Rocky Mountain National Park – Plenty of prayers and a little ingenuity helped preserve a 48-year-old Louisiana man lost for nearly a week before he was found by rescuers Thursday afternoon.
A helicopter spotted Terry Harlon near the headwaters of the Colorado River in Rocky Mountain National Park about 12:30 p.m. Food, water and a radio were dropped to him just as ground searchers reached him.
He was driven to the park’s Holzwarth Historic Site and put on a stretcher. His wife, Judy, patted his face, while his 21-year-old son, Terry Wayne, collected the blue Adidas backpack his dad took along for what was supposed to be a day-long hike May 25.
The elder Harlon didn’t talk to reporters. But park officials said he apparently sketched a giant SOS symbol in a snowbank, which helped lead to his rescue.
“I always knew he was a smart and resourceful fellow,” Judy Harlon said.
Her husband was bathed in prayers from friends and relatives in Texas and Louisiana, she said.
“One of the first things I said to him was: ‘Did you hear all those prayers?”‘
Harlon was exhausted and dehydrated, she said, but grateful to be in safe hands.
He was treated by a Grand County Emergency Medical Services crew and taken to Granby Medical Center, where he was scheduled to stay overnight for observation. Park officials also will interview Harlon about his experiences.
The Harlon family flew to Colorado on Thursday morning to be near the rescue efforts. Terry Wayne said he hiked with his father in the woods of Washington and New York.
But this time, his father hiked into Rocky Mountain National Park alone.
“That’s very unusual for him,” Terry Wayne said.
The Harlon family filed a missing-person report with Estes Park police Sunday after Harlon failed to return home as planned, officials say.
Park rangers found Harlon’s rented van Wednesday afternoon at a parking area at the Colorado River Trailhead, on the west side of the park.
Harlon was found close to where the Little Yellowstone Trail intersects with the Grand Ditch, which is about 6 miles from the trailhead, park spokesman Scott Sticha said.
An employee of the Water Supply and Storage Co., which manages the Grand Ditch water- diversion area, was hiking in the area and noticed what he believed to be an “SOS” etched in the snow, Sticha said.
The employee called park rangers, and the helicopter crew confirmed the symbol.
At least 50 people were involved in the search efforts from several agencies. And Judy Harlon thanked them all, as well as local media outlets, for airing her husband’s plight.
“I told him, ‘Honey, I knew you were coming home,”‘ Judy Harlon said. “I’m just so grateful he did.”
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
