Wyoming sheriff Alex Bakken came to the aid of three teens lost on a mountain peak. The three had gone hiking and went on Medicine Bow Peak. Bakken had been driving when he saw the alert.
Realizing his deputies were busy, Bakken handled the recovery efforts himself. He arrived at the base of the amount to meet with search and rescue. The three called for help after one of them suffered a panic attack.
"Based on the remoteness of the coordinates, no vehicles would be able to reach the stranded hikers," the sheriff's office said via Cowboy State Daily. With the sun setting, Bakken and volunteer search and rescue, Max Leiseth, realized time was of the essence for the teens on the mountain peak.
"Hey, if you're good with hiking up there, let's do it right now. We'll take advantage of this little bit of daylight we got left, and I'll just hike up there with you," Bakken told the outlet. "We'll go summit the peak and see if we can get a location on these guys with a little bit of daylight we have left."
Sheriff Climbs Mountain
The two set off without waiting for more rescue crew members to show up. Finally, they found them as night settled in, using their cellphones as flares.
"They were definitely not prepared for the weather," Bakken said. "But they kept their heads, which is the most important part."
After assessing the situation, they gave them spare jackets, gloves, and also water. From there, they began the descent down the mountain to safety. It's a good end to what could have been a scary story.
"Besides being a little chilly and shaken up, all the rescued parties were OK and did not require medical attention," Bakken said in a statement.
Fortunately, the sheriff didn't hesitate to go up the mountain.
"It's only going to be colder and darker as the night progresses," he told Cowboy State Daily. "I've climbed it a couple of times. I spend a lot of time snowmobiling out there, so I'm fairly familiar with the area. But this was the first time in the dark — and in my uniform."
