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re: Missing elk hunters in Col
Posted on 9/19/25 at 7:05 pm to Ol boy
Posted on 9/19/25 at 7:05 pm to Ol boy
IL Conner in Colorado for over 20 years. Actually not far from where these young men were. They were in very big country. Extended wet conditions in that kind of wilderness is no joke. The one thing that I wonder about and that I have seen many times up there are lightning storms that can be horrendous.
2
Posted on 9/20/25 at 12:22 am to Bowstring1
I read they passed quickly insinuating lightening strike
Posted on 9/20/25 at 11:21 am to jimjackandjose
Where did you see that?
Posted on 9/20/25 at 11:23 am to DownshiftAndFloorIt
I wouldnt rule out overdose.
Posted on 9/20/25 at 3:18 pm to jimjackandjose
This is just saying they don’t suspect foul play and no signs of injury.
LINK
Original article said they found wet clothes in the truck, like they’d come back to change. Still sounds to me like they just didn’t expect the weather to turn so quickly and got caught out in it, but if the coroner is commenting then it probably won’t be long until they make some kind of statement on the cause.
LINK
Original article said they found wet clothes in the truck, like they’d come back to change. Still sounds to me like they just didn’t expect the weather to turn so quickly and got caught out in it, but if the coroner is commenting then it probably won’t be long until they make some kind of statement on the cause.
Posted on 9/20/25 at 3:55 pm to TheDrunkenTigah
Supposed to do an autopsy on Monday.
Lightning is definitely a possibility but I’m pretty sure there would be obvious signs of that. When someone gets struck by lightning it usually blows out their finger tips and toes.
They likely froze to death, but the question is why didn’t they get back to the truck before nightfall.
I find it hard to believe they were surprised by the weather. It rained all night Thursday and all day Friday, and that was always in the forecast for that area.
Lightning is definitely a possibility but I’m pretty sure there would be obvious signs of that. When someone gets struck by lightning it usually blows out their finger tips and toes.
They likely froze to death, but the question is why didn’t they get back to the truck before nightfall.
I find it hard to believe they were surprised by the weather. It rained all night Thursday and all day Friday, and that was always in the forecast for that area.
Posted on 9/21/25 at 6:50 am to DownshiftAndFloorIt
quote:
Exposure in bad weather at that altitude is a killer fa sho
I agree but 2 miles from the truck? It’s not like they were 20 miles away. They were at worst 3-4 miles at the furthest.
So they must have either panicked or had something happen. But if one got hurt, I don’t know why they wouldn’t have sent a SOS message out.
shite happens quick and people panick no doubt. But 2 miles isn’t terribly far even in bad weather to work back to the truck.
Posted on 9/21/25 at 7:14 am to baldona
It took me something like 6 or 7 hours to walk out less than 3 miles when I was screwed up. I dont remember exactly how long it was but it was way longer than it should have been.
I also wonder if it was 2 miles as the crow flies or 2 walking miles.
I also wonder if it was 2 miles as the crow flies or 2 walking miles.
Posted on 9/21/25 at 9:39 am to DownshiftAndFloorIt
Yeah depending on the terrain, 2 miles can be less than an hour or 4 hours. If you’re not on a pack trail you’re probably climbing over tons of downfall and constantly looking at your gps. It can take a while, especially if your going up.
But I agree, something prevented them from returning to the truck.i can’t fathom they thought it would be a good idea to just stay out there all night when they were wet and had no dry clothes or any way to warm up. Something happened to make them not get back. Lightning makes the most sense but I would think they would have noticed that when they found them and mentioned it.
My other guess is they crossed a river going out, and when they got back to it later when returning to the truck it was too deep to cross so they decided to stay. I was out there on that Friday not far from them and that was our biggest worry. We made it back to the truck around 2 or 3 and it was still raining and kept raining so more and more water was filling up those rivers by the minute. And I’ve never been that cold to my core in my life, and that was at 3pm. When your wet for hours and in temps in the 40s, you get pretty damn cold. It wasn’t that my fingers or toes were cold, my core was cold. I’ve never felt that way in my life.
It still doesn’t make sense as to why they didn’t send out any messages with the inreach, although in my experiences out there the inreach doesn’t always work. The satellite feature on the new iPhone is more reliable.
But I agree, something prevented them from returning to the truck.i can’t fathom they thought it would be a good idea to just stay out there all night when they were wet and had no dry clothes or any way to warm up. Something happened to make them not get back. Lightning makes the most sense but I would think they would have noticed that when they found them and mentioned it.
My other guess is they crossed a river going out, and when they got back to it later when returning to the truck it was too deep to cross so they decided to stay. I was out there on that Friday not far from them and that was our biggest worry. We made it back to the truck around 2 or 3 and it was still raining and kept raining so more and more water was filling up those rivers by the minute. And I’ve never been that cold to my core in my life, and that was at 3pm. When your wet for hours and in temps in the 40s, you get pretty damn cold. It wasn’t that my fingers or toes were cold, my core was cold. I’ve never felt that way in my life.
It still doesn’t make sense as to why they didn’t send out any messages with the inreach, although in my experiences out there the inreach doesn’t always work. The satellite feature on the new iPhone is more reliable.
Posted on 9/21/25 at 10:01 am to TeddyPadillac
is there a stream or river in a 2 mile radius of the trailhead? I assume by 2 miles the authorities mean as the crow flies. If they were stalking an elk it seems unlikely that they would be on an established hiking trail
Posted on 9/22/25 at 9:10 am to cgrand
quote:
is there a stream or river in a 2 mile radius of the trailhead?
Yes.
The trail is called "Rio" de los Pinos. There's a river that follows the road the entire way up to the trailhead and beyond. If they went east, then they would have crossed that main river and maybe one or 2 small ones later on.
where they were hunting was like a bowl, or half a bowl. I doubt they went west from the trailhead. there's no wooded area on the slopes of the bowl to the west, and it's only like a mile away. They wouldn't have gone south. That's "down" the road to get there, and wouldn't make sense to drive past where you're goign to hunt.
If they went north, they likely would have walked the pack trail to get to that northern slope to hunt that. I can't imagine what could have happened to prevent them from getting back to the pack trail and walking back to the truck, even in the dark. If they were found to the north, they had to get struck by lightning i think, assuming they went far enough to get above the tree line, which would make sense if they wanted to get on top the wooded slope and make calls from the top of that ridge.
If they went east, it looks like it would have not been fun hiking and they would have crossed a river and maybe some smaller ones later on. There's no pack trail to the east and 2 miles east of the trailhead is just over the ridge out that way, which has no trees to the east of the ridge. I could see them getting up top that ridge to hunt the wooded area beneath them to the west of the ridge. There's a lot more dangers for them if they went east.
I think the possibility of being struck by lightning is a real one. It's really the only one that makes sense when you know they were found 2 miles away and should have been able to make it back to the truck.
When we were out there i think it was on Wednesday we tried hiking up to the top of mountain, above the tree line, but when we started getting close (after hiking up for 4 hours, about 6 miles from our campsite) the sky started getting ugly. It was drizzling on and off that day but nothing serious. I never got wet and the rain wasnt' going to stop me from getting up to the top. But when we could see the lightning in the distance and hear the constant thunder, we figured it would be really stupid to be above the tree line in a storm like that if it came our way. So we gave up and started heading back down to camp.
Posted on 9/22/25 at 9:47 am to TeddyPadillac
quote:
I think the possibility of being struck by lightning is a real one.
This is one of my greatest fears when I’m outdoors. I’ve seen way too many storms pop up out of nothing and start popping lightning all over the place. It’s definitely an easy way to leave this world if it’s not respected.
Posted on 9/22/25 at 1:20 pm to TeddyPadillac
quote:
I think the possibility of being struck by lightning is a real one. It's really the only one that makes sense when you know they were found 2 miles away and should have been able to make it back to the truck.
I've been seeing this go around the hunting groups this morning. Autopsy confirmed that it was lightning.
Posted on 9/22/25 at 1:53 pm to Loup
man that sucks.
Just a terrible reminder how quick a lightning storm can get on you when your at a high elevation in the mountains.
Just a terrible reminder how quick a lightning storm can get on you when your at a high elevation in the mountains.
Posted on 9/22/25 at 4:00 pm to TeddyPadillac
I have been following this for some time not only because of the tragedy but I love the mountains always have. I wanted to learn for myself and my boys I try and teach about the outdoors everyday so we can be more safe out there and not let these to men's lives pass without learning from them.
Posted on 9/22/25 at 5:10 pm to Theduckhunter
quote:
This is one of my greatest fears when I’m outdoors. I’ve seen way too many storms pop up out of nothing and start popping lightning all over the place. It’s definitely an easy way to leave this world if it’s not respected.
lightening scares the absolute crap out of me. First, I'm usually the tallest guy in the group - and second4ly, I got caught on a golf course when I was teenager in a lightning storm. Crap hitting all around as we hauled arse back the club house. if its thundering I'm seeking shelter.
Posted on 9/22/25 at 6:32 pm to Da Hammer
quote:
not let these to men's lives pass without learning from them
my biggest takeaway as well.
Not that i wanted this to happen to them to help the rest of us learn from it.
Posted on 9/22/25 at 8:17 pm to TeddyPadillac
Wild that lightning killed both of them, terrible. I wonder if they were under a tree together riding the rain out when it hit the tree or something.
Posted on 9/22/25 at 8:25 pm to baldona
I’d like to know where they were as well.
I think they were above the tree line. 2 miles from the trailhead would suggest that.
I think they were above the tree line. 2 miles from the trailhead would suggest that.
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