Two boys, eight and 11, survive for THREE DAYS without food or water in a cave after being separated from their father on hiking trip

Jason Knight, 35, took his two sons on a camping and canyoneering trip south of Hanksville, Utah

Last Wednesday they set out for a half-day canyon climb but entered the wrong system

Knight decided to leave his boys and climb down, so that he could re-enter from the top with ropes and get his children out

But he became trapped at the bottom of the canyon

The father and his sons spent three days separated from each other

The boys had no water and one granola bar

They were rescued Saturday afternoon after a fellow climber reported them missing



Two boys were trapped in a cave without food or water for three days by themselves after becoming separated from their father in a dangerous and remote Utah canyon.

Jason Knight, 35, has spoken about how his brave sons - aged 11 and eight - managed to survive with just each other and one granola bar during the harrowing ordeal.

The family, from Payson, had traveled to Hanksville last Tuesday for a camping and canyoneering trip.

On Wednesday they set out to explore Leprechaun Canyon, which Knight - an experienced hiker - had researched and determined was child-friendly.

Survivalists: Jason Knight described his two sons - aged eight and 11 - as adventurous and outdoorsy. The pair managed to survive three nights alone in a Utah canyon without food, water or shelter

Ordeal: Jason Knight explains how he came to separated from his children for three days after they all entered the wrong canyon on an adventure trip in Utah

The family are regular hikers and canyoneerers and had not set out unprepared, Jason Knight said Treacherous: The three unwittingly entered the Sandthrax Canyon instead of the child-friendly and amateur Leprechaun Canyon system

He said his boys are adventurous and outdoorsy and they often go on such trips together.

The canyon climb was estimated to take three to five hours and the three had packed five Power bars, a few granola bars, some candy and a gallon of water.

However a wrong turn resulted in them entering Sandthrax Canyon, an intense and complex series of tunnels considered dangerous for advanced climbers.

According to Fox13, people have been killed in Sandthrax Canyon.

However, having repelled their way down, pulling the ropes with them, once Knight realized they were not in Leprechaun it was too late - there was no way to go back up the way they came.

Knight decided to continue going down the steep canyon by himself and then hike out and then back up.

He would then be able to re-enter with ropes and allow his boys to climb out.

But when Knight got to the bottom there was no way out, and he was trapped hundreds of feet away from his sons, who were sitting waiting for him in a small cave.

Cuts and grazes can be seen on the arms of Jason Knight, sustained from when he tried to climb out of the canyon he became trapped in Jason Knight and his two sons were rescued after they had been missing in Sandthrax Canyon for at least three days Knight accrued minor grazes and bruises from the ordeal Off course: Instead of exploring the Leprechaun Canyon, the Knight family accidentally entered the dangerous Sandthrax, where people have died

'My boys did the right,' he told Fox 13.

'They stayed where they were supposed to and layed down in the cave and they slept alot.

'They knew how to survive

'I have tried to teach them how to survive in the wilderness in case this happens.'

The boys, not knowing they would be there for three, drank all their water and at their Power bars on Wednesday, leaving them one granola bar.

Luckily, on Friday a woman called Wayne County authorities to say she had seen a man and two boys enter the canyon with a day pack, and that after two nights they had still not returned to their camp.

Crews first located the overdue party’s car, and Saturday just before noon a Department of Public Safety helicopter found the two boys on a ledge at the top of the canyon.

Regular climbers, the boys stayed where they were, slept and rationed a granola bar to survive The three set out on Wednesday and were finally rescued on Saturday afternoon

Knight was then found about 350 feet down the bottom of the canyon.

The boys were extracted at about 1:45 p.m. Saturday and the father by about 4:26 p.m.

Despite dehydration, none of them were injured.

Knight said the ordeal will not deter them from future adventure trips and that he will continue to canyoneer with his sons.









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