LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Rescuers used a unique method to find a hiker stranded at Red Rock Canyon after an adventure went wrong.
Now, that hiker is training to join the team that helped him when he needed it most.
David Smith loves to hike.
He says he’s spent at least one day a week over the last 20 years hiking. He even created a website to document his adventures, not knowing that website would be a key factor in his rescue last spring.
“I create a page for each adventure, and I have that page on the computer screen at home before I leave,” Smith says.
In April, Smith set out in a group for what he expected to be about a 10 hour hike. But after a miscalculation, that time tripled. Low on energy, Smith told the group to go ahead without him.
“I looked at them and said, ‘Guys, I can make it back, I really need to just rest’,” he says.
Smith says he was moving from boulder to boulder, lying down in the shade to rest and cool off, when he heard his name being called.
“We were yelling his name as we went, and he answered back,” Red Rock Search and Rescue Captain of Community Outreach Robbie Brown says.
Brown says Smith’s website, mapping out his hike, led them right to him.
As they took his vitals and escorted him out of the canyon, Brown asked Smith to join their team.
“I’m like, ‘You should join us. You should be able to be a part of this feeling when you find someone and are able to offer assistance,’” Brown says.
After a three night stay at a local hospital for dehydration, Smith took her up on the offer.
Now, he has about five months left of training before his story can come full circle, and he becomes an official member of the Red Rock Search and Rescue team.
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