BOISE, Idaho — Two snowmobilers reported missing since Sunday night battled fatigue, hunger and avalanches but managed to walk out of the backcountry early Tuesday morning, uninjured.
The Boise County Sheriff’s Office had rescue teams looking for Brian Caldwell, 33, of Boise, and Scott Lantefield, 42, of Eagle, who had taken their snowmobiles to the popular Pilots Peak area above Idaho City.
Lantefield said his snowmobile became trapped in soft snow at the bottom of a hill on Sunday afternoon. Caldwell rode down to help but also got stuck.
The only way out was to follow a creek bed back to Idaho’s Highway 21 about a mile away. It was snowing and getting dark.
"We tried to ride the drainage out, but it was too deep and too soft. Our snowmobiles were submarining," Lantefield told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
The pair took stock. They had a little food — some leftover taquitos and a candy bar — and less than a gallon of water. They also had two saws, two shovels, and a GPS unit to help them find their way. They dismounted and started to follow the creek bed.
Monday morning, about 15 friends organized a search. The Boise County Sheriff’s office got involved, and a full-scale rescue began.
At about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday the two men arrived at their vehicle. They then got stuck driving out of the parking lot.
"We ended up shoveling more snow," Caldwell said. "It only took 20 minutes or a half hour, but it was just the comedy of errors."
They drove the remaining distance to Idaho City, where they used a pay phone to call their families.
Copyright ©2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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