Dog News

Dog Finds Hiker That Had Been Trapped For Days

by ADMIN

Life With Dogs is reader-supported. We may earn a small commission through products purchased using links on this page.

A hiker was trapped for days without food less than 100 feet from the main trail and no one noticed. Then a dog came to his rescue.

Ramon Llamas and his one-year-old rescue dog Mole hike Mt. Rubidoux in Riverside, California several times a week. They were out Monday morning for their routine hike when Mole discovered something moving in the rocks. “He likes to go look in the rocks and he kind of pulled me over, pulling and crying and I said, ‘What’s going on boy?’” said Llamas.

At first Llamas wasn’t sure what Mole had found as it was still dark, but then he realized it was a man. “He said, ‘I need water, please don’t leave me.’ So I gave him water from my backpack,” Llamas said. The man was disoriented and Llamas called for help.

The hiker was less than 100 feet from the main trail, but no one had spotted him for days because he was trapped and hidden in the rocks. The man’s name was Paul and he told Llamas that he’d been there between four and six days with no food. Firefighters arrived on the scene and pulled the severely dehydrated hiker to safety.

“In talking to him, he came up here during the night time, so we think he was unaware of his footing, slipped in between some rocks and slid down to the location where he was at,” said Riverside Fire Capt. Bruce Vanderhorst. The hiker didn’t have a cellphone with him and told rescuers he had tried to dig himself out but was unable. Without Mole alerting Llamas, the hiker may not have been found in time. The hiker is now recovering at a local hospital and has told hospital officials that he wants to thank both Llamas and Mole for finding and saving him.