An elk hunter missing for three days in northwestern Colorado found his way into another hunting camp and was brought to safety Tuesday night.
Bill Porter, 54, of Prospect, which is near Bennett on the eastern plains, credited a foil space blanket and a candle and matches he carried in a fanny pack with saving his life. Temperatures dipped to 18 degrees during the two nights he was lost, said Darrel Levingstone, spokesman for the Routt County Search and Rescue group.
The hunters he found took him to the Whispering Pine Lodge in Moffat County, where he called Routt County searchers on a cell phone.
Porter and family members have hunted out of the same camp for 20 years and knew the terrain extremely well, Levingstone said. But a snowstorm Sunday disoriented Porter, who was only a short distance from his camp.
Searchers followed his tracks in the mud briefly but lost them as they were covered with snow. Levingstone said Porter spent three days waling more than 5 miles through rugged country in snow 12-18 inches deep.
