Terry Harlon got that taste of the Colorado wilderness he wanted so badly.
“In fact, I got a little more of the Colorado country than I bargained for,” said the soft-spoken, 48-year-old.
Harlon took off for a day-hike at Rocky Mountain National Park on May 25. A week later, the Louisiana man was spotted by a helicopter after spending a week lost in the park’s backcountry.
Harlon spent today at St. Anthony Center Hospital, recovering from dehydration, sunburn and the effects of not eating for a week.
Surrounded by his wife, Judy Harlon, and son, Terry Wayne, Harlon admitted to mistakes that helped him to lose his way, including not carrying matches to light a signal fire.
But the experience, he said, also reaffirmed his faith in God, the goodness of people and his family, who quickly jumped on his trail as soon as they knew he was in trouble.
“My wife is tenacious about these things,” Harlon said. “Both of them were like a SWAT team when they put their minds to it.”
Harlon said he had hiked before and wanted to check out the trails in Colorado, which he had never visited. He headed out alone from the Colorado River Trailhead with only a day’s worth of food in his backpack.
For the better part of the hike, Harlon went shirtless. But the snow banks got bigger and the trail Harlon was following got harder to follow.
“I realized then that getting back to the car before nightfall was not going to be realistic,” Harlon said.
The first few nights were not that cold and Harlon grew to appreciate the Colorado’s spruce trees, which provided plenty of cover for him.
But as the days wore on, the days and nights got colder. During his last night, a wet and cold Harlon feared he would succumb to hypothermia.
“I was worried this would be night where things would get worse,” he said.
Still, Harlon knew his family and park officials would be searching for him. Indeed, back home in Louisiana Judy Harlon was getting help from local officials to get the word out that her husband was missing.
“I’m a pretty emotional person but I can shift gears when I have to and get down to business,” Judy Harlon said.
Terry Harlon’s description was distributed to the local media and search crews from several agencies started combing the park on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, Terry decided to work his way to an open field in hopes someone would see him.
Earlier, he had had carved out an “SOS” sign in a snowbank and an employee of a ditch company saw it and called rescuers.
“Seeing that helicopter fly over was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen,” Harlon said. The helicopter crew lowered a bottle of Gatorade to Harlon along with a note that said: “Sit tight, we’ll be back.”
“Standing there I was jittery and thrilled,” Harlon said.
Harlon vows to return to Colorado and hike again. “This time,” said Judy Harlon, “I’m going with him.”
Denver Post staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or at mwhaley@denverpost.com.
