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From Pasadena Star news
4/20/2007
Hiker
survives 2 falls, 54 hours in
mountains
By Mary
Frances Gurton, Staff Writer
PASADENA - An experienced hiker was
recovering Thursday after surviving two serious falls
while lost in the Angeles National
Forest
for almost three days last weekend.
With several
huge contusions on his head and his body covered with
tiny scratches and large scrapes, Guido Mulder, 36, a
Canadian living in Pasadena, told of an ordeal that
began Saturday as a simple hike into the mountains above
Altadena.
Mulder, impressed
by the view of the mountains from his downtown Pasadena
apartment, said he walked all the way up Lake Avenue to
its dead end at Loma Alta Drive, went west to Chaney
Trail and into the mountains - some of the steepest in
the world - through Millard Canyon.
"I set out
around noon hiking to a reach a ridge that I chose by
sight," Mulder said of his off-trail ascent. "I was
having so much fun that I went out too far. Later, it
became misty and I was unable to see more than a hundred
feet. I should have waited, but I tried to bushwhack my
way back. That was a serious error."
The
Los
Angeles
County
sheriff's Altadena and Sierra Madre Mountain Rescue
Teams, as well as a helicopter from the Pasadena Police
Department, were unsuccessful in locating Mulder, who
eventually made his way out of the mountains alone, said
Pasadena police Lt.
Keith Jones.
Mulder said he stayed focused merely
on survival during the 54-hour ordeal, which included a
slide down a 45-foot ravine Sunday. During another
25-foot fall Monday, a large rock he was using to pull
himself up struck him in the head.
"I woke up and
at first I didn't know where I was," he said. "Then I
remembered and just kept trying to find my way
out."
Mulder said he took a few snacks, a liter
of water, another of Gatorade and half a liter of
another juice drink. These soon ran out. He wore hiking
boots, long pants and a jacket.
He said he spent
the first night sleeping in a tree because he was unsure
what local wildlife might be lurking - mountain lions
and bears do live in the front range - and drank
algae-laced water found in a rain-collecting
crevice.
Authorities began searching for Mulder
on Monday when colleagues at E-Z Data Inc., a computer
firm based in his hometown of London, Ontario, reported
him missing to the Pasadena Police Department after he
did not show up for work, according to Jones.
Two
9-1-1 calls, within minutes of each other on Sunday
morning died before the source of the signal could be
identified, Jones said. During the second call, picked
up by the San Gabriel Police Department, a man was heard
saying, "Help, I'm stuck up here" before the call
dropped.
Told that Mulder had planned a hiking
trip, the mountain rescue team started "a very general
search," according to Deputy Gregory Gabriel, the
volunteer team's coordinator.
"We had no clues as
to where he may have entered the mountains," he said.
"So we started a search near the top of Lake Avenue, with the idea he may
have taken a bus there from his apartment in Pasadena."
A
bloodhound was on its way to assist when the team
received a call from Pasadena police that Mulder had
been found in Altadena.
"I came out of
the mountains" onto Glenrose
Avenue
about 6:30 p.m. Monday "and started ringing doorbells,"
said Mulder, whose clothing was soaked with blood. "I
approached the first people I saw driving their car into
their driveway and asked them to use the
phone."
After calling his wife in
Canada, he called police
and was soon transported to Huntington Hospital.
"I
think it would be really unfair for my wife and son to
lose me because of my bad decision," he said, referring
to the most difficult part of his unanticipated
sojourn.
Having been an avid hiker and camper
since he was a teenager, Mulder listed mistakes he would
be sure to not repeat, among them going out without
telling anyone and bringing a cell phone with a low
battery.
"I don't know where my short-sightedness
came from," he said. "I would never overlook best
practices again."
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