Hiker Tries To Figure Out How Someone Was Lost For 10 Days in Santa Cruz

One hiker tried to figure out how another could have been lost for 10 days in the Santa Cruz Mountains and live to tell the tale.

The Monte Bello vineyard of Ridge Vineyards stretches along a ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Central California. The property produces a cabernet sauvignon that celebrates a sense of place. Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello Vineyard / Press Image

Earlier this summer, the Santa Cruz Mountains were gaining national exposure. It wasn’t for the scenery, but instead because of a rescue mission. After being lost for 10 days, a man was found, alive.

Huge media outlets such as the New York Times, CNN and BBC had stories about the seemingly inexplicable rescue. Even ABC World News Tonight had a story about it when it happened.

The person who was lost was 34-year-old man Lukas McClish. He was referred to as an experienced hiker by outlets, embarking on his trek on June 11th without a phone or any gear. The redwood forests of Santa Cruz Mountains are an area near his home in Boulder Creek.

Five days later, when he didn’t show up for a Father’s Day get-together, he was reported missing. On June 21st, he was found after a group of 300 people from different agencies got to work on the search and rescue.

When he was found, at Foreman Creek, McClish was 30 pounds lighter. He revealed the only thing he had to survive on was berries he found in the forest and consuming 1.5 gallons of water each day.

It was a story with a happy ending, which is how many people would leave it. But, Evan Quarnstrom of The Inertia had a suspicion that needed to be itched. He was perplexed how an experienced hiker could get lost and found at a place not even a mile from his hometown.

McClish revealed during some of the interviews that he did that he is legally blind. That could have certainly played a part in getting lost, especially with some of the terrain and surrounding areas being impacted by fires and not as McClish remembered them.

So, Quarnstrom took an investigative hike through the same area McClish was in to find some answers. He retraced the steps as closely as he could to figure out how someone could get lost for 10 days in a non-remote area.

“My most notable observation was the ease at which I was climbing up the creek. In just 30 minutes of hiking at a normal pace, I covered a half-mile of distance and gained 500 feet up the canyon. Navigating the creek bed wasn’t complicated. While there was generally no trail, there were no major obstacles. It was certainly terrain that a moderately experienced hiker could have handled,” Quarnstrom wrote.

After completing the hike himself, Quarnstrom was left truly confused as to how someone could get lost as long as McClish did. He believes there is more to the story, but we likely won’t get any more information beyond what we already know.

A 34-year-old man, who doesn’t have the greatest vision, was lost for a week and a half in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He was found and returned home with a wild story to tell for the rest of his days.