An injured hiker was rescued from a mountain trail in southern Colorado near Great Sand Dunes National Park on Friday, according to Alamosa search and rescue crews.
Rescue crews responded Friday to reports of an injured hiker who had fallen while descending the mountain trail from Ellingwood Point — a high mountain summit in the Sangre de Cristo range of the Rocky Mountains — according to Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue.
"The hiker, who knew he was off route, was no longer able to continue on due to his injury and the terrain he was in," search and rescue officials said in a post on social media.
Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue immediately began to deploy teams, but severe afternoon storms covering nearby Blanca Peak made it impossible for a helicopter to get close enough to the hiker for a rescue, Alamosa officials said.
Teams started the trek toward the hiker on foot but were forced to stop when they were within 300 vertical feet of the man because crew leaders said it was too dark to safely continue on the rough, rocky terrain, according to search and rescue officials.
Officials said search and rescue teams bedded down in the area and planned to continue on and extract the hiker at first light, but they discovered the climber was not prepared for an overnight stay and had run out of water and food.
Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue's incident command team then called in the Colorado National Guard to help hoist the hiker off the mountain, officials said.
At 6 a.m., the National Guard lifted the climber out and brought him down to the Lake Como helipad where he was transferred to a REACH29 medical helicopter out of Salida and taken to the hospital, according to the search and rescue team.
The 14-mile out-and-back trail to Ellingwood Point and the neighboring Blanca Peak is generally considered a "highly challenging route," according to AllTrails. On average, the hike 10 hours and 19 minutes to complete and "should only be attempted by experienced adventurers."
The climber was later released from the hospital and is on the path to recovering from his injuries, Alamosa officials said. All teams were out of the field later that afternoon.
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