Mike Vilhauer – 5 Days lost in the Sierra Nevada mountains

(Mike Vilhauer sitting in the shelter he made when he was rescued)

East of Sacramento in California stands the Sierra Nevada mountains, a huge range that covers over 100,000 km² and has long been a popular spot for tourists and hikers. On August 6, 2014, Mike Vilhauer decided to spend a day fly fishing amongst the picturesque forests and peaks to hopefully catch a big fat salmon, so he headed out with his gear and walked to a quiet spot.

After fishing for a while he noticed he wasn’t getting any bites and decided to try a bait that had always worked for him in the past, Grasshoppers. The area next to the river wasn’t the best place to find them so he grabbed his pole net and walked uphill to catch a few.

Even though he started out looking for some bait, he began to enjoy the walk so much that he kept going for several hours, and before he knew it the sun was setting. Knowing his days fishing trip was over he turned around and tried to make his way back to his original spot.

The night came much quicker than he hoped it would and after realizing there was no way he’d get back before dark, he huddled under a pine tree and covered himself in needles and branches to keep warm. He tried to call 911 for help but his phone signal was blocked by the high peaks.

At first light, Mike began to walk in what he thought was the right direction but it wasn’t long before he realised he was completely lost. He came across a small stream and tried to follow it, thinking it would lead to a lake he could use to work out where he was, but after a full day of walking the night came again and Mike spent it under another pine tree like before.

The next day was the first time he truly knew his life was in danger, as the stream he was following became thinner until it came to a dead end. It was now Friday and he hadn’t eaten since Wednesday, having not packed any food for what was supposed to be a few hours of fishing.

After losing his lead with the stream he walked around in random directions, hoping to find something. This only led to him wasting time as he did a full circle more than once and cleared no real ground for the whole day. That night he tried to make himself a better camp by lining branches up against a rock, but it didn’t help him get any sleep.

He spent most of Saturday trying to build up his strength for one last try to make it over the peaks and get back home. After climbing over the first peak another came into view, then another until he knew he didn’t have the strength to make it over the whole range, but just as he was about to give up he heard the sound of a helicopter closing in.

It flew close by but didn’t see him, flying out of view over the next peak. This was the first time he considered giving up and sat down for a while, but after no more than 15 minutes he gained the courage to carry on and decided the best thing to do would be to get back to his camp next to the stream and wait until someone comes for him.

He got back to his camp OK but was now completely out of energy, and lay there waiting for rescue. He found a piece of wood and carved a goodbye message to his wife on it, and then wrote the word “help” in pine needles and sat there waiting for rescue, or death.

Early Sunday morning Mike heard a helicopter approaching and felt a huge rush of energy within him, climbing out of his shelter and jumping up and down waving his shirt above him. The helicopter passed without giving a sign it had seen him, and once again his hope drained away.

Over the next hour, the helicopter flew over again several times but always left without giving a sign he’d been spotted. All of a sudden on another pass he heard a bark behind him and turned round to see a rescue dog leading a search team. They had been looking for him on foot since Friday and Mike broke down upon knowing he was saved.

They gave him a small meal and flew him to their base camp where he found out he had the largest search party mounted for him that year. He was reunited with his family on Sunday night where he spent the evening in a hotel. The next day he went back home and saw a doctor, but apart from being malnourished and a few cuts and bruises was otherwise fine, with no hospital admission necessary.