Gregory Randolph was near death.

After hiking for four days, the 73-year-old was 14 miles from his Jeep, dehydrated and sunburned.

That's when biker Tomas Quinones found him.

In a stunning tale of survival, state police said Wednesday that Randolph and his two dogs miraculously survived after being stranded in the remote Oregon desert for days – with the heroic help of Quinones.

Quinones, a Portland biker, told the Associated Press that he hadn't seen anyone for days during a trip through the "Oregon Outback," an area in the south-central part of the state.

On July 18, when he saw a lump in the distance, he thought it was a cow.

This July 18, 2019, photo provided by Tomas Quinones shows Gregory Randolph, a 73-year-old man who was stranded in the remote Oregon high desert.

"As I got closer, I thought, 'That's a funny-looking cow' and then I realized that this was a man," he told the AP. Randolph had abandoned his car four days earlier but eventually collapsed, state police said.

Quinones knew the man was in danger. “He was conscious, but not responding,” the biker told the Oregonian. Lacking cell service in the remote area, he pressed the SOS button on his GPS and waited with the man for authorities to arrive.

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Quinones told the AP that as he waited an hour for an ambulance, Randolph's Shih Tzu appeared from the brush, and he fed the dog peanut butter.

Emergency personnel responded, an ambulance took Randolph to a nearby hospital and state police took the dog, Cruella, to an animal hospital. But Quinones noticed footprints and pointed them out to authorities.

Two days later, state police found Randolph's Jeep stuck off the road and his second dog, Buddy, waiting nearby. Lake County Deputy Buck Maganzini said Buddy probably survived drinking water from mud puddles around the car.

"He was just out driving the roads – that's kind of common out here," Maganzini told the AP. "There's not a heck of a lot else to do. You see a lot of pretty country."

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Story continues

It took Randolph three days in the hospital before he could sit up, eat and have a full conversation, Maganzini told the Oregonian.

Randolph told the deputy he wanted to explore a new area but got stuck off-roading. He was 40 miles from the nearest town, near Guano Creek Slough, Maganzini said.

Randolph spent the first night in his car, but decided to venture off with his dogs the second day. Buddy eventually went back to the SUV, but Cruella stayed with Randolph, the Oregonian reported.

State police said the man and his dogs are now reunited and recovering. The Jeep is still stranded, though.

"It very well could stay there forever. I don't know how he got the Jeep in as far as he did," Maganzini told the AP.

Quinones said Randolph's survival was "kind of mind-blowing."

"There's no way to tell how long he'd been collapsed on that road," he told the AP.

Maganzini praised the biker for saving Randolph.

"The real hero of the story is Mr. Quinones," he told the Oregonian. "I truly believe Mr. Randolph owes his life to Mr. Quinones."

Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man and 2 dogs stranded in remote Oregon for days miraculously survive