite several attempts, searchers could not establish cellphone contact with Joshi. Throughout the day, searchers posted at the North Cottonwood Creek trailhead interviewed hikers returning from the mountain and asked if they had seen anyone fitting Joshi’s description; none had, the release stated.
By noon Sunday, a full-scale search mission was underway, involving approximately 22 personnel hiking in on foot and on all-terrain vehicles. According to the release, many of the Search and Rescue volunteers were diverted from other duties at Buena Vista’s Gold Rush Days.
At 3 p.m. another hiker was reported overdue. The release reported, “Fortunately, that person walked out on her own, uninjured, a short time later.”
At around 4 p.m., still with no sighting or word from Joshi, the release stated, planning had begun to continue the search the following day. The state’s search and rescue board was contacted to arrange for more personnel and search dogs from other counties and for helicopters from the Army National Guard to be employed in the search.
“Then, as rescuers were assembling resources for the following day, a call was received from a resident in the Four Elk subdivision north of Buena Vista. Joshi had arrived at their door requesting assistance, as he had finally hiked down from the mountain. He was uninjured,” the release stated.
The Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office reminds hikers to prepare properly for the backcountry. Guidelines are available online atchaffeecountysarnorth.org/hiking-guidelines.
