On the morning of September 30 at 12:04am, Taos Search and Rescue activated their team to respond to a report of a missing hiker in the high mountains of the Serpent Lake area of the Pecos Wilderness and Carson National Forest, about an hour drive from Taos, New Mexico.

The subject was a male in his 70’s who had gone hiking with a group to Horseshoe Lake. The subject was carrying a tent and other gear for an overnight journey. Early into the hike, the subject complained to his group of vague medical discomfort with no specific complaint. The subject told his group that he would return to the trailhead, alone.

The rest of the subject’s group completed their hike but did not see the subject on their return journey, and did not find him at the trailhead. The group conducted a hasty search of the trail and nearby area, and called 911 after the subject could not be located.

During the night, TSAR member Roy D. deployed to the mission, arriving at incident base at 2am. Teams were already in the field. Roy and a search and rescue responder from Cibola SAR deployed at first light and were tasked with sweeping the Angostura Loop trail to see if the subject had travelled that way.

During mid-morning, the subject responded to a cellphone call from the incident command team. The subject had rested after splitting from his group, but then decided to continue up-trail. The subject took a turn to the north, off the trail his companions were on, towards Serpent Lake and camped there overnight. He was located by search and rescue responders shortly after.

In the morning, three more TSAR members – Carl S., Michael P., and Marcia R. – arrived on scene but the subject was located before they were deployed into the field.

When you’re in the wilderness, it’s important that someone knows your plans and – unless weather or other circumstance prevents – stick to those plans or let someone know when plans change.

Taos Search and Rescue, Philmont SAR, Santa Fe SAR, Cibola SAR, Atalaya Search and Rescue and a team from Los Alamos responded to this mission. This mission report was prepared by Nate Berkopec of TSAR. The Incident Commander for this mission was Nate Lay.

Disclaimer: Mission Reports from Taos Search and Rescue are written from our perspective and from the accounts of our responders, and may lack detail about the entirety of the search and rescue response. Media are encouraged to contact the New Mexico State Police. For comments, corrections or questions about this report, please email info@sar-taos.org.